Macro Engineering has received an order from a Chinese customer for four biax PVDC film lines to be delivered before the end of 2003. The lines, identified as BXH-1120, are capable of producing 1200 mm wide biaxially oriented monolayer PVDC film between 32 - 70 microns thick.

The biax PVDC film is used primarily for heat shrinkable, retortable sausage casings. Mirek Planeta, Macro's President, explained that biax PVDC film is the ideal packaging material for sausage casings. "The biaxially oriented PVDC film provides excellent O₂ and H₂O barrier for an extended shelf life. In addition, the film provides heat sealability for high-speed form film seal (FFS) machines, heat resistance for retorting, and shrinkability for product presentation. It is important to note that the O2 barrier is not affected by humidity during the retort process. Retorted sausages have shelf lives of up to six months at room temperature."

The customer, located in Shandong province, has four existing BXH-1120 lines that have performed flawlessly since they were installed. "Our customer is very satisfied with the reliability and film quality of their first four BXH-1120 lines. This gave them confidence when they decided to make the investment in four additional lines," says Steven Shi, Area Sales Manager for China. "With the delivery of these four BXH-1120 lines, Macro Engineering will have shipped twenty-five biax PVDC film lines to China," adds Shi.

Adolfo Edgar, Macro's Marketing Manager, indicated that customers in emerging markets are very keen on sourcing equipment capable of producing barrier films with PVDC. "Macro has been successful in placing equipment with PVDC capability in international markets in the recent months. In addition to the biax PVDC film lines sold to China, we have shipped and/or sold: a biax PVDC casing line to Latin America, a 7-layer blown film line with PVDC encapsulation to Eastern Europe, a 7- layer cast film line with PVDC encapsulation to China and a second one to Latin America," explained Edgar.