Atofina, TotalFinaElf's chemicals business, inaugurated a new polypropylene production unit in Feluy, Belgium on Friday, May 31. With a production capacity of 380,000 metric tons a year, the new unit is the biggest in the world to date. It takes the facility's total polypropylene production capacity to 800,000 metric tons a year, consolidating Atofina's leading position in the European petrochemical industry. TotalFinaElf's petrochemical strategy is to concentrate growth at large facilities to improve their competitiveness.

Commissioned in March 2002, the unit enables the range of products manufactured onsite to be extended and their properties to be improved, particularly fluidity, rigidity and impact resistance. It has also been designed to deploy the innovative metallocene catalyst technology developed by the Atofina Research laboratories near the plant.

Polypropylene has a broad array of applications and is used in particular in the manufacture of food-grade films, fibers for disposable diapers and carpets, yogurt containers, plastic plates and cups, garden accessories and toys. It is also used extensively in the automotive industry, particularly for bumpers and dashboards.

Atofina Feluy has 525 employees and has operated at the Feluy complex since 1970. It produces polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene, with a total capacity of 1.1 million metric tons a year. It is supplied with raw materials by pipeline from TotalFinaElf plants in Antwerp.