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Following what it called a “serious study of the changing market drivers and careful evaluation of future opportunities within the sector”, polyolefin supplier Borealis (Vienna, Austria) has opted to exit the rotational molding market effective March 31, 2010. Borealis has served the rotomolding sector for many years with its Borcene and Borplus grades of polyethylene (PE), in addition to its sponsorship of the Assn.

PlasticsToday Staff

December 21, 2009

2 Min Read
Borealis exits rotational molding market

(Vienna, Austria) has opted to exit the rotational molding market effective March 31, 2010. Borealis has served the rotomolding sector for many years with its Borcene and Borplus grades of polyethylene (PE), in addition to its sponsorship of the Assn. of Rotational Molders (i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3278">ARM), but in the interim its focus will be to ensure its customers continue to receive material until they can find an alternate supplier.

Although there have been recent changes to several of those suppliers, including the two-week-old acquisition of ICO Polymer by A. Schulman, there are still options available for rotomolders seeking material.

ExxonMobil Chemical supplies a range of Linear PE grades for rotomolding, as does Dow Plastics, with its Dowlex products. LyondellBasell supplies Microthene high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) powders, as well as Petrothene HDPE and LLDPE resin pellets for rotational molding. LyondellBasell began offering its products into the European rotomolding market, through distributor Ultrapolymers Group NV (Lommel, Belgium). That company was formed in October 2002 to distribute BASF and then Basell resins in Europe. More recently the company began offering Lupolen GX5002 and GX5003 into rotomolding, using LyondellBasell’s Lupotech G gas-phase process and catalyst system.

Specialty compounder A. Schulman’s rotomolding grades include Polyaxis, Schulink, and Superlinear. Earlier in December that company announced its plan to purchase fellow rotomolding supplier ICO Polymers. That company markets the Icorene line of rotational molding powders, available in custom colors and specialty stone and speckle effects. 
Nova Chemicals, which was acquired by Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co. (IPIC) earlier this year, sells Surpass and Novapol PEs into rotomolding, while 
Total Petrochemicals offers six grades for the process.

The market has been impacted by changes in fuel-permeation standards, particularly by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which continues to roll out more stringent limits for fuel tanks on everything from boats to all-terrain vehicles to lawn mowers. Initially, a drop-in replacement that economically satisfied the new standards wasn’t available and in the interim some business likely shifted from rotomolding into alternative fabrication technologies, including blowmolding and thermoforming where multilayer solutions could be created.  Since the regulations were introduced, some suppliers have stepped into the gap, including Total’s Arkema with its polyamide-based Petroseal technology (see coverage here). —[email protected]

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