Engineering Plastics Sales

SABIC Innovative Plastics has a complete production cycle—from synthesis of the polymer base to the production of granules—for polycarbonate (PC), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyphenylene oxide (PPO), polyetherimide (PEI), and thermoplastic polyimide (TPI).

SABIC Innovative Plastics is the successor to General Electric Plastics (USA).

The SABIC Innovative Plastics plants supplying Europe, Africa, and the Middle East are located in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands, and Cartagena, Spain.

SABIC Innovative Plastics, together with Bayer AG, was the first company in the world to produce polycarbonate: it was discovered in 1953, and serial production began in 1958.

Base materials

Base products are divided into groups according to the type of polymer base. Each group has a corresponding trade name.

Within each group, different grades of plastic are available depending on their properties:

• melt-flow index;
• filler content, usually glass fibre;
• degree of flammability and fire resistance;
• presence of antioxidants for protection against UV radiation;
• approval for contact with food products—FDA certification;
• additives that make it easier to release the part from the mold;
• polymer-base modifications.

Polymer mixtures

LNP Products

LNP Products are plastics with special properties. Unlike base products, LNP Products are grouped according to their characteristic properties. Each group may contain plastics with different polymer bases.

Colour

Plastics in their natural state—that is, without pigments—may be transparent or opaque. Transparent plastics include:

The other plastics are opaque and naturally white with different shades.

SABIC Innovative Plastics produces both natural and coloured plastics. If a plastic is naturally transparent, after colouring it may be:

• transparent, while passing light of particular wavelengths;
• translucent or “smoky”;
• opaque.

Each colour is assigned an internal SABIC Innovative Plastics code. Every trade name has its own coding system. Customers may select any existing colour or order an individually matched new colour.

Applications

Marking

Examples of plastic designations used in technical documentation and when ordering: