SABIC Showcases at NPE 2018 in Orlando

SABIC, a global leader in diversified chemicals, showcased its broad solutions portfolio at NPE 2018 in Orlando, May 11-17.

The company, headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, presented its exhibition at NPE 2018 sharpening focus on growing with customers in key markets, drawing upon its market knowledge, deep expertise in application development, and steadily expanding portfolio of polyolefins, engineering thermoplastics, and specialty materials.

SABIC is actively participating with those materials in market applications such as thin-wall packaging, caps and closures, pipe and utilities, and personal hygiene.

“For each of these market spaces, we have formed business teams to focus on developing and driving tailored technology platforms and new products for customers in these segments,” said Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, SABIC’s executive vice president for the Petrochemicals business unit. “We have asked these teams to base all innovation, service and application development support on the existing and emerging needs of customers.”

Now, the company is moving to broaden access to these technologies for customers based or operating in the Americas, to serve the above-noted segments, as well as traditional markets for the company in the region such as automotive, building and construction, healthcare and others.

“What visitors are seeing at our NPE booth is the product of our transformational work over the past few years,” said Al-Fageeh. “We restructured our businesses in ways that have sharpened our market focus and level of customer dedication. Our attention is set on identifying and satisfying the unmet needs of our customers, producing innovative and lasting solutions. We believe this market-focused approach best allows us to help drive performance for those who choose to place their business with us and serve as their dependable long-term supplier.”

Al-Fageeh added that SABIC has set ambitious goals for growth in the Americas, especially in the United States. In fact, he highlighted SABIC’s aim to double its manufacturing footprint in the country within the next five years, growing its sales here from almost three million tons annually now to about six million tons by 2022.

At the same time, SABIC is adding a broad range of advanced materials options, creating greater opportunities for clients to collaborate with the company during the next set of breakthroughs.

One such breakthrough enables the creation of specialty polyethylene products to meet the increased demand for flexible packaging. The breakthrough is SABIC's own proprietary metallocene catalyst C6 LLDPE technology. Metallocene catalyst is an advanced technology for producing highly differentiated and value-added PE products for various applications that required exceptional properties.

SABIC is also demonstrating its continued focus on sustainability. SABIC has emerged as one of the first in the chemical industry committed to the scale up of high-quality recycling to reprocess chemicals and mixed plastic waste back into usable materials.

The comprehensive set of solutions presented by SABIC at NPE 2018 covers the following markets, products and applications:

Automotive - NORYL GTX™, SABIC PP compounds

• Lightweight body in white reinforcement components. SABIC’s plastic-metal hybrid technology featuring NORYL GTX™ resin may reduce weight by up to 30% vs. high-strength steel – without compromising structural crashworthiness of the vehicle.

• Steering wheel column. This application demonstrates SABIC’s new and growing portfolio of SABIC® polypropylene (PP) compounds that deliver a soft feel and improved haptics for applications such as unpainted, low gloss automotive interior components.

• Aerodynamic roof fairing. Using Augmented Reality (AR) technology, SABIC is demonstrating how a thermoplastic-based roof fairing on heavy trucks can help overcome drag by up to five percent, potentially generating fuel savings of 2 to 4 percent for truck and fleet operators. The AR experience allows booth visitors to see how the part’s built-in air ducts reduce front end pressure and accelerate airflow both over the surface and through the part itself.

Building and Construction - Pipe Skyline materials, NORYL™ resins

• Pipe Skyline. SABIC’s extensive portfolio of pipe materials are featured by market segment – infrastructure, domestic, industrial, agriculture and aquaculture – in an impressive pipe display that showcases material details and target applications.

• Unique water filtration module. NORYL™ resin’s best-in-class hydrolytic and dimensional stability and chemical and high temperature resistance enabled Cerafiltec to avoid corrosionprone steel framing with a fully injection-molded module design.

Packaging – SABIC® PP FLOWPACT™, PP, HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE and ETP materials for caps, NEXLENE™ technology materials

• Sustainable food/non-food containers. SABIC® PP FLOWPACT™ impact copolymers feature high flow and high stiffness to enable thin-wall designs and fast injection that help reduce material and energy use.

• Caps and closures for packaging. Various caps, closures and product delivery mechanisms for beverages, food and non-food applications are on display, highlighting use of SABIC’s high performance PP, HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE and ETP materials for these applications.

• A range of tough packaging products made using SABIC’s recently introduced NEXLENE™ technology are on display at the booth. These include SABIC® SUPEER™ stretch film grades, which are particularly well suited for stiff, thin stretch film applications; SABIC® COHERE™ 8102 and SABIC SUPEER 8112 stretch hood pallet wrap; and PVC-free cling film made from SABIC’s metallocene PET; among others. These products feature an excellent balance of properties and illustrate SABIC’s commitment to the packaging space.

Healthcare - LEXAN™ PC copolymer

• eNeura® migraine relief device, custom-colored LEXAN™ PC copolymer, a healthcare grade, for the sleek housing of its new sTMS mini® device. The material delivers biocompatibility, impact and chemical resistance and light weight.

Personal Hygiene – SABIC phthalate-free materials

• Absorbent products. SABIC’s phthalate-free PP materials for non-woven applications offer excellent absorption, softness and light weight. Consumer Goods & Electronics – THERMOCOMP™ HMD-D, THERMOCOMP™ LDS, THERMOTUF™ compounds

Consumer Goods & Electronics – THERMOCOMP™ HMD-D, THERMOCOMP™ LDS, THERMOTUF™ compounds

• Thin-wall structural component. Demanding structural components in electronics can benefit from the new THERMOCOMP™ HMD-D family of high modulus ductile compounds. These reinforced polycarbonate grades can replace metal for lighter weight and thinner geometries.

• Molded cell phone cases. Laser direct structuring using THERMOCOMP™ LDS compounds allows customers to make 3D parts and activate the 3D surface for proper metallization.

Emerging Technologies

• UDMAX™ tapes. The newest UDMAX tape grade delivers exceptional tensile strength for reinforcing such industrial applications as pipes and pressure vessels. It offers a high loading of glass fiber, impregnated using SABIC’s proprietary HPFIT™ technology.

• Livrea Yacht hull section. Produced using large format additive manufacturing, the two-layer hull features light weight and strength from carbon-reinforced materials, including ULTEM™ PEI compound.

For more information, please visit www.sabic.com.