The global demand for thermoplastics is expected to grow by around 100,000 tons by 2015, driven by the developing economies. Polyethylene comprises 35% of this market and polypropylene is 24%, according to leading market consultant Noru Tsalic of Applied Market Information (AMI). This is an annual increase of 5.6%. The key applications for PE are packaging at 69% and infrastructure at 11%, while for PP the percentages are 43% in packaging and 11% in automotive and appliances. This market information was discussed at the AMI conference on Polyolefin Additives, which took place in October 2011 in Cologne, Germany.
The leading material suppliers conduct extensive research, like Borealis Polyolefine. Molecular structure, processing and additives all affect properties. Stabilisers and modifiers need to be compatible with the polymer, have high solubility and low migration rate and meet all safety standards. The range used in polyolefins includes antioxidants for processing and long-term stabilisation, UV stabilisers, antistatic, slip agents, nucleating agents, flame retardants, impact modifiers, lubricants, foaming agents, fillers and reinforcements. It is also important that recipes take account of synergistic or antagonistic effects of additive combinations, for example hindered amine light stabiliser (HALS) is antagonistic to sulfur antioxidants. Some additives have dual effects, for example nucleating agents can improve thermal stability, perhaps because of the increase in crystallinity. Fillers are particularly important as the chemical nature, particle morphology and surface treatment can all affect material performance and additive interaction.
Analysis carried out by Basell Deutschland a LyondellBasell Company, has shown that polymers now account for around 19% of the materials in cars, which amounts to around 170 kg per vehicle and 60% of this is PP. The industry trends are towards manufacturing in low cost regions and light weighting, while cost dictates the types of materials used in different applications. For example, in high end cars there wil be foam-backed skin foils, in the middle range there is a plastic surface with soft-touch paints and at the lower end the plastic is uncoated. Basell Deutschland has developed new soft touch PP compounds for automotive interiors which meet the latter requirements. The base resin, Softell, has a very fine dispersion of elastomer particles in PP giving low gloss and high Shore D properties (low scratch and mar), whilst maintaining processability in injection moulding. As it does not require coating it has the potential to reduce costs.
BYK Chemie has developed additives for reducing odour and fogging in automotive applications. During extrusion the carrier releases active substances, which form microfoam under the raised temperature and shear stress. In this process the volatile organic compounds and odour components are wetted. Downstream the microfoam collapses and these components are released in degassing of the extruder. Thus BYK-P 4200 acts as a sort of stripping agent.
In packaging, Danisco has efficient anti-fogging solutions for both PE and PP, which prevent the formation of water droplets on the inside of the film (this is also used in agricultural applications). Chemically-modified fatty acids are used, with a tailored polarity to control migration. The antifog works by reducing the surface tension at the water/polymer interface: in effect the condensed water forms a thin continuous film and there is no loss of transparency. If the antifog is to be used in a complex multilayer construction then it needs to be added to several layers, because the sealing layer where it needs to be active is usually only around 8 microns thick.
Silanes are used in polyolefins for crosslinking and polymer-filler coupling, while silicones are employed to improve processing and properties like scratch resistance, for example the Genioplast range from Wacker Chemie. Other benefits from the use of silicone additives are the soft dry surface feel, low fogging and improved mechanical properties. They are suitable for use in applications such as PP/talc compounds for automotive interior components like the dashboard, trim and central console.
Antioxidants are key to performance. A variety of phosphites are used including the liquid trisnonyl phenyl phosphite (TNPP) and commodity solid phosphite (SP-1). TNPP does not bloom and has global indirect food contact approval (GRAS). The Dover Chemical Corp. has developed a new Liquid Green Phosphite (LGP-11), which is a high molecular weight molecule with low migration, is biodegradable, contains no alkylphenols, and has process and hydrolytic stability. This is currently being patented.
