On July 15, 2020, Sinopec announced that Sinopec Zhenhai Refinery and Chemical Company's newly established Ningbo New Material Research Institute has successfully independently developed and produced polyethylene rotomolding special materials, which can be widely used in the manufacture of boats, water tanks and other outdoor rollers. Plastic product materials have filled the domestic gap. In July, the first batch of 400 tons of new products was sold out by downstream manufacturers.

Rotational molding is a plastic hollow molding method. Outdoor rotomolding products such as boats and water tanks have long-term exposure to complex environments such as humid heat, exposure, and impact, and have special requirements for material performance. Domestic manufacturers have long relied on imports of raw materials. At present, due to the impact of the international epidemic, domestic manufacturers of large-scale rotomolded products face the situation of out of stocks in foreign supply chains.

"The downstream enterprise's machine is turned on, but there is no rice to cook, and there is no substitute for independent products in China." Liu Chuanchuan, deputy director of the Polyolefin Research Office of Ningbo New Materials Research Institute of Sinopec, lamented after visiting the rotomolding market in early June. This is a challenge of turning crisis into opportunity: "The market demand has exceeded our expectations. To seize this wave of opportunities, we must respond quickly."

For the characteristics of new products, the institute adopts rapid characterization analysis, additive formulation research, data reasoning and experimental verification to quickly clarify the target product performance and core production parameters, and completes the product formulation, naming, application code, and production within one month. This used to take three months or even six months in the past. It has been verified that the rotomolded material processed by this special material has the specific properties of high stiffness, high toughness and high UV resistance, which can fully meet the manufacturing needs of downstream enterprises. Editor/Peng Xue