Gulf Fluor has started up its AED1.5bn ($408m) fluorine chemicals plant in Industrial City Abu Dhabi (ICAD2), the UAE-based company announced.

Construction on the project started at the site in the second quarter of 2009, with technology supplied by Switzerland’s Buss ChemTech and the UK’s Simon Carves.

The plant has the capacity to produce 60,000 tonnes a year (t/y) of aluminium fluoride, 140,000 t/y of sulphuric acid and 54,000 t/y of hydrofluoric acid in addition to a water purification plant.

Gulf Fluor will supply the chemicals for use in the aluminium, building, agriculture and refrigeration sectors.

The site covers 300,000 square metres of ICAD2 and provides the company with marine access.

The capacity of the plant makes it the largest of its type in the region and the fifth largest in the world, according to Gulf Fluor.