The leading research company in polyolefins is Norner in Scandinavia. The company has recently led research with partners from Sintef, Nexans and BrederoShaw looking at the effect of service conditions on the consumption of antioxidants in polyolefins. The project was based on the performance of PP coatings for oil and gas pipelines, where the pipes require direct electrical heating to avoid the formation of hydrate and wax inside. The specification is a 25 year service life at temperatures up to 115C and at a sea depth of around 350 m. Different types of PP block copolymer were tested including a 25% glass fibre grade. The results showed that discoloration was affected by wet or dry conditions, time and water depth. Chemical analysis using HPLC and GC revealed the antioxidant consumption in the different types of PP under different conditions, for example there was a 57% consumption of one antioxidant in the glass fibre-reinforced PP during processing. There was a significant effect of raising the sea water pressure conditions (simulating depth) on the loss of some antioxidants. The results of this study indicate the best antioxidants for long-term use in deep sea pipe coatings.
Polyolefins burn well with high heat capacity; therefore flame retardants are important for some products. PP can be a challenge as it is already crystalline and adding filler-type flame retardants can make the material more brittle. THOR has developed a new non-halogen flame retardant to address some of the weaknesses of existing FR systems. The new AFLAMMIT grades can be used in applications such as thin wall and films, and are based on organic phosphorus chemistry. In tests in LDPE the LOI was around 30 at 5% loading, and there are synergistic effects with other additives like the NOR HALS Flamestab from BASF and Hostavin NOW XP PILLS from Clariant. In PP a loading of 8% gave an LOI of about 26. Various factors affect the loading required including the film thickness, the presence of fillers like carbon black and titanium dioxide, and the MFI.
UV stabilisation is critical in many products. Cytec has produced several tailored products for different markets including CYASORB UV-3853 for PP/TPO automotive interiors to improve gloss retention and CYASORB THT-6460 for agricultural films to resist acid pesticides and mechanical stress. Cynergy R300 is for rotomoulding applications.
AkzoNobel supplies organic peroxides for a variety of functions in polyolefins including modifying viscosity, to facilitate foaming, and in crosslinking for applications such as cable and PEX pipes. In the mechanism of action the peroxide is initiated forming radicals, which then abstract H molecules from the polymer, in turn generating polymer radicals. There are a variety of radicals which can generate polymer radicals including alkyloxy, phenyl, methyl, acyloxy and cumyloxy. In reactive extrusion the peroxides are combined with the base polymer and the reaction occurs in the extruder followed by degassing. Crosslinking improves properties such as impact and stress-crack resistance, temperature and chemical resistance. In the cable industry there is a shift to in-house compounding for medium voltage (MV).
Sustainability is a key issue worldwide. RockTron is using fly ash from waste incineration to produce fillers. The MinTron particles comprise solid glass spheres and the product is developed to customer specifications, for example from 5-9 microns or 8-14 microns. MagTron is a spherical magnetite particle measuring 55 microns CenTron is hollow glass spheres of 140 microns. Surface modified grades are available and these products are being used as fillers.
The foaming process comprises several steps starting with nucleation, then bubble growth and stabilisation. A crosslinking agent can be added after foaming. Polimeri Europa is testing blends of polyethylene and EVA in foams and comparing properties at different percentages. The vinyl acetate content has a big influence on the final foam properties. LDPE and LLDPE are used in blends to improve the performance of both, for example LDPE is easier to extrude and LLDPE is more heat resistant. A new EU plastics regulation came into effect on 1st May 2011. Keller and Heckman have reviewed the implications for the industry, for example, here are some of the definitions
· Article 3(8). Additive, “a substance which is intentionally added to plastics to achieve a physical or chemical effect during processing of the plastic or in the final material or article; it is intended to be present in the final material or article”.

· Article 3(8). Polymer production aid (PPA), ““means any substance used to provide a suitable medium for polymer or plastic manufacturing; it may be present but is neither intended to be present in the final materials or articles nor has a physical or chemical effect in the final material or article”.

