E-Weekly
Feb 28th, 2007 Print this article E-Weekly News Briefs Feb. 26-March 2By Modern Plastics Editorial Staff
Lanxess expands Indian ABS compounds capacity
Lanxess (Leverkusen, Germany) is building a new facility in Moxi, India, for coloring ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene). With double-digit growth rates, India is the strongest-growing market for ABS in Asia. The new facility is a further step towards the expansion of ABS capacity from 60,000 to 80,000 tonnes/yr. Capacity can be further raised to 100,000 tonnes/yr if needed. The project will enable Lanxess to consolidate its leading position with this business in India and to continue participating in the strong market growth.
Cincinnati Extrusion partners with Bauku for large spiral-wound pipes
Cincinnati Extrusion has announced a partnership with Bauku to supply extrusion lines for spirally wound large-diameter pipes. Cincinnati Extrusion already supplies lines for smooth and corrugated pipe, especially for wastewater, with diameters to 1200 mm. The spiral-winding process can produce pipes up to 3000 mm in diameter.
In the system, an extruder is placed on a rail-mounted carriage alongside multiple winding stations, which are designed to accommodate mandrels from 300 to 3000 mm nominal width. A nominal width of 3500 mm is also an option, and with different profile dies, the extruder can produce virtually any desire type of pipe profile.
Lightweighting remains sustainable heavyweight
A new study reports that lightweighting is the best means to create sustainable packaging. The ULS Report entitled A Study of Packaging Efficiency as it Relates to Waste Prevention states that the best way to reduce waste, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions, is through so-called source reduction. As such, the report finds that the product-to-package weight ratio is an effective barometer, promoting lighter packages, larger sizes where appropriate, and selling products like fruit juice or dish detergent in concentrated forms to get more use from a package.
Bob Lilienfeld also promoted flexible packaging saying it is to sustainable packaging what compact fluorescent light bulbs are to energy efficiency. “Flexible containers…are a great way to save energy and materials,” Lilienfeld said in a statement. “Unlike compact fluorescent light bulbs, which require customers to purchase unfamiliar products, flexible pouches and envelopes still contain the same products that consumers are comfortable buying.”
LME expounds on trading changes
The London Metal Exchange (LME) has released details regarding its additional prompt dates and amended ring-trading times for its polypropylene (PP) and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE; see e-Weekly Feb. 16, for initial report). The additional prompt dates will become effective June 25, 2007 with the tradable dates for plastics tracking the current nonferrous metal LME contracts.
Cash tomorrow will first be tradable on June 26 for a prompt of June 27; every business day out to three months; every Wednesday in months four, five, and six; and every third Wednesday of months seven through 15. Since there are now six new regional contracts, the five-minute plastics ring-trading sessions at the LME will be divided into two two-minute segments, with one each for PP and LLDPE that will be separated by a one-minute break.
In a release, Neil Banks, director of exchange development, said the prompt-date structure, which mirrors that of its base metals trading, should promote price discovery.
“As the contracts develop and volumes increase, the LME will monitor trading to ensure that the ring-trading times continue to be appropriate to the efficient establishment of its reference prices.”
Since their launch on May 27, 2005, the plastics futures contract have seen 715,000 tonnes of the PP contracts and 635,000 tonnes of the LLDPE contracts traded, equating to monetary values of $715 million and $635 million respectively. The LME’s 2006 trades for all of its materials reached the equivalent of $8.5 billion.
Delphi closer to exiting interiors
Following the lead of fellow Tier One Lear (Southfield, MI), Delphi (Troy, MI) is closer to jettisoning its interiors business, signing a nonbonding term sheet with The Renco Group Inc. The agreement marks the start of due diligence, including consultations with Delphi employee unions and is pending the approval of the U.S. bankruptcy court, which is currently overseeing Delphi’s reorganization. Also included in the deal is Delphi’s closure business, which features door modules and latch systems. Delphi reports that the unit has manufacturing in the U.S., Mexico, Austria, Germany, China, and Korea, from which it generates annual revenue of $1.3 billion.
