India to see 50% increase in BOPP capacity over next two years

12 March 2010 07:58  [Source: ICIS news]

MUMBAI (ICIS news)--India will increase biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film capacity by around 50% over the next two years, an industry executive said on Friday.

“An additional capacity of 222,000 tonnes/year will be added by 2011,” said Indrajit Ghosh, general manager business development at Flex MiddleEast.

End-use applications for BOPP film include flexible packaging, pressure-sensitive tape, stationery and cable and insulation.

He estimated Indian BOPP capacity at 289,000 tonnes/year in 2009 as against domestic demand of 204,000 tonnes. Three new lines were due to start during 2010-11 and companies were planning further additions post 2012, he said.

Domestic demand growth, mainly driven by flexible packaging applications, would absorb most of the additional volumes, he added.

India exported around 30,000 tonnes of BOPP film last year, mostly to the Middle East and Europe, and Ghosh expected Indian producers to continue competing in the global market.

But China is likely to offer tough competition as its total capacity of 3.2m tonnes/year is well ahead of domestic demand of 2.2m tonnes/year.

Major Indian BOPP producers include Cosmo Films, Jindal Poly Films, Max Speciality Products and Uflex.

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By: Malini Hariharan
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