A contract for the storage of chemical products manufactured by Dow from various production sites globally was signed in June by an affiliate of Dow Chemical Company and RSA-Talke, under which the logistics company will receive and store the products in its specialised chemical warehouses located at the Aerotropolis, also known as Dubai South.
RSA-Talke’s complex there has been designed to store chemicals and petrochemicals to the highest international standards. The company – a joint venture between Dubai-based RSA Logistics and the German Talke Group –caters to the demand of customers from the chemical and petrochemical industries in the Gulf region.
“The signing of this significant agreement with Dow has again confirmed the interest of our customers in our strategy of providing a full service portfolio for chemical logistics in Dubai,” explained Richard Heath, director Middle East & USA at Talke and director of RSA-Talke.
“We have worked hard in the past couple of years to create top quality facilities based on the highest international standards and the journey continues with the very recent opening of our integrated chemicals hub in Jebel Ali free zone,” added Abhishek Ajay Shah, managing director at RSA Logistics and also director at RSA-Talke.
Dow Middle East and Africa associate director of logistics and international trade Ihab Elia said the petrochemical giant sees the Middle East as a core region in its business model, whether for local production or as part of its global supply chain.
“RSA-Talke will play an integral part in Dow’s growth story, as we progress and drive to ensure we work with world class service providers with the right focus on safety, value, and quality,” he commented. He added that “this partnership is not new but an expansion on the trust built and established between our entities through historic and current operations. We look forward to achieve further successes in the future.”
The recent inauguration of a large container terminal for chemical goods in the Jebel Ali free zone (JAFZA) rounds off RSA-Talke’s concept.
“With the integrated chemical hub, designed around ISO tank container storage and complemented by associated services, we are completing the picture as far as a full range of services is concerned,” continued Abhishek Ajay Shah. “We can now handle liquids and solids, hazardous and non-hazardous, packaged or bulk to support chemical manufacturers in the whole of the Gulf region.”
The United Arab Emirates and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are regarded as key markets for the chemical industry, with Dubai as an increasingly important logistics centre. The Emirate of Dubai is seen as a significant hub for the export of chemicals from the region to Africa, India and the Far East.
This latest Dow contract followed the completion of the first phase of RSA-Talke’s integrated chemicals hub in JAFZA. The facility is claimed to be unique in the region in terms of the standards and the range of services offered and complements the existing state-of-the-art hazardous materials warehousing capacities in Dubai South.