Launching a new chapter in the history of one of its most renowned materials, Sabic Innovative Plastics cut the ribbon at its new Ultem polyetherimide (PEI) resin production facility in Cartagena, Spain. This much-anticipated event marks a 35 per cent increase in Ultem resin capacity for European and global customers.

The state-of-the-art 300 million euros ($418.6 million) facility, which is Sabic Innovative Plastics’ second Ultem resin plant, will provide customers with higher supply dependability. The plant also encompasses scalable capacity for producing ultra-high-performance Extem resin grades and speciality intermediates (anhydrides).

Proprietary process chemistry and cutting-edge manufacturing technologies will improve operating reliability and flexibility while minimising the environmental impact of by-products, the company said.

Sabic Innovative Plastics also announced that it is adding state-of-the-art speciality polypropylene (PP) compounding to its Bay St Louis, Miss (US) site in the first quarter of 2011.

The site will use its existing infrastructure and adopt new processes to produce Sabic PP compounds and Sabic Stamax long-glass fibre-reinforced PP composites.

Speciality compounds favoured
Adding speciality PP to the site’s compounding capabilities enables the company to provide a broader range of high-performance materials to its customers in North America and to help satisfy demand for speciality compounds – which is a market recovering fast from the recent downturn. Investment in this highly automated and technologically sophisticated process supports Sabic Innovative Plastics’ commitment to meeting both automotive OEM needs for lightweight, high-performance materials that can significantly reduce fuel consumption and emissions vs competitive products, and non-automotive needs in key segments such as fluid handling and appliance.

“Plastics are becoming more familiar to automotive designers and the percentage of PP compounds used in today’s cars is increasing,” said Gregory A Adams, vice president, automotive, Sabic Innovative Plastics.

“The Bay St Louis facility is ideally located to quickly supply our customers in the Nafta countries.”

Valox ENH resin
In other developments, Sabic Innovative Plastics launched three new sustainable additions to its Valox ENH resin series that delivers advanced flame retardance (FR) together with outstanding mechanical and electrical performance to the electrical and electronics (E/E) industry.

These innovative materials help customers comply with global environmental regulations, including the European Union (EU) Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive that is now also being applied in Korea and China. The expansion of the Valox ENH resin family is the result of the company’s ongoing focus to provide an ever-broadening portfolio of validated, sustainable materials to customers.

“Environmental regulations and guidelines regarding acceptable flame-retardant chemicals for the electrical and electronics industry are continuing to tighten,” said Jos Braat, global product market director, Sabic Innovative Plastics.

Reducing halogen content in flame-retardant polybutylene terepthalate (PBT) is a challenge because substituting a non-brominated, non-chlorinated FR chemistry usually degrades mechanical performance. But the company has achieved the goal. The three new Valox ENH PBT resin grades, with different glass reinforcement levels, not only utilise non-brominated and non-chlorinated FR technology but also provide a better balance of high-performance properties than competitive non-brominated FR PBT resins. “They deliver excellent elongation, chemical resistance and impact, and actually offer better electrical and flammability performance than brominated FR grades. Overall, they provide a better balance of properties than other non-brominated FR PBT resins,” the company said.