Executives from Dow’s Packaging and Specialty Plastics (P&SP) business hosted customers in Lagos, Nigeria today for an inaugural “meet and greet” event as the company’s presence grows in the region. The event showcased Dow’s leading products and solutions for the West African packaging market as well as information on the Sadara petrochemical project – Dow’s joint venture with Saudi Aramco – which began production start-up with its first polyethylene (PE) unit at the end of 2015.
Themed “More…”the event explored Dow’s broad portfolio of products, technologies and solutions for applications in transportation and food packaging specifically related to the West African region. Customers throughout the value chain, from converters to brand owners, are increasingly seeking innovative solutions to meet the growing demands of changing consumer preferences.
Nigeria is a key market for the packaging industry with almost 50% of the population living in urban areas and a new generation of consumers driving GDP growth, which is expected to reach $294 billion by 2020 (up from $178 billion in 2012).
The session also provided the ideal platform to provide further information on Dow’s sustainability platform, the integral role of the packaging industry in addressing these challenges and the Sadara project.
Lifestyles are changing due to a globalized economy, increased urbanization, population growth, affluence and mobility. Today, consumers require packaging which provides enhanced functionality, versatility and safety. It is estimated that between 2008 and 2020, the food and consumer goods market will grow by $40 billion in Nigeria which is the largest level of growth in Africa.
In response to these regional and global trends, Dow has implemented a growth strategy to support the increasing demand for high performance packaging. Situated in Jubail, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sadara is the largest petrochemical complex ever build in a single phase and is an integral part of this growth strategy.
Sadara will provide 1.3 million tons of high performance plastics products from four state-of-the-art PE units supported by a high-tech cracker facility. These extra volumes will enable Dow to increase participation in West Africa and will add greater access to a more secure supply to serve fast growing markets across the wider African continent, Turkey, Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe, and certain regions of the Middle East.
The second PE unit is expected to start-up in the second quarter, with the remaining two units scheduled for start-up over the coming nine months and full production capacity to be reached within the first year of operation.
“The West African region presents a wealth of opportunities for our customers and Dow P&SP is working hand-in-hand with members of the value chain to ensure this promising future becomes a reality,” says Sami Mainich, Sales Director, Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics in the Middle East, Africa and Turkey. “Dow is taking serious steps to support its next generation of growth and products in emerging geographies. We are a growth business in a growing region. In 2012, Dow opened its first West African office in Ghana, followed by the office in Nigeria in 2015. Now with Sadara in motion, we will further enhance our collaboration with customers throughout West Africa, bringing additional capacity to the region and providing more access to our global expertise through our teams on the ground. “
Tony Groosman, Managing Director Dow West Africa, added; “In growth regions like West Africa, it is events like these that provide ideal platforms to encourage and strengthen dialogue with customers, to ultimately further understand market needs and explore new ways in which we can collaborate and capture more opportunities together. It also allows us to further demonstrate our commitment to West Africa and the importance of this growth region for Dow. “
For more information regarding Dow’s packaging solutions, please visit www.dowpackaging.com
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