Sabic SK Nexlene (SSNC) plans to expand its polyolefin material solutions plant in Ulsan, South Korea to about 330,000 t/y, from 230,000 t/y. The company, a JV between Sabic (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; www.sabic.com) and SK Geo Centric (Seoul, South Korea; http://eng.skgeocentric.com), is expected to bring the new capacity onstream in Q2 2024. The investment cost is estimated at EUR 140 mn.

The plant uses SSNC’s “Nexlene” technology to produce Sabic’s “Cohere” metallocene polyolefin plastomers (POP), “Supeer” metallocene LLDPE (mLLDPE) and “Fortify” polyolefin elastomers (POE). Sabic said the expansion will meet growing demand for the materials from markets including photovoltaics, new mobility, footwear and advanced packaging solutions.

Sami Al-Osaimi, VP of PE & sales at Sabic and chairman of SSNC, said Cohere POP, Supeer mLLDPE and Fortify POEs provide enhanced toughness, flexibility, elasticity, heat-sealing properties and optical properties. “We have identified a strong trend towards customized and high-performance polyolefins, especially metallocene PE materials, in several important new technology markets,” he added.

SK Geo Centric, previously known as SK Global Chemical, sold the Nexlene technology to SSNC when the JV was created (see Plasteurope.com of 08.07.2015). The technology combines a bimodal solution process with a proprietary metallocene catalyst to yield ethylene copolymers with tailored molecular weight distribution and modality, Sabic said.