Repsol's chemicals division, with a high degree of integration, focuses its strategy on the constant generation of value through differentiated products and services.
Repsol Chemicals manufactures a wide variety of products - ranging from base petrochemicals to derivatives, including polyolefins - from three integrated production facilities on the Iberian Peninsula. With more than 40 years of experience, the polyolefins range from Repsol includes polypropylene and polypropylene compounds, high and low-density polyethylene, metallocene linear low-density polyethylene, ethylene vinyl acetate and ethylene butyl acrylate co-polymers.
Almost two years ago, Repsol decided to focus on a new market: the healthcare segment, including pharmaceutical packaging and medical devices. The healthcare project of Repsol is considered differentiated and strategic due to the special characteristics of the targeted market. Even though plastics used in these applications are a small portion, about 2% of the amount of plastics used in the world, 47% of them are polyolefins. Also, the resilience and growth rate of the healthcare field is higher than in other industries, such as commodity chemicals or textiles.
Repsol's healthcare project was developed by a multidisciplinary team, including business management, production, purchasing and logistics, and with the help of the research and development centre, technical services and development and product stewardship departments; and on the commercial side, account managers and specialised distributors were appointed. Repsol launched the Repsol healthcare portfolio, a suitable range of polyolefins, which comprises:
This portfolio is characterised by encompassing multiple products (PP, HDPE, LDPE and EVA), is ready to be part of new projects and is capable of developing tailor-made grades.
Polyolefins are considered commodities in the pharmaceutical and medical worlds because they are extensively used materials, have well-known properties and are highly versatile.
Since the beginning of the project, Repsol has been convinced that something different has to be offered to the healthcare application that is not merely the product. There is a need to build and guarantee commitment and service on top of the product itself. The required elements are safety and dedicated stock, long-term commitment, documents' requirements, compliance, change control, excellent levels of service, extreme cleanliness, robust and validated processes, full traceability and no risk of contamination.
People at Repsol are flexible, committed, innovative, collaborative and responsible; this is the way Repsol wants to be present in the healthcare segment, which means being committed to:
Being a polyolefin supplier for pharmaceutical and medical applications, and offering the maximum quality, service, commitment and compliance worldwide is a thrilling challenge, and one that Repsol is eager to continue.
