Polypropylene LGF Resins target global automotive industry.

Press Release Summary:



SABIC® STAMAX polypropylene long-glass-fiber resins are formulated to replace steel in components such as front-end and door modules and offer lightweight solutions for fuel efficiency and emissions reduction. Resins offer design flexibility for part consolidation as well as performance properties including high stiffness, dimensional stability, high flow, and good crash behavior. Flow characteristics allow for thinner wall instrument panel carriers compared to traditional materials.



Original Press Release:



SABIC Launches SABIC® STAMAX Light Weight Composites Worldwide for the Global Automotive Industry



TROY, Mich. - Sept. 16, 2008 - To meet increasing demand from the automotive industry for lightweight, high performance long-glass-fiber (LGF) composites, SABIC Innovative Plastics and SABIC PP Automotive today announced the worldwide availability of SABIC® STAMAX polypropylene (PP) LGF resins. SABIC® STAMAX resins, which are used extensively by European automakers to replace steel in such key components as front-end modules and door modules, offer light weight solutions for improved fuel efficiency and emissions reduction, together with system cost savings through design optimization and more efficient production cycles.

"The SABIC® STAMAX resin portfolio has enjoyed great success in Europe, and now customers and OEMs around the world are increasingly asking us to make these materials available to them worldwide," said Greg Adams, vice president, SABIC Innovative Plastics, Automotive. "Our planned global expansion of SABIC® STAMAX resin production supports our strategy of delivering innovative material solutions to help automakers deliver more environmentally responsible vehicles without compromising on design freedom."

To support the global distribution of SABIC® STAMAX resin, the company is making plans to expand its production of the material in North America in 2009, and in Asia/Pacific in 2010. SABIC's commitment to meeting capacity needs, coupled with world-class application development expertise in the SABIC Innovative Plastics and SABIC PP Automotive businesses, enable the companies to provide automotive customers with innovative modular solutions and outstanding technical support.

SABIC® STAMAX Resins Enable Modular Part Design

SABIC® STAMAX LGF PP resins are enabling automakers to advance from traditional multi-part steel doors, front-end systems and instrument panel carriers to single modules. These resins offer expanded design flexibility for part consolidation as well as key performance properties, including high stiffness, dimensional stability, high flow and good crash behavior. In addition the flow characteristics of SABIC® STAMAX resins allow for thinner wall instrument panel carriers compared to traditional materials like modified styrene-co-maleic anhydride (SMA) and polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PC/ABS). Thin wall molding provides both cost and weight advantages to the OEM. As a result, designers can create single modules to replace complex assemblies, thus streamlining production and reducing system costs.

Further, lightweight SABIC® STAMAX PP LGF resin drives weight-out vs. steel, helping to increase fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"Modularity in automotive part design continues to gain strong momentum as OEMs and tiers seek to optimize fuel efficiency, reduce emissions and control costs," said Mark Neville, business unit director, SABIC PP Automotive. "SABIC Innovative Plastics and SABIC PP Automotive are world leaders in developing long-glass-fiber resins and composites that are materials of choice for modular automotive components. By leveraging the SABIC® STAMAX resin portfolio, automakers in all geographies now have a more comprehensive set of options for production of modular systems."

For additional information on SABIC® STAMAX resins, please go to www.sabic.com.

About SABIC

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) is one of the world's 10 largest petrochemicals manufacturers. The company is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.

SABIC's profit rose to a record SR 27 billion (US$ 7.2 billion) in 2007, a 33% increase over 2006. Sales revenues for 2007 totaled SR 126.2 billion (US$ 33.7 billion), the highest revenues achieved by the company since its inception. Total assets stood at SR 256 billion (US$ 68.3 billion) at the end of 2007.

SABIC operates six interlinked strategic business units: Basic Chemicals, Intermediates, Specialty Products, Polymers, Fertilizers and Metals. In 2007 SABIC Innovative Plastics was launched as a global manufacturer and supplier of highly engineered thermoplastics. SABIC has significant research resources and has 16 dedicated Research and Technology and application centers in the Middle East, the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The company operates in more than 40 countries across the world with over 31,000 employees worldwide.

In Saudi Arabia, the company has 20 world-scale complexes and 19 of them are located in the industrial cities of Al-Jubail and Yanbu. Some of these complexes are operated with multi-national joint venture partners such as ExxonMobil, Shell and Mitsubishi Chemicals. Elsewhere, SABIC manufactures on a global scale in more than 45 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. SABIC's overall production has increased from 27 million metric tons in 2001 to 55 million metric tons in 2007.

Headquartered in Riyadh, SABIC was founded in 1976 when the Saudi Arabian Government decided to use the hydrocarbon gases associated with its oil production as the principal feedstock for production of chemicals, polymers and fertilizers. The Saudi Arabian Government owns 70 percent of SABIC shares with the remaining 30 percent held by private investors in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

About SABIC Innovative Plastics

SABIC Innovative Plastics is a leading, global supplier of engineering thermoplastics with a 75-year history of breakthrough solutions that solve its customers' most pressing challenges. Today, SABIC Innovative Plastics is a multi-billion-dollar company with operations in more than 25 countries and over 10,500 employees worldwide. The company continues to lead the plastics industry with customer collaboration and continued investments in new polymer technologies, global application development, process technologies, and environmentally responsible solutions that serve diverse markets such as automotive, electronics, building & construction, transportation, and healthcare. The company's extensive product portfolio includes thermoplastic resins, coatings, specialty compounds, film, and sheet. SABIC Innovative Plastics (www.sabic-ip.com) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), one of the world's top five petrochemicals manufacturers.

About SABIC Europe:

SABIC Europe (Sittard, The Netherlands) is a SABIC subsidiary which includes all SABIC's polymers and base chemicals activities in Europe and employs around 3,300 people. SABIC has a European sales offices network, logistic hubs and three petrochemical sites in Europe: at Geleen (The Netherlands), Teesside (United Kingdom) and at Gelsenkirchen (Germany). SABIC Europe produces 3 million metric tons per annum of polyolefins* and 5.7 million metric tons of basic chemicals, mainly for the European market.

* including the projected numbers for the SABIC UK Petrochemicals 2008 LDPE plant.

All Topics