Renco is a privately held diversified investment holdings company with interests in industries ranging from mining, automotive, magnesium, steel, metals fabrications, and material handling. Renco portfolio companies include AM General, US Magnesium, Doe Run Resources, and Unarco Material Handling. The group generates $3.5 billion in revenue.
Honda hiring molders, more in Indiana
Honda has begun limited hiring for the new $550 million auto assembly plant it’s constructing near Greensburg, IN, which will include in-house injection molding. The company is currently seeking candidates for nonproduction positions, including automotive engineering, purchasing, information technology, and administration, with the hiring of production workers beginning late this year. Detailed information on the positions available is posted at www.indiana.honda.com.
The 200,000 vehicle/yr plant, which will occupy a 1700-acre site, was announced June 28, 2006, with site preparation already initiated. Eventually Honda plans to employ 2000 in Greensburg, with the majority of those in production positions, including stamping, welding, injection molding, subassembly processes, painting, and final assembly.
Mass production of 2009-model-year vehicles will begin in the fall of 2008. Including its Acura brand, Honda built 1.16 million vehicles in North America in 2006, which accounted for 77% of the 1.5 million vehicles it sold last year in the region. Once completed, this operation will boost Honda’s North American capacity to 1.6 million, with 37,000 employees.
SpinStack molding in a cleanroom
Injection molder Juno Inc. (Enoka, MN) announces it now offers customers an ISO Class 7 (Class 10,000) facility for multishot medical molding with SpinStack tooling, developed by Gram Technology (Scottsdale, AZ). Juno is a licensee of Gram’s SpinStack moldmaking technology.
“Multi-shot molding and SpinStack tooling can reduce part numbers and assembly steps by producing, and in effect, assembling two or more components in one mold,” said John Jenkins, Juno plant manager. “This multishot molding capability gives designers the flexibility to add features such as soft-touch finishes and molded-in gaskets and seals.”
Juno’s new ISO Class 7 Mini-environment (Class 10,000) and ISO Class 8 Clean Room (Class 100,000) are part of the newly constructed White Room complex where Juno provides medical molding and medical product assembly services in three distinct environments. The
Mini-environment and Clean Room are certified to ISO-14698 for biocontamination control
and ISO-14644 for airborne-particulate control. The Mini-environment is a mobile clean room that can be erected around the injection molding equipment best suited for a particular medical application.
PUR car seat processors get raw materials index
A new cost index is being launched to highlight general cost fluctuations in the raw materials used by Euro-Moulders (Brussels), the European association of manufacturers of automotive polyurethane (PUR) parts. Its members supply about 80% of the PUR foams used for seat cushions in Europe and include Faurecia, F.S. Fehrer, Grupo Copo, Johnson Controls, Proseat, Toscana Gomma, and Trevès. The Index is intended to provide processors and their automotive industry customers more pricing transparency. The Euro-Moulders Cost Index will map cost trends on a quarterly basis for the five main components of PUR car seats (all derivatives of crude oil), particularly toluene and naphtha.
Published on the new Euro-Moulders website www.euro-moulders.org, the Cost Index will chart the evolution of raw material costs over time. The data will be compiled by an independent notary to ensure that company data remain confidential. Participation in the index is voluntary for Euro-Moulders members, and Euro-Moulders is starting this project with part of its membership, enough to represent a majority. Euro-Moulders Secretary General Hubert Creyf said, “The pricing pressure brought to bear on seat manufacturers by the large car manufacturers is intense, and is often disconnected from the economic reality of the cost evolution experienced by parts manufacturers. The Euro-Moulders Cost Index should allow molded foam manufacturers to better respond individually to such pressure with appropriate and objective cost information, while preserving the necessary confidentiality and anonymity of this information.”
