2023 is a very magical year, driven by the continuous promotion of BOPA film application and economic recovery, BOPA film has grown into the fastest growing nylon demand industry, by the end of 2023, BOPA film production capacity of 420,000 tons, compared with 2022, the production growth rate of 46%. With the rapid development of BOPA film in the field of food packaging, industrial packaging, daily chemical and pharmaceutical packaging, BOPA film production capacity will continue to grow, and the annual output capacity is expected to exceed 500,000 tons in 2025.
BOPA film is an important material for the production of various composite packaging materials, and has become the third largest packaging material after BOPP and BOPET film.
BOPA film is made of nylon 6 as raw material, and the nylon raw material is melted and extruded and cast, and then lengthwise, transverse (or simultaneously) stretched to make a film. At present, the mainstream production process is two-step bidirectional drawing process, first longitudinal stretching and then transverse stretching, crystal clear nylon 6 after the bidirectional stretching technology process quenching, into a thickness of about 1/4 of the functional film BOPA.
Compared with other films, BOPA film has higher strength than PE, BOPP film, low cost and environmental protection advantages than EVOH, PVDC film, is an ideal material for food preservation and fragrance preservation, especially suitable for freezing, cooking, vacuum packaging, and non-toxic and harmless.
(1) Food packaging: With the continuous improvement of consumers' requirements for food freshness and health, coupled with the needs of fast-paced life, the rapid growth of high-end food packaging demand with high preservation, high barrier, puncture resistance and heat resistance characteristics, and the rapid growth of market demand for functional plastic films such as BOPA film.
(2) In the field of daily chemical and pharmaceutical packaging: BOPA film, due to its excellent high barrier property and puncture resistance, can be combined with CPP film and aluminum-based materials to make pharmaceutical blister packaging materials, so as to meet the packaging requirements of high barrier, light avoidance, beauty and portability, and has a good market prospect.
(3) Lithium battery field: Aluminum-plastic film is the key material for the packaging of soft coated lithium battery cell. The aluminum-plastic film is composed of PA layer (external resistance layer), aluminum foil layer (permeability resistance layer) and CPP layer (heat sealing layer) through adhesive compound. The outer resistance layer is composed of BOPA film, which is located in the outermost part of the battery and is used to protect the aluminum foil structure of the inner layer of aluminum-plastic film from breaking. And reduce the external shock shock and other factors on the soft pack battery damage.
In view of the overall green development path of China's plastic processing industry, the high-end, lightweight, customized demand brought by the continuous upgrading of residents' consumption, and the rapid development of the new energy automobile industry and other positive factors, the demand for BOPA film is growing rapidly in China. At the same time, the domestic industrial chain is complete, the nylon industry has entered the era of full competition, providing a solid foundation for the development of BOPA film, and also providing convenient conditions for BOPA film to the world, driven by this, BOPA film production capacity ushered in explosive growth, and the new production capacity reached 135,000 tons in 2023. As the supply of BOPA films continues to increase, it is expected that the demand for BOPA films will also continue to develop with the support of many product features.
