Expansions: Toray to increase the capacity of BOPP films in Japan; BASF increases production capacity for alkoxylates in Europe

Japan’s Toray Industries has announced that it will again increase production capacity for Torayfan biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film at the Tsuchiura Plant in Ibaraki Prefecture.The move is part of ongoing efforts to meet the growing demand for automotive capacitor film in an expanding market for electrified vehicles. When they go online in 2025, the upgraded facilities will lift Torayfan’s production capacity by 40%.

Torayfan is one of the lightest plastic films. It is tough, with excellent mechanical and electrical properties. It serves in everything from industrial areas to film capacitors and packaging. Film capacitors are a prime application, commonly in the electronic parts of appliances and IT equipment and in inverter circuits for the power control units of electrified vehicle motors.

An inverter is a power circuit or device with such circuitry that changes direct current to alternating current. The driving performance and efficiency of these vehicles have improved in recent years. Power control units and film capacitors have become smaller and lighter to enhance interior spaces and design flexibility. The downside, however, has been lower voltage resistance. Torayfan dominates the automotive capacitor film market because its unique technology maintains thinness and voltage resistance.

Recent years have seen automotive emissions regulations tighten worldwide as awareness of environmental issues grows. Governments are moving to restrict sales of vehicles employing internal combustion engines.

It is against that backdrop that Toray projects that the electrified vehicle market will grow 20% annually through 2030. The company boosted Torayfan capacity at the Tsuchiura Plant in 2022 for automotive capacitors. It has decided to lift capacity further in view of expanding demand for these capacitors.

In other news, Germany’s BASF is gradually bringing additional alkoxylation capacity on stream in Antwerp, Belgium, and Ludwigshafen, Germany, from the second quarter of 2023. The investment benefits European customers in particular with a significant capacity increase well in excess of 150,000 tonnes/year.

"With this expansion, we are strengthening our position in Europe and opening up important growth opportunities in the European market through a wide range of applications such as in the detergents and cleaners, automotive and construction industries," said Mary Kurian, President Care Chemicals. “This capacity expansion – implemented despite the challenges faced over the past few years – gives our customers enhanced flexibility and supply security. It is in response to the long-term increase in demand for alkoxylates and reinforces our market leadership in this growing segment,” adds Soeren Hildebrandt, Senior Vice President, Home Care, I&I and Industrial Formulators Europe at BASF.

Most of the capacity increase is part of the expansion of ethylene oxide and ethylene oxide derivatives at the Belgian Verbund site in Antwerp. In addition to alkoxylation, the expansion encompasses investment in a second world-scale ethylene oxide production line, including purified ethylene oxide capacity.

Alkoxylation is used for instance to produce surfactants for the home care industry and for various applications in industrial and institutional cleaning. BASF customers utilize these surfactants in the formulation of laundry detergents, cleaning agents, and dishwashing products.

Alkoxylates are also used in technical applications for industrial solutions. Examples include raw materials for superplasticizer production, emulsion polymerization emulsifiers, crop protection additives, and polyurethane foams for the automotive and construction industries.

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