Machino Polymers and Borouge to Develop High Performance Polypropylene Materials for Indian Automotive Sector

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Leading manufacturer of polyolefins Borouge (Ruwais, Abu Dhabi) has announced plans to cooperate with India's leading supplier of polypropylene compounds for the automotive sector, Machino Polymers Limited (Gurgaon, Haryana), in an effort to enhance Borouge's supply of advanced polypropylene materials to the Indian automotive market. Borouge, also known as Abu Dhabi Polymers Company Limited, was established in 1998 as a 40:60 joint venture between Borealis AG (Vienna, Austria), a leading manufacturer of plastics, and state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates).

The cooperation will extend to the use of resins manufactured by Borealis based on its proprietary Borstar technology to produce high-performance specialty polypropylene compounds in combination with Machino Polymers' compounding technology. Borstar is Borealis' state of the art multimodal proprietary technology used to produce environmentally superior polyethylene and polypropylene. The new association will help in the introduction of cost-saving solutions, new technology and innovative automotive applications to the Indian market. Borealis has been developing innovative solutions for the European automotive market, and now the growing Indian automotive market will have easy access to these specialty products as well. Such high-performance polypropylene compounds are used to manufacture interior and exterior automotive components such as instrument panels, door panels, bumpers and a variety of other applications.

According to Arjun Jindal, Executive Director of Machino Polymers, discussions between the two companies are aimed toward furthering the potential of both companies in India. Jindal added that by leveraging the core competencies and resources of the companies, the association should be able to meet the growing needs of the Indian automotive market.

Machino Polymers' 40,000-ton-per-year plant in Gurgaon manufactures polypropylene compounds and advanced materials for the Indian automotive sector. Its product portfolio includes exterior materials for vehicle parts such as bumpers and mudguards, interior materials for trims, dashboards and door panels, under-the-hood parts such as battery cases, air-intake ducts, and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) application materials. The company is currently setting up additional manufacturing units in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and Pune, Maharashtra. Both units are expected to be commissioned by 2010-11 and when completed, will respectively meet the requirements of the southern and western Indian markets.

The Machino Innovative Research and Application Centre (MIRAC) is recognized by the Indian government's Department for Scientific and Industrial Research. MIRAC's ongoing endeavor is to develop both existing and new products, design and develop polypropylene composite materials and alloys, carry out in-depth research on the relationship between the structure and properties of polymers and develop applications to meet the future needs of the market. Some of the focus areas of MIRAC are studies on the cross-linking of polyolefins with special emphasis on polypropylene, studies on polypropylene polyamide alloy and how best to modify polypropylene using polyamide, develop antistatic behavior and improve anti-scratch behavior in polypropylene alloys and composite materials, and carry out crash-worthiness analyses of different impact-modified thermoplastic olefins, with emphasis on exterior applications.

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