SABIC opens PP plant in Europe, plans extrusion facility

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) on Wednesday inaugurated a new polypropylene (PP) pilot plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, and announced new investment in a state-of-the-art PP extrusion facility to be built at the same location.

The new PP pilot plant, at the SABIC’s Global Technology Center for Europe in Geleen, will design next-generation PP materials, SABIC said in a statement.

The plant is already on-stream using gas-phase polymerization technology, and the PP extrusion line is expected to be in operation in the fourth quarter this year.

The PP plant will serve to develop grades with improved balance in stiffness and impact resistance, flow properties and other properties specific to target applications, the statement said.

“SABIC plans to concentrate on development of impact grades of polypropylene, as well as random copolymers and homopolymers. It will also carry out experiments on advanced catalysts,” it added

The PP extrusion line, meanwhile, is aimed at developing advanced materials that can support the next generation lightweight applications in industries such as packaging, appliances, automotive, and healthcare.

The Geleen pilot plant is part of SABIC’s network of 21 Global Technology Centers, the statement said, adding that the two facilities are in line with SABIC’s 2025 strategy to be the preferred world leader in chemicals.