DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY — Dow Chemical Co. (Hall 8/K48) is hoping that its new Intune material will be music to the ears of plastics processors.
Midland, Mich.-based Dow unveiled Intune at an Oct. 17 news conference at K 2013. The material is a polypropylene-based olefin block copolymer that "combines polyethylene and polypropylene to give previously unattainable performance," Dow executive Kim Ann Mink said at the event.
Mink serves as business president of Dow's elastomers, electrical and telecommunications unit. She added that Intune is expected to find a home in packaging, consumer durables, transportation and other markets. The new material can combine PE, polyolefin elastomers, ethylene vinyl alcohol or nylon with PP while minimizing trade-off properties, officials said in a news release.
Dow hasn't yet decided where Intune will be produced, but Mink said it is expected to be commercially available in early 2014. She added the material will be available in injection molding and extrusion grades and is not intended to replace the firm's Infuse-brand olefin block copolymer.
Dow ranks as one of the world's largest plastics and chemicals makers. The firm employs 54,000 worldwide and posted sales of about $57 billion in 2012.