Metallocene Catalyst Process Helps Boost Dow Chemical Japan's PE Sales

Dow Chemical Japan Ltd.'s polyethylene sales in Japan are expected to reach 40,000 tons this year, a 45% increase compared to the previous year. The company's rapid sales expansion, it says, is in part attributable to the success of newly released products employing the metallocene catalyst process. The company also is enjoying an increase in Japanese users actively adopting overseas makers' products as their "keiretsu" relationships with resin makers has been diminishing.

Dow Chemical Japan began to market C8-type linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) in 1982, which was produced by incorporating octene into ethylene, and the product has grown into its core product, accounting for about 70% of the company's entire PE sales in Japan. Meanwhile, metallocene LLDPE released several years ago has also made rapid growth during the past few years and contributed to the company's sales expansion. With the release of metallocene products, the company accelerated sales expansion in unexplored fields such as food packaging applications. It intends to expand sales to 60,000 tons by 2000.

The company forecasts that the combined market size of LLDPE and LDPE in Japan in 2005 will reach about 2.1 million tons and is aiming at obtaining a market share of 8% as its long-term target.