· Article 3(9). Non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) are defined in ““means any substance used to provide a suitable medium for polymer or plastic manufacturing; it may be present but is neither intended to be present in the final materials or articles nor has a physical or chemical effect in the final material or article”.

K-Tron has reviewed the issues with material quality and additive dispersion. The company recommends implementing quality control on deliveries and making sure that equipment is functioning to the required standard. It is important to consider the history of the material and factors such as storage conditions, thermal exposure and mechanical treatment, which can cause problems like particle agglomeration. During conveying there can be issues with many aspects including the amount of air coming through and build up in the connecting pipes. The whole system needs to be set up correctly for each new operation.
Dr. Oleg Kulikow of the Universität Der Bundeswehr Munchen has studied polymer processing aids (PPA): these have greater adhesive properties to metal than molten polyolefins and form a lining at the die surface during extrusion. Hydrophobic materials like fluoropolymers are often used as lubricants, however in natural joints the lubricant is hydrophilic. A new PPA is proposed comprising polyethylene glycol and silanol, and relatively cheap to produce.

Penford Corporation, a company with significant business and expertise in specialty starches and sustainable bio-products and Novomer Inc., a new materials company pioneering a family of high-performance plastics and polymers using renewable feedstocks such as carbon dioxide, announce that they have entered into a Joint Development Agreement that will leverage the two companies’ core technologies and expertise. he new alliance was created to accelerate the development and commercialization of innovative Starch-Polypropylene Carbonate polymer composites. Unmodified starch use has been limited due to inherent performance characteristics but has long been targeted as a cost effective, renewable material for a broad range of packaging applications. When modified, specialty starches can be compatible with other polymers to extend the use and modify the properties of those polymers for targeted uses. Polypropylene Carbonate (PPC), a thermoplastic polymer composed of nearly 50% by weight of waste CO2, has superior mechanical and barrier properties and a chemical backbone that is compatible and likely synergistic with specialty modified starch. It is anticipated that the creation of starch-PPC composites will yield low cost, environmentally sustainable packaging polymers suitable for the multi-billion dollar global packaging materials market.
“This is an exciting opportunity to further expand our efforts to develop and commercialize cost effective, sustainable bio-products,” said Penford’s Director of Business Development, Michael Friesema. Adding to this, Dr. Wallace Kunerth, Penford’s Chief Science Officer, said, “Novomer’s expertise in sustainable polymers combined with Penford’s expertise in specialty starch based formulations provide an opportunity to create highly-functional, cost-effective, and renewable thermoplastics to extend or replace petroleum based plastics in barrier films and structured articles.”
“Governments and companies, especially those in packaged goods markets around the globe, continue to place a heavy emphasis on initiatives aimed at reducing carbon levels in the atmosphere and creating alternatives to petroleum based plastics,” said Peter Shepard, Executive Vice President of Novomer. “We believe that the combination of Novomer’s extensive PPC technology with Penford’s lower cost, renewable specialty starch products will create truly novel and cost effective packaging materials and a new avenue to address these market needs.”

The increasing importance of plastics in the area of agriculture and horticulture has been highlighted in a new in-depth report on the Agricultural films market in Europe by Applied Market Information Ltd. (AMI. This first of its kind report details the EUR 2 billion agricultural films market which accounts for over half a million tonn of polymer-based films every year. Over the past 60 years, agricultural output and productivity has significantly increased and plastic agricultural film for silage, mulch and greenhouse applications has made a substantial contribution to this development. The use of plastic films has been notable in the horticultural industry, as well as the beef and dairy sector, contributing to continuously increasing yields. Plastic films have also enabled the extension of cultivation in terms of the growing season and the location for a variety of plants through the use of protective mulch and greenhouse films. For players in the market the business is a challenging one with many conflicting trends. On the one hand, population growth and rising per capita calorie intake demands greater food production; on the other, the amount of farmland and number of farms is declining. While plastic films can undoubtedly contribute to improved efficiency and output, growing concerns about film waste and disposal is leading to growing interest in the use of biodegradable materials. Reductions in dairy herds may lead to a decline in silage films in one area; growth in biomass crops may create opportunities in another. Climate change may extend the opportunity for plastic greenhouses further north, while at the same time existing users will want more durable, longer lasting films to cut costs. Currently the overall impact of these various trends is a market which in volume terms is showing very little growth but which will still present opportunities for film producers to develop better performing films in areas such as barrier performance, thermal, visual and photo-selective properties. The market is mainly in the Mediterranean region with Spain and Italy taking the lead particularly in consumption of greenhouse and mulch films. In the long term, however, demand for agricultural films is expected to grow more strongly in countries in Northern Europe where climate change will contribute to more favourable conditions for agriculture and ongoing push for higher yields will drive demand for agricultural films.