Melt Flipper crosses the border
Beaumont Technology Inc. (BTI; Erie, PA) will use the Plast-Ex 2007 trade show in early May in Toronto to introduce to the Canadian market its MeltFlipper melt-rotation technology for balancing filling in hot and cold runner injection molding applications. The firm says the trade show also will be its first public display of its inmold adjustable rheological control systems (iMARC) which, says BTI, enable processors to better control and take advantage of rheological changes that occur naturally as the material flows.
BTI’s technologies provide injection molders the ability to balance multicavity molds and alter filling patterns within specific cavities to eliminate waste and part-quality issues. The iMARC systems will introduce the ability to dynamically adjust the melt flow form the parting line of the tool without the need to change gate locations, part geometry or process conditions, nor to remove the mold from the press.
Pencil hardness not up to scratch?
The Pencil Hardness test, used to determine how well a hard-coated film will endure, may be soft on accurate results, according to a Gauge R&R (Repeatability & Reproducibility) study conducted by MacDermid Autotype (Wantage, England), a converter of films for inmold labeling and other uses. The firm says its testing shows that this universally adopted standard is not as reliable, repeatable, or accurate a measure of film properties as has often been believed.
The Pencil Hardness test is easy and relatively cheap, hence its ubiquity. The surface of the coating can be tested with a range of leads, 9H being the hardest and 6B the softest. The tester performs a number of strokes, typically five, with the pencil on the surface of a film; if the surface is not scratched then the next hardest pencil is used, continuing until the sample is scratched and damaged by the pencil. If a coating can survive scratching by a 3H pencil or better then it is generally considered to be a hard coating.
The study showed that variations of 1H can be expected from the test, even when carried out by highly trained individuals, with good eyesight, following a strict protocol, and using the correct specification of pencil. These variations can be even greater under laboratory conditions or when carried out by different suppliers or end users. Reasons for variation included variances in testing circumstances and differences in pencils.
Ultimately, the study concludes that alternative tests should be used, such as the Taber test, more relevant to most display applications as it is a surface scratch test rather than a gouge test. The Taber test was found to be objectively more reliable as well as being more relevant to the final application.
Caps carry molding prowess
Closure molder RPC beauté (Paris, France) molds closures for the Estée Lauder Cyber White range of skin care products using an in-house developed processing technology for overmolding plated parts. The caps are a three material construction–incorporating ABS, DuPont’s Surlyn and polypropylene–overmolded onto a plated part. The combination is robust and meets aesthetic requirements. Surlyn packaging grades are made from ethylene acid copolymers, in which the acid groups are partially neutralized.
RPC beauté developed a more heat-and pressure-resistant resin compound to replace standard ABS, as pressure and temperature required during overmolding would normally damage the plated part. During cooling, the plated section previously had taken on insulating properties, creating a physical barrier between the Surlyn and the mold core; this extended cooling times and thus cycle times.
To overcome this, RPC beauté developed a process that increases cooling efficiency and reduces cycle time (it’s not sharing the secret). And on top of all that, the molder had to develop a special parts-handling system, as the Surlyn is still soft when taken out of the molds.
The result is a higher overall visual quality for the finished closure as there is intimate contact between the plated surface and the Surlyn, which creates good reflection, and better functional quality as there is no risk of any movement or separation of the two parts of the cap, even after repeated use.
U.S. natural polymer demand to approach $3.6 billion
Natural polymer demand is expected to grow 5.9% annually to $3.6 billion in 2010, reaching 1.7 billion lb, according to a new research report from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industry market research firm. Demand will be stimulated by increased levels of food production, and opportunities in packaging, medical, and other areas. Average natural polymer prices are expected to stabilize, reflecting declining prices for starch and fermentation products.
Cellulose ether accounted for 31% of total demand in 2005, and demand is projected to increase 4.2% yearly to $1 billion in 2010. These materials have widespread food, construction, and oilfield applications. Methyl cellulose will account for 31% of the cellulose ether market due to its entrenched position in construction materials.
Starch and fermentation product demand will grow at a double-digit pace to nearly $800 million in 2010. Production efficiencies have resulted in price declines and expanded capacity and is expected to stimulate demand for polylactic acid and starch-blend polymers in packaging and textile fiber uses. Robust growth is anticipated for protein-based polymers such as collagen. Food and beverages will remain the leading market for natural polymers, which are used at thickeners, stabilizers, and emulsifiers.
Specialty film demand to nearly $7.3 billion by 2010
The Freedonia Group’s latest report states that demand for specialty films is forecast to advance 4.8% per year to $7.3 billion in 2010, driven by increasing performance requirements in a number of markets that is necessitating the use of higher-value specialty materials in films. Additionally, the rapid adoption of technologies such as modified-atmosphere and case-ready packaging will also drive demand, as will improved processing methods in film coating and metallization.
Barrier films will remain the largest segment of the specialty film industry, accounting for over half of total demand in 2010. Growth will be driven by the rapid rise of case-ready technology in meat packaging, which requires barrier films to maintain an optimum atmosphere inside the package. These will spur advances in ethylene vinyl alcohol, nylon, and polyvinylidene chloride, which are used in barrier films.
Conductive films will see demand from a resurgent U.S. electronics industry, in particular the market for flexible printed circuit boards, which is expected to rebound from declines posted during the 2000-2005 period, which will benefit demand for polyimide and polyester films used in their manufacture.
The most rapid growth will occur in biodegradable and water-soluble films, which will see double-digit gains from a small base. Demand for biodegradable films, which are used to produce compostable kitchen and lawn bags, will benefit from environmental concerns and increased commercialization of biobased polymers. Water-soluble film demand will receive a boost from the introduction of medicinal and health products in dissolvable thin-film form.
Save on K show tickets
Messe Düsseldorf, organizer of this October’s triennial K Show for the plastics industry, announced that entrance passes for K 2007 can be ordered online at a reduced price. At www.k-online.de, a one-day entrance pass can be ordered for €49 (compared to €55 when purchased on-site) and a three-day entrance pass costs €108 online, a €12 savings.
The entrance passes can be used as a free public transportation ticket on all buses, streetcars, underground trams (U-Bahn), urban railways (S-Bahn), and German rail service within the Rhine-Ruhr regional network (VRR) of Düsseldorf and the Rhein-Sieg transportation network (VRS), which includes the neighboring cities of Wuppertal, Krefeld, Dortmund, Bonn, and Cologne.
The K 2007 website also offers product information on the K 2007 exhibitors and more. The show is the leading event for the industry and will feature some 2900 exhibitors from all continents, involved in every aspect of the industry.
Cereplast announces the compostable logo is granted by BPI to new cutlery
Cereplast Inc. (Hawthorne, CA), producer of proprietary biobased resins, today announced that the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) has granted the use of its logo for the cutlery manufactured and distributed by Penley Corp. (West Paris, ME). The cutlery will be manufactured using the Cereplast injection molding grade resin and will be introduced under the trademark “Full Circle.” Penley Corp. is a provider of consumer products to food, drug, and mass-merchant retailers throughout the U.S., Mexico, and the Caribbean Islands.
Products bearing the BPI logo meet ASTM D6400 and are designed to biodegrade quickly, completely, and safely, without leaving plastic residue in commercial and municipal composting facilities.
Unmanned vehicles get boost from YLA’s resin families
Improvements and additions to YLA’s offering of advanced composite materials now enable developers of unmanned aerial, underwater, and surface vehicles (UAVs, UUVs and SUVs, respectively) to achieve one-stop shopping for lightweight structural, mechanical, and airfoil components. YLA’s (Benicia, CA) newly developed Xponent resin family expands the portfolio into new territory for elevated temperature service in hostile environments.
YLA’s extensive experience in military aircraft, UAVs, and marine applications has enabled formation of unmanned vehicle products, including high-temperature bismaleimide (BMI) and polyimide systems; and toughened polycycanate esters matched to customer-specific needs.
