Yet another special product in which ExxonMobil Chemical plays a leading role is OPP film (Oriented Polypropylene). These are used as packaging material for foodstuffs such as biscuits, crisps and sweets, as well as for products like tobacco, flowers, tape and labels.

OPP film offers a comprehensive range of advantages over cellophane, which it has almost entirely replaced on the market. It provides an excellent barrier to moisture, fat and oxygen, and it is easy to print on its surface. OPP films can also be produced in different forms, including white, transparent and opaque.

Two of the three European ExxonMobil Chemical plants for OPP films - and high density polyethylene film, or HICOR films - are located in the Benelux, at Virton in Belgium and Kerkrade in the Netherlands. The starting materials used at both production locations are pellets of polypropylene resin that are supplied from all over the world and stored in a large number of silos at the plant site. The pellets are converted to a thick foil and then stretched in two directions. The final film can be between 15 and 80 microns thick. Approximately 95% of the production is intended for export.