The UAE is set to decrease its reliance on imports of sodium hydroxide (or caustic soda), a key chemical used in the production of petroleum and natural gas.
Fata, a division of Italian firm Finmeccanica,and Union Chlorine, a UAE-Omani joint venture, yesterday signed a US$70 million contract to set up a sodium hydroxide factory in Abu Dhabi.
It was overseen by the emirate’s department for economic development.
The UAE currently has no domestic facility that produces the chemical, and it relies on imports from China and the Middle East.
The new plant, to be located in the Mussaffah district, is scheduled for completion in August 2015. Production is expected to begin in October that year.
Chlor-alkali is a process that produces chlorine and sodium hydroxide via the electrolysis of salt water.
Upon its completion, the facility will have a daily output capacity of 70 tonnes.
Walid Al Azhari, the chairman of Union Chlorine, said the project would provide high-quality products for the country’s oil and gas market, as well as other sectors and manufacturing industry.
The firm is a joint venture of Abu Dhabi’s Horizon Energy, Oman Chlorine, and two other investors in the UAE and Oman.
Mr Al Azhari said the plant would be designed in accordance with the best modern techniques in terms of operations, air emission control and waste treatment.
Besides caustic soda, the plant will produce other chemicals including hydrochloric acid and sodium hypochloride for firms in the oil and gas sector.
Nine months earlier, Abu Dhabi’s Al Ghaith Group signed an agreement with Nuberg Engineering of India for the construction of a 100-tonne caustic soda plant.
A Nuberg spokesman said work on the facility was due to begin this month following the granting of governmental approvals.
jeverington@thenational.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
Pathaan
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Siddharth%20Anand%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Shah%20Rukh%20Khan%2C%20Deepika%20Padukone%2C%20John%20Abraham%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Where to buy art books in the UAE
There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.
In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show.
In Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi has a beautiful selection of catalogues and art books, and Magrudy’s – across the Emirates, but particularly at their NYU Abu Dhabi site – has a great selection in art, fiction and cultural theory.
In Sharjah, the Sharjah Art Museum sells catalogues and art books at its museum shop, and the Sharjah Art Foundation has a bookshop that offers reads on art, theory and cultural history.
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013