“Recognizing a sharp increase in interest for advanced composite structures for unmanned vehicles, YLA has developed new capabilities,” said Samuel Sher, YLA’s director of marketing and business development.
Structured walled sewage pipe standards approved
European-wide standards for plastic structured-wall sewer pipes and fittings have been approved and are expected to be published later this year. “The new standards will create a level playing field in Europe for these sewer products in building, utility, and civil engineering markets,” says Roger Smith, president of the European Plastic Pipe & Fittings Assn. (Brussels). Different standards of structured-wall plastics pipes and fittings have been in use in Europe for more than 30 years.
Smith says the industry has been working together to harmonize views on what are the common requirements for such pipe systems. One issue was that there are more than 20 different types of such pipes in service covering a range of nonpressure applications. He says an immediate change in the market is not expected but there will be some technical and quality consequences.
Fraunhofer offers migration detection
As part of the European Union (EU) Foodmigrosure project, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute (Munich, Germany), in cooperation with nine companies, have developed a system to detect the amount of plastic additives that migrate from packaging into foodstuffs. The mathematical model works off the finding that the liquid food simulants used in lab setting to test migration aren’t as accurate as samples from solid foods. Using actual food versus simulants, the group created a collection of data that shows how additives move in plastics. Other models show how many substances migrate from the plastic packaging into the food at the contact surface. A third model shows how the migrated materials mix into the actual food.
A formula was created to summarize the models, taking into account the foodstuff’s structure as well as the type of plastic and additives present in the packaging. The institute says the costs for a computer simulation are cheaper than actual tests, and, reportedly, more accurate.
Early registration for World Petrochemical Conference closes
Early registration for Chemical Market Associates Inc.’s (CMAI; Houston) 22nd Annual World Petrochemical Conference and Workshops (March 20-22, 2007) closed on Feb. 28. It was on record pace and looking to eclipse the 940 who attended the 2006 event. Immediately preceding the conference, which will feature presentations on macrolevel issues facing chemicals, plastics, and fibers, the event will have two one-day workshops on March 20, including a new, advanced In-Depth Polyolefins session. If you’re interested in registering, go to: https://www.cmaiglobal.com/EvConferences.aspx?eventid=q6uj9a008e27 or contact CMAI by email: conferences@cmaiglobal.com.
NaturalNano mixed with PP
NaturalNano Inc. (Rochester, NY), which uses functionalized halloysite nanotubes to impart unique properties to polymer matrices, has successfully mixed its natural, mined nanomaterial with polypropylene (PP), in let-down ratios ranging from 5%-13%. Earlier this year, the company mixed the clay nanotubes with nylon, creating a composite NaturalNano hopes to launch in the fourth quarter of 2007. The company will now work to ramp up the PP project, undertaking pilot tests with higher nanotube loadings.
The company reports that the modulus or stiffness of the PP with the Pleximer additives was nearly double neat PP. The tensile strength of the composite material was also heightened, while maintaining PP’s elongation properties.
NaturalNano says its tubes, unlike clay platelets, which must be separated and dispersed into a resin, use a proprietary patent-pending formulation and process that eliminates an extra processing step and can run on standard equipment.
Dow partners with NASCAR
Applying the company’s Impaxx energy-absorbing foam in specialized stock cars that will race in 16 Nextel Cup Series events in 2007, Dow Automotive has reached a multiyear licensing agreement with NASCAR. NASCAR is promoting a so-called Car of Tomorrow, which emphasizes driver safety, in 2007, and will utilize Impaxx foam that’s already featured in passenger cars, applying it between the roll-cage door bars and door panels. Dow reports that Impaxx is up to 50% lighter than comparable energy-absorption materials and 30% more energy efficient. In addition, it’s said to have consistent performance at temperature extremes: a key in the racecar environment.
Names in the News
Fanuc Roboshot Europe GmbH (Neuhausen, Germany), which markets Fanuc’s injection molding machinery in continental Europe, