Ineos Styrolution Adds New SBC and ABS Grades for Medical Uses

Materials maker Ineos Styrolution Group GmbH has launched new grades of styrenic block copolymer and ABS resins for the medical market.

The Frankfurt, Germany-based firm also is benefiting from its late 2016 acquisition of the K-Resin SBC business, officials said at the UBM Advanced Manufacturing Expo, held June 13-15 in New York.

The new grade of Styrolux-brand SBC can be used in drip chambers and other medical applications, global healthcare director Alexandre Silvestre said. A new glass-filled grade of Novodur-brand ABS meets many regulatory compliances in the medical market, he added.

Both new grades are being made at Ineos Styrolution sites in Europe, but are available to customers worldwide.

K-Resin continues to find homes in medical packaging as a PVC replacement. Before the acquisition, Ineos Styrolution's Styrolux and Styroflex SBC materials had competed with K-Resin in some applications. Ineos Styrolution bought the business from Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. and Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd., which had operated K-Resin as a joint venture since 2000.

Development work is underway to use SBC in IV bags. Silvestre said that some large OEM firms are evaluating SBC for the structural integrity it brings to that application.

Ineos Styrolution's annual sales into the medical market are growing at a double-digit rate, he added.