Expansions: Teijin adds on PC sheet/film line for auto sector; Bharat Petroleum to use Univation PE process for two lines in India

Japan’s Teijin Ltd has announced that a new, additional production line for its polycarbonate (PC) resin Panlite sheet and film, located at its Matsuyama plant in Ehime Prefecture, will begin operation soon. The company invested in this new line to meet growing demand for high-quality automotive interior parts and in-vehicle electronic components, such as displays and touch screens. The new production line will have a capacity of 1,350 tonnes/year of these sheets and films.

The shift to vehicle electrification and autonomous driving is leading to improvements in interior design and infotainment that can transform vehicle cabins into comfortable, relaxing and engaging spaces. Applications such as touch screens and heads-up displays require optical sheet and film with excellent transparency and impact resistance, and polycarbonate resin sheets and films are often used for these applications.

In addition to automotive applications, Teijin plans to market its sheet and film products, which deliver higher quality than conventional in-house products, to the electrical and electronics (E/E) industry for devices such as virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR). The markets in these industries have expanded rapidly in recent years.

The new production line will allow Teijin to manufacture sheet and film, and multi-layer sheet and film of Panlite and acrylic resins, in thicknesses of 100 to 500 microns.

Plus, by suppressing minute distortions that can occur during manufacturing, Teijin is able to achieve surface smoothness that is the highest standard in the industry, it claims, according to internal research. Higher surface quality can enhance the resolution of projected images.

Teijin has an integrated production system that covers everything from PC resin to sheets and films, enabling the company to manufacture high-quality products that are less susceptible to thermal degradation. Because there is little thermal degradation of the products during the production process, Teijin says it can manufacture film and sheet products that are easy to process and can be made into complex shapes. It has previously produced Panlite sheets and films, and multi-layer sheets and films and acrylic resin, for use in optical equipment. The new production line was added to produce even higher-quality products.

Teijin aims to achieve annual sales of 2.5 billion yen in fiscal 2027 from products manufactured on the new production line.

In other news, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) has selected tech firm Univation's Unipol PE process technology for two world-scale production lines to be located at BPCL's Bina Refinery site in Madhya Pradesh, India. The two units are designed to achieve a combined nameplate production capacity of 1 million tonnes/year of PE.

The process designs for the two BPCL's reactor lines are engineered with full production back-fill capabilities to maximise manufacturing flexibility, increase PE resin supply continuity, and enable enhanced responsiveness to emerging marketplace needs.

The two BPCL reactor lines will enable production of both high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) products allowing BPCL to meet their customer demands across a wide range of PE applications essential for Indian markets.

BPCL is accessing Univation's advanced HDPE platforms, including advanced Prodigy Bimodal HDPE Technology and advanced Acclaim Unimodal HDPE Technology, to satisfy the high-performance needs of HDPE end-use applications including high-pressure PE100 and PE80 pipe, small part blow moulding (SPBM), and large part blow moulding (LPBM).

Furthermore, BPCL will also utilise Univation's XCAT metallocene catalysts to produce advantaged metallocene films covering specialty end-use applications such as durable shipping packages, film structures to enhance food preservation, and metallocene films designed for sustainable agricultural applications.

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