The Poly Pushers

In the fast-growing plastics industry, the fastest grower of all is a leathery, translucent material with a tongue-twisting name: polyethylene. Because "poly" is shatterproof, it is ideal for practice golf balls, "squeeze bottles" for deodorants and cosmetics, and cups, plates and saucers. Because it remains flexible even at low temperatures, it is fine for ice-cube trays and refrigerator containers; because it is acid-resistant, it is used in photo-developing tanks and piping for chemical plants. In ten years, U.S. output of poly has increased almost twenty fold, to 125 million Ibs. ; plastics men predict that in a few more years poly will be the leading mass production plastic in the world.

This week Union Carbide & Carbon's Bakelite Co. brought the prediction closer to reality. President Howard S. Bunn announced the biggest single expansion program in the history of the plastics industry. The company will spend some $100 million on three new poly plants (in Texas City and Seadrift, Texas, and Torrance, Calif.), thus double present U.S. output-- and more than triple its own.

Grey Market. Polyethylene was developed in 1933 by chemists of Britain's Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd. They found that ethylene. a hydrocarbon gas, turned into a white, waxlike solid when subjected to high pressures. I.C.I, licensed Du Pont to produce it. But Union Carbide, working independently, devised its own method of making poly, though it pays I.C.I, a royalty fee just the same. Today Bakelite's output totals about 70 million Ibs. a year; Du Pont, the only other commercial U.S. producer, accounts for an estimated 55 million Ibs., and is also expanding.

Since poly's uses mushroomed even faster than its output, supply has never caught up with demand. Used during World War II as insulation for radar and other electronic equipment, poly did not even reach the civilian market until war's end. Until recently, all poly produced in the U.S. was allocated by the Government, and it has been selling on the grey market at twice the regular price of 44-49-c- a Ib.

Poly's first use--as insulation--is still important. In the past 2 1/2 years the Army has saved $153 million by substituting poly for rubber as insulation for battlefield communication wire and cable. But Bakelite's President Bunn and other poly pushers think their market has barely been touched. Surgeons have successfully substituted poly tubing for bile ducts and poly film for brain membranes. Because of its flexibility and moisture-proof qualities, even at below-freezing temperatures, poly's biggest potential market may be in packaging fresh and frozen vegetables and other foods.

High-Pressure Lure. With these bright prospects, Union Carbide and Du Pont (which calls its plastic polythene) will soon have new competition from Texas Eastman, Dow, and probably National Petro-Chemicals, Spencer Chemical, and Monsanto. The two leaders, however, already have a big head start and valuable experience in poly production, which involves ultra-high pressures (equal to the pressure in the barrel of a 5-in. Navy antiaircraft gun when it is fired). Says Bakelite's President Bunn: "We have the lead and we intend to keep it."

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