Dow opens first Versify plant, in Spain

By Patrick Raleigh, ERJ On-line news editor

Tarragona, Spain-Dow Chemical Co. has started up a 57-kilotonne-per annum plant in Tarragona to produce its new Versify range of propylene-ethylene copolymer-based plastomers and elastomers. The unit is a retrofit of an existing polyolefins facility, said a company spokeswoman.

The unit is the first commercial plant for Versify, which was launched in February, said a 16 Sept Dow statement. The facility, it added, will supply a range of end users, possibly encompassing packaging producers, manufacturers of thermoplastic elastomers, and converters in the consumer products sector.

Customer feedback since the product launch has been “tremendous,” with strong sales orders across a number of key application areas, claimed Ralf Brinkmann, global product director, in a press statement.

“We are excited to see how quickly customers have taken advantage of this new polymer technology and have already started to introduce winning product solutions into their market segments,” he commented.

Versify materials are produced using new catalyst systems combined with Dow's proprietary Insiste production technology. According to Dow, the propylene-ethylene copolymers can improve optics, sealing and hot tack performance, elasticity, flexibility, and softness in films, fibres and moulded parts.

Versify is an innovative addition to Dow's plastics portfolio that enhances its specialty polymer offering, according to Romeo Kreinberg, Dow Plastics' senior vice president, in the group's statement.

“The product range combines Dow's strength in catalyst and process technology as well as material and polymer science to bridge current product performance gaps and help meet unmet customer needs,” he said.