GUANGZHOU, CHINA — DuPont Co. officials know that economic growth is slowing in China. The materials supplier came to Chinaplas with a strategy for maintaining growth in the region — both for DuPont and its customers.
“The Asia Pacific region continues to be an exciting, dynamic growth region, although over the last few years we have seen a change from the traditional double-digit growth rates,” said Roger Kant, the company's marketing director for packaging & industrial polymers in the Asia Pacific.
“Obviously for us growth is still an absolute imperative. Growth in Asia Pacific is critical for all DuPont businesses — and packaging & industrial polymers,” he said.
“The way we try to address this situation is by moving much more toward technology innovation, encouraging growth with our customers in collaborative activities, and really getting in and developing new products, new offerings that address real needs that are emerging within the region as societies industrialize and develop rapidly away from commodity supply,” Kant said.
DuPont highlighted several new products and technologies for the China market at a May 19 news conference in Guangzhou, just ahead of the opening of the Chinaplas show.
The innovations include:
• Elvaloy phthalate-free plasticizers for PVC. The company said the materials offer a combination that's rare in its sector — low-temperature flexibility, low migration, and it can stand up to long-term weathering. Elvaloy is a solid material, so it resists migrating and can give products a shelf life of 10 years or more.
• Meat packaging using a combination of DuPont Surlyn resin, with EVOH barrier and a tough layer of either nylon or polyester. The multilayer vacuum skin packaging can give meat a longer shelf life, of up to 30 days, which is important in emerging markets that may require shipping the product over long distances. The package also reduces punctures and other failures compared to PVDC, and can keep meat fresher — and fresher looking — longer, according to DuPont.
• Surlyn ionomer resins used as a surface film in fiberglass-reinforced plastic pipes. The first application is in reverse-osmosis industry, where it helps reduce cleaning and energy consumption.