Sukano Masterbatches activities on Chinese market
by Colin Newton, Director of Sales & Marketing Asia Pacific at Sukano
Are you exhibiting at the Chinaplas fair? – Yes, Sukano is exhibiting at the Chinaplas this year. With travel restrictions in place, we are working closely with our local distribution partners who will be welcoming customers and prospects at our booth. Our Malaysia team will be available virtually for meetings with customers and visitors at the fair. The Greater China market is indeed a market of high relevance for Sukano and we are delighted to have the possibility to be part of this trade show once again.
What innovations will your company be presenting? – One of the main highlights is our latest project CPET light, jointly developed with our long-term partner Illig. It is aimed for transparent applications where temperature resistance up to 100 °C is required. Up until today, commonly used PE and PP was either not recyclable or not food contact compliant. CPET offers both, but is also temperature resistant up to 220 °C, which is not necessarily needed and lowers the output. CPET light offers it all: transparency, temperature resistance up to 100 °C, and recyclable to ensure no contamination of recycling streams. We see a high market demand in this new material as it provides a great alternative to PP and PE and improves the production efficiency compared to CPET. It provides food contact compliance and ensure recyclability of the end application. Another recent development is our transparent impact modifier for flash frozen applications, which again goes under the umbrella of circularity. Our impact modifier enables the replacement of non-recyclable frozen food trays with PET monomaterial structure, while increasing the use of rPET. With this newly formulated Sukano Impact Modifier, customers have an alternative at hand to replace products made of, for instance, amorphous copolyesters or GAG film structures, while enjoying the benefits that go beyond mechanical property modification: improved durability and toughness, enhanced impact resistance, higher rPET content, shatter resistance – and all without a loss in transparency.With local biopolymer producers being established, we now see an increasing demand in biopolymer masterbatches. At Chinaplas, Sukano will showcase its complete PLA portfolio, which enables and expands the use of biopolymers in various end applications, since biopolymers play an important role in the goal of a circular economy.
How important is the Chinese market for you? – For Sukano as a global additive and colour masterbatch specialist for PET, biobased, biodegradable polymers and specialty resins, the greater China market is of high relevance. Sukano has a very large presence in BOPET thin films and shrink film markets and has been active in these market segments since the development of BOPET manufacturing in China. We continue to grow and develop our market presence and sales for thin films, rigid film for thermoformed packaging and injection moulded containers. We are experiencing increasing interest and demand for masterbatches that enhance the properties and characteristics of the various polyester products as the focus on recycling and biopolymer usage increase, and Sukano has extensive experience in both markets and a complete portfolio that supports customers inquiries. Investment in biopolymer manufacturing in China is expanding rapidly and is expected to account for the vast majority of world capacity by 2030. Sukano is proud to have embarked this journey towards biobased, biodegradable polymers from the very beginning over a decade ago. By leveraging our expertise, focus and dedication in conventional polyester plastics to bioplastics, our bio-based masterbatches portfolio has grown significantly with a product range for PLA, PBS(A) and now also expanding into PHA Masterbatches.
Are you planning to invest or establish yourself there? – We have established great long-term partnership with local distributors that are familiar with the market and demand. We work very closely to ensure we meet and fulfill the needs of our customers in China. Our global presence allows us to develop in one place and deploy everywhere. Our strategically located manufacturing site in Malaysia allows a local and agile service with unique technical support while ensuring prompt availability of our products. We firmly believe – and practice – customer centricity via dedicated collaboration, cooperation and partnership.
How do you see the PET industry developing this year? – We see an increasing demand in recycling and biopolymers, especially with the Chinese legislation for polymer waste imports and the huge emphasis that has been placed on internal recycling management initiatives. Both recycling and biopolymers are core founding principles of Sukano. Sukano offers an extensive rPET portfolio to enable the use in various end applications, supporting our customers in switching to circular solutions via a dedicated rPET masterbatch formulations. For a long time, the reuse of PET was limited to applications like fibres or trays; rPET was perceived as low value, hence a source of cost reductions. One of our core products in our rPET portfolio is our Sukano Melt Enhancer Masterbatches, which enables upcycle instead of just recycle. This masterbatch ensures uniform cell structure, improving mechanical performance and processing stability, allowing the use of recycled PET in high quality end applications and closed loop systems. Since different end applications require different product performances – and processing technology is not uniform at every industrial centre – our specialists can assist you in the selection of the most accurate and appropriate reactive chemistry to allow you enjoy the greatest value over benefit ratio. At Sukano, it is clear that only by joint forces and efforts along the entire value chain we can be impactful in achieving a circular and sustainable future. All our products are designed for circularity, enabling or improving production, sorting and recycling and, in the end, ensuring the most suitable end-of-life option with the best value that together leads us towards the common goal.