Silage film is the largest segment of the market accounting for almost a half of the European market, split fairly evenly between clamp silage and stretch silage with a small share accounted for by silo bags/tubes. Consumption of greenhouse film represents around 30% of the market consisting of film for classic greenhouse structures, macro tunnels/walking tunnels and low tunnels and floating/direct covers. Mulch film represents the remaining 25% of the agricultural film demand in Europe and is expected to show a small overall decline mainly due to replacement by biodegradable types and where feasible further downgauging. The ten largest agricultural film producers account for more than a half of the films produced in Europe. While the Mediterranean producers, Armando Alvarez, Agriplast, Eiffel and Plastika Kritis account for the majority of the greenhouse film output, the Nordic and north-west European producers such as Trioplast, Rani Plast, BPI, RKW and Hyplast produce primarily silage film and to a lesser extent mulch film.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan and political risk guarantee totaling up to $400 million to help build the largest-ever petrochemical plant in Uzbekistan.
The Surgil Natural Gas Chemicals Project will produce gas for commercial use and for conversion into chemical intermediates used in the plastics and textiles industries. The developer and operator, Uz-Kor Gas Chemical LLC, is a joint venture company owned by state-controlled oil and gas company National Holding Company Uzbekneftegaz, and a consortium of Republic of Korea companies, comprising Korea Stock Exchange-listed Honam Petrochemical Corporation, Korea Gas Corporation, and STX Energy, a unit of STX Corp.
“Instead of simply extracting gas and treating it for energy use, the project will also process a portion of it into chemical raw materials for exporting to plastics and textiles producers. That means Uzbekistan gets more bang for its buck out of its natural resources,” said Thomas Minnich, Senior Investment Specialist in ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department “ADB’s provision of a partial risk guarantee has helped draw in commercial lenders to the project and that could spur further foreign investment in this key sector.”
Uzbekistan is the second largest gas producer in the Commonwealth of Independent States behind the Russian Federation, with total reserves of 59.4 trillion cubic feet. However, the petrochemical industry in Uzbekistan is very small, meaning the country gets less benefit than it should from its abundant gas reserves. Developing the domestic petrochemical sector will diversify the country’s economy, generate additional revenues, and create jobs.
The project, which is located about 1,300 kilometers from the capital Tashkent in the Karakalpakstan region, will have supply capacity of about 4.5 billion cubic meters per annum of natural gas throughout the life of the project. It will include production wells, pipelines, ethylene cracker, polymer plants, and onsite power generation. The total project cost is about US$4 bln with financing to come as well from Export Import Bank of Korea, Korea Trade Insurance Corporation, China Development Bank, National Bank of Uzbekistan, European export credit agencies and international commercial lenders. It will demonstrate the viability of large-scale domestic/foreign joint ventures and could pave the way for future foreign direct investments in Uzbekistan’s private sector manufacturing industry.
ADB’s participation will also help ensure that the facilities comply with internationally acceptable environmental, health and safety standards. ADB is providing a 13-year loan of up to $125 million and a 13-year guarantee of up to $275 million which will cover certain risks on loans extended by commercial lenders to Uz-Kor Gas Chemical. The plant is expected to be operational in early 2016.

Petrochemical infrastructure development is driven by growth in newly industrialised nations turning to the production of polymer products, and those which have a high demand for fertilisers and fuel additives, as per a report by Visiongain. The applications of petrochemical products are endless, and a number of companies are investing vast sums on developing new and innovative petrochemical end products from rubber used in automotive tyres to everyday plastics. Visiongain calculates that global capital expenditure in the petrochemical infrastructure market will be US$64.1 billion in 2012.
The primary petrochemicals produced by the cracking of crude oil and natural gas are ethylene, propylene, methanol and aromatics such as benzene, toluene and xylene. Manufacturing of many products inChina, India and many other rapidly growing countries in the world directly depends on inputs of polymers from these primary petrochemicals. Further investment in the petrochemical industries of these economies is very important as they look to become more self sufficient and import less petroleum based products from the rest of the world. There are many advanced petrochemical products that are derived in part from the petrochemicals industry, such as glass and carbon fibre reinforced polymers. These are becoming the materials of choice for aerospace and defence industries. Meanwhile, PVC and adhesives are also becoming increasingly popular in the construction industry. This growing demand for petrochemical products from the most basic to more advanced materials is pushing up utilisation rates in existing infrastructure and over the next ten years many new petrochemical facilities will be constructed to meet the rapidly growing global demand.

Petrochemical infrastructure development is driven by growth in newly industrialised nations turning to the production of polymer products, and those which have a high demand for fertilisers and fuel additives, as per a report by Visiongain. The applications of petrochemical products are endless, and a number of companies are investing vast sums on developing new and innovative petrochemical end products from rubber used in automotive tyres to everyday plastics. Visiongain calculates that global capital expenditure in the petrochemical infrastructure market will be US$64.1 billion in 2012.
The primary petrochemicals produced by the cracking of crude oil and natural gas are ethylene, propylene, methanol and aromatics such as benzene, toluene and xylene. Manufacturing of many products inChina, India and many other rapidly growing countries in the world directly depends on inputs of polymers from these primary petrochemicals. Further investment in the petrochemical industries of these economies is very important as they look to become more self sufficient and import less petroleum based products from the rest of the world. There are many advanced petrochemical products that are derived in part from the petrochemicals industry, such as glass and carbon fibre reinforced polymers. These are becoming the materials of choice for aerospace and defence industries. Meanwhile, PVC and adhesives are also becoming increasingly popular in the construction industry. This growing demand for petrochemical products from the most basic to more advanced materials is pushing up utilisation rates in existing infrastructure and over the next ten years many new petrochemical facilities will be constructed to meet the rapidly growing global demand.

Materials company Novomer Inc. has inked a joint development agreement on polymer composites with Penford Corp. of Colorado with the aim to speed the development and commercialization of starch-polypropylene carbonate polymer composites. Novomer is developing high-performance plastics and polymers using renewable feedstocks such as carbon dioxide, while Penford has expertise in specialty starches and sustainable bioproducts. Polypropylene carbonate polymer (PPC), a thermoplastic polymer composed of nearly 50% waste carbon dioxide by weight, has good mechanical and barrier properties and a chemical backbone that is compatible and likely synergistic with specialty modified starch, according to the companies. They expect that the creation of starch-PPC composites will result in low cost, environmentally sustainable packaging polymers for the multi-billion dollar global packaging materials market.
“Governments and companies, especially those in packaged goods markets around the globe, continue to place a heavy emphasis on initiatives aimed at reducing carbon levels in the atmosphere and creating alternatives to petroleum-based plastics,” Peter Shepard, executive vice president of Novomer said in a statement.

