Production and Market of BOPP Film
                          By Zou Sheng'ou
1. Domestic production
China started the commercial production of BOPP film rather late,   but
the development has been fast. The capacity increased by 160  000  t/a
in 1995 and 1996 alone, doubling the original capacity. China  has  40
BOPP producers with 57 production lines and a capacity of 372 000 t/a.
They are distributed throughout China, especially in Guangdong, Jiangsu,
Shanghai and Zhejiang near the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River
Delta. The biggest BOPP producer is Foshan Dongfang  Packing  Material
Factory in Guangdong, its capacity being over 30 000 t/a.  The  second
biggest producer is Zhongshan Yongning Plastic Products Co., Ltd., its
capacity being 20 000 t/a. Producers with a capacity exceeding 10  000
t/a include Film Factory of  Guangzhou  Petrochemical  General  Plant,
Shanghai Jinpu Plastic Packing Material Co., Ltd. and  Jiangsu  Shenda
Packing Group. The total output of BOPP in China was  around  250  000
tons by the end of 1996,  and  around  one- third  of  the  total  was
produced by Guangdong producers. Except for a few units, the operating
rate has reached 90%.
In spite of the expansion in production capacity, increase  in  product
output and improvement in product grade and quality,  the  medium  and
low-grade products still occupy a major proportion and high-grade  and
good quality products still have to be imported.
All  BOPP  production  lines  are  imported  from  specialized  foreign
companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and  Toshiba  of  Japan,
Bruckner and Lenzing of Germany, Marsall  of  the  United  States  and
Cellier of France.
Raw materials used  in  the  production  of  BOPP  film  in  China  are
basically imported from abroad. Special resins imported mainly include
PD382, PD383, PD064 and PD320 from Himont of the United  States, FL6CK
from Mitsubishi Chemical of Japan,  FS2011  and  FS3011  from  TPC  of
Singapore, H2210, H2211 and HF20M from Modern Chemical of Korea, PD402
from Himont of Taiwan Province, KF6100 from Shell of the United Kingdom,
KS409 and KS309 from Solvay of Belgium.
  With the expansion of the  polypropylene  industry  in  China,   some
special resins for BOPP film have also been developed  in  the  recent
years. For  example,   PP  F680B  developed  by  Yangzi  Petrochemical
Corporation is a copolymer of propylene and ethylene.  The  melt  flow
index is 1.8 g/10min, the isotactic degree is 95 - 96% and the tensile
strength is more than 30 MPa. When used in the production   of    BOPP
film,  it  can have the feature of continuous stretching with  a  high
film forming rate and can  produce  super  thin  film  of  8 000-   10
000nm. PP T36F developed by Qilu Petrochemical Corporation can produce
film with little cloudiness, large modulus and small static electricity.
F280 developed by Shanghai Petrochemical Corporation  can  produce  50
tons of film per day and stretch 292 meters of film per minute in  the
24 continuous testrun and has been recommended by Bruckner of  Germany
to be the seventh raw material for the equipment of the company.  2400
and 2401 developed by Yanshan Petrochemical Corporation  have  reached
an annual output of 15 000 tons.
  The imported resins have high melt flow index and low melting  point.
The plasticization is even and the melt flow is stable when  they  are
being processed. The domestic resins have low melt flow index and high
  isotactic  degree  ( PP  2400  developed  by  Yanshan   Petrochemical
Corporation having an isotactic degree of 98%). The plasticization and
the melt flow are not as good as imported resins. Their crystallinity,
in particular, is higher than  imported  resins.   There  is  a  great
difference of process  conditions  in  die  casting  between  domestic
resins and imported resins. The  high  isotactic  degree  of  domestic
resins, of course, can increase the tensile strength of film. Domestic
resins have more impurities and high ash content  which  will  produce
the fluctuation of melt flow pressure and increase  the  frequency  of
filter net change. The use  of  partial  domestic  resins  to  replace
imported resins will produce the fluctuation  of  film  thickness  and
cause the difficulty in readjustment and control. The product  quality
will be seriously affected and there will be film breakage.
2. Domestic market
(1) supply and demand
(i) film for printing and composite materials
  The printing sector in China is developing fast.   Nearly  a  hundred
enterprises have made an investment of over 4 million U.S. dollars  in
new color printing units (mostly joint ventures) in the recent  years.
The situation has brought a great market to  BOPP  film.   The  annual
demand of BOPP film in the printing sector reached 20 000  -   22  000
tons at the end of 1966, but the domestic capacity is only 16 000 - 18
000 t/a. The market of BOPP film for printing is concentrated in  East
China, South China and Central China, especially in Shanghai, Jiangsu,
Zhejiang, Guangdong, Hubei and Fujian.
(ii) pearly film
BOPP pearly film is mainly used in packing of frozen food and  candies.
The total demand is 30 000 - 35 000 tons, but the output  is  only  20
000 - 22 000 tons.  Producers  are  mainly  distributed  in  Shanghai,
Guangzhou, Foshan, Shantou and Neijiang.
(iii) smoky film
The total demand of smoky film is around 60 000 tons, being 29 000 tons
in Guizhou and surrounding areas alone, but the output is only 30  000
- 35 000 tons and the product quality is not good. Producers are mainly
distributed in Kunming, Z