The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) announced August 3 a technology breakthrough project that will increase polyolefin elastomers manufacturing capacity at its production facilities in Freeport, Texas, and Tarragona, Spain. The capacity expansions, in conjunction with SCG-Dow Group’s new world scale specialty elastomers plant in Thailand, which is currently under construction, will result in a net increase of 550 million pounds, bringing Dow’s dedicated global capacity for polyolefin elastomers to nearly 2 billion pounds.
"Dow has been the leader in polyolefin elastomers and plastomers from the very beginning, and we are committed to holding that position," commented Luis Cirihal, Dow Elastomers global business director. "With over 1.5 billion pounds of capacity dedicated to producing AFFINITY, ENGAGE, VERSIFY and INFUSE polyolefin plastomers and elastomers, Dow is well positioned to utilize this technology breakthrough debottleneck project to take full advantage of current and future growth. We will also continue to invest and add to our strong position in metallocene EPDM with our NORDEL IP product line.”
This capacity expansion is a strategic investment to meet the growing needs of customers worldwide while maintaining Dow’s cost competitive position. Dow sees increasing strong global demand for polyolefin plastomers and elastomers. Cirihal commented, “By improving our manufacturing operations and investing in technology, along with the added capacity at the new Thailand plant, we will be poised to meet this growing demand and support our customers globally.”
ENGAGE polyolefin elastomers offer a unique combination of flexibility and toughness, making them a material of choice for a wide variety of applications, including automotive thermoplastic applications. AFFINITY polyolefin plastomers are versatile polymers that offer excellent adhesion at high and low temperatures, outstanding processability, and superior levels of performance in packaging and other applications.
INFUSE Olefin Block Copolymers (OBCs) are polyolefins with alternating blocks of hard (highly rigid) and soft (highly elastomeric) segments. The block structure of OBCs offers an advantaged performance balance of flexibility and heat resistance compared to random polyolefin copolymers. VERSIFY plastomers and elastomers are a versatile family of specialty propylene-ethylene copolymers that provide films, fibers, and molded parts with an outstanding combination of excellent optics, sealing and hot tack performance, plus elasticity, flexibility, softness and compatibility in blends.
About Dow
Dow connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2009, Dow had annual sales of $45 billion and employed approximately 52,000 people worldwide. The company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 214 sites in 37 countries across the globe.