SABIC’s Innovative Plastics business today announced that its manufacturing facilities in Campinas, Brazil and Tortuguitas, Argentina, are now certified to produce U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-compliant and biocompatible resins for the fast-growing South American healthcare market to help slash lead times, reduce inventory costs and increase flexibility in material purchasing. Medical markets in eight Latin and South American countries – Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia and Cuba – are expected to demonstrate a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.6% between 2008 and 2013, reaching US$9.2 bln, according to Espicom Health Intelligence. To meet this increasing demand, SABIC is committed to providing local customers fast and easy access to high-performance materials – such as biocompatible Lexan* HP polycarbonate (PC) resins – and technical resources that they need to bring the next generation of medical applications to market.
“With biocompatible and FDA-certified resin production now in place in our Brazil and Argentina plants, in addition to the United States, Europe and Singapore, we are well positioned to meet the local supply needs of healthcare device manufacturers worldwide who have production facilities here in South America,” said Ricardo Knecht, general manager, South America, Innovative Plastics. “SABIC continues to proactively invest in local capabilities that benefit our customers. Our broad and deep portfolio of healthcare materials, together with value-added services such as custom color matching and technical support, offers a critical competitive advantage in the rapidly changing and highly competitive medical products sector.”
With the certification of the two SABIC facilities, medical device manufacturers and other healthcare customers can rely on local sources of supply instead of having to wait for imports to arrive. The lead time for SABIC FDA and biocompatible resins in the region is expected to drop dramatically, helping customers accelerate time to market for their products. With local production of healthcare grades, manufacturers can avoid delays, cut inventory costs because they no longer need to stockpile resin, and enjoy greater flexibility in ordering materials. In addition, customers can now be confident about expanding their use of SABIC healthcare materials in new applications, knowing that they have a reliable local source of supply backed with local expertise, technical support and SABIC’s healthcare product policy.
SABIC proactively developed an industry-leading healthcare product policy to simplify regulatory compliance during marketing approval and throughout the device lifecycle. Materials included under the policy have been assessed for biocompatibility, are covered by an FDA Drug or Device Master File, and are subject to formula lock and a stringent change management process. The policy gives customers the comfort of knowing that SABIC is able to lock the formula and have a supply plan in place in the event of change. Pre-assessing biocompatibility helps speed up marketing approval in the regulatory process, while internal controls and change management help assure consistent quality and reliability of supply.

Pittsburgh’s own Renewable Manufacturing Gateway (RMG) has signed a Letter of Engagement (LOE) with Aither Chemicals LLC (Aither). RMG and Aither have agreed to collaborate to finance and build a large chemical plant using Aither’s ethane catalytic cracker technology. With an investment of US$750 mln over the next five years, the project is expected to create over 2000 construction jobs, 200 permanent direct production jobs, and many thousand indirect jobs in the Tri-State Region (Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, and Northern West Virginia). It is anticipated to generate US$463 mln in annual sales by 2016.
Aither is a petrochemical company formed in 2010 with a mission to convert ethane to high-value chemicals. Aither’s technology uses a patent-pending catalytic cracking method instead of steam cracking to make ethylene. Aither will then convert the ethylene to higher-value chemicals which are easier to ship to customers locally and worldwide. The advantages of Aither’s catalytic cracking technology (compared to steam cracking and other chemical processes) include: lower capital cost, lower operating cost, shorter time to commercial operation, better scalability, and an overall simpler process to produce higher-value products. In compliance with the principles of “green chemistry”, clean catalytic cracking technology consumes 80 percent less energy than steam cracking technology, and produces 60 percent less CO2 output.
Currently the production of ethane-derived petrochemicals utilizes steam cracking technology developed in West Virginia by Union Carbide Corporation in the 1920s. The birth of this technology helped Union Carbide become one of the world’s largest producers of ethane-derived chemicals, and a leading manufacturer of the world’s most widely used plastic, polyethylene. Aither, also a West Virginia company, was formed by accomplished former Union Carbide and Dow technologists and business leaders. Aither continues the tradition of creating chemical value in this region, and will lead the renaissance of the region’s chemical manufacturing industry with Aither’s improvements to cracking technology.
Together RMG and Aither seek to make the Tri-State Region the center of a world-class chemical industry with the commensurate job creation and capital infusion. Each plant represents 200 or more direct jobs and many thousands more indirectly.
Enzo Zoratto, Chief Operating Officer of RMG said, “Aither’s technology is a natural fit to our region. It cost-effectively uses the ethane-rich natural gas from our vast Marcellus Gas deposit to produce highly sought after byproducts, while creating high-value employment in the region. RMG’s commitment to Aither represents a huge step in fulfilling RMG’s job creation mission.”
Leonard Dolhert, CEO of Aither Chemicals, said, “I’m delighted to be working with RMG. Together, RMG and Aither will finance and build one of the largest manufacturing plants that has been built in the region for the past few decades. This will create many jobs and help the regional economy significantly.”
Ethane is a naturally-occurring hydrocarbon contained in natural gas (the second most common component in raw natural gas after methane) and exists in particularly high concentrations in local Marcellus shale gas. Ethane is separated on an industrial scale from raw natural gas to prepare the gas for commercial use. The chief use of ethane is as a valuable petrochemical feedstock. Ethane is first converted or “cracked” into ethylene, which itself is then converted to higher value petrochemicals, including polyethylene and a host of other chemicals used in everyday products such as clothing, carpets, and computers. The petrochemical market is a multi-trillion dollar world-wide market which is experiencing strong growth. Because there is currently no ethane cracker in this region, the ethane from the Marcellus can’t be used here, but ethane-derived petrochemicals currently have many markets both regionally and elsewhere. Economics dictate that petrochemical companies should locate their production facilities as close as possible to the ethane source and product markets—here in the Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio region. Other proposed solutions exist for utilizing the Marcellus ethane including shipping it out of the region, building a steam cracker, and using it for heating fuel.

Under the patronage of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, and in the presence of China Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) signed a Protocol of Cooperation in Riyadh to explore new business opportunities and confirm their commitment to the principles reached in earlier agreements, including one on polycarbonate collaboration which has been approved by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The Protocol sets the foundation for a joint investment from both SABIC and Sinopec to build the new polycarbonate production complex with an annual capacity of 260 kilo metric tons. The new facility will be located at the Sinopec SABIC Tianjin Petrochemical Company (SSTPC) in Tianjin, China. The new polycarbonate production will help meet the projected growth in demand for North East Asia, which includes China. Satisfying this demand is essential for producing petrochemical materials from China’s vast manufacturing industries.
Speaking after the signing ceremony, Prince Saud assured the importance of integration between Saudi Arabia and China, especially in the areas of petrochemicals, engineering and construction, especially as these sectors are seeking investment opportunities in both countries. He emphasised that SABIC is keen to continue its investments in China’s marketplace generally and one significant aspect of the new project is that it will use SABIC-owned polycarbonate production technology. The technology mitigates the environmental footprint in the polycarbonate production process. When the plant is fully operational in 2015, SABIC will become one of the world’s largest producers of polycarbonate, significantly boosting SABIC’s market share. The Protocol of Cooperation, which covers marketing, allows SABIC to supply polycarbonate as feedstock to the company’s other plants in China and the Pacific region.
Prince Saud added that the new project, along with the first joint venture with Sinopec, with an annual production capacity of three million tons, will strengthen SABIC’s competitiveness. It could even lay the groundwork for further joint ventures between the two companies, offering more opportunities for two-way exchange of technologies and sharing of markets. Long-term strategic partnerships will boost the economies of the two countries in the areas of scientific research, technological innovation, engineering, project implementation, product marketing and procurement, he said.
Al-Mady said that the Protocol will strategically strengthen both SABIC and Sinopec as two pioneering companies in polycarbonate production and applications in China. SABIC brings to China its global expertise and experience in petrochemical research and production. The partnership complements SABIC’s already strong engineered plastics manufacturing presence in compounded resin blends.