The first polypropylene plant based on the Borstar technology developed by Borealis opens outside Vienna in Austria today, 6 October.
Owned 50 per cent by Statoil, the Copenhagen-based petrochemicals group has built this facility in 23 months at a cost of roughly DKK 1 billion.
Its output will allow customers to produce plastic bottles, for instance, with thinner and stronger walls – thereby shortening production time and cutting raw material consumption.
The plant can produce 200,000 tonnes of polypropylene annually, or 70,000 tonnes more than the production facility it replaces.
Borealis is a world leader in producing polyethylene and polypropylene, which provide the raw materials for a wide range of plastic products.
The group already uses the Borstar technology to make polyethylene in Finland, and will be applying it for the same purpose in Sweden this year and in the United Arab Emirates next year.
Softer than polypropylene, polyethylene is used in applications which less need to withstand blows, for instance.
Borealis also plans to licence Borstar to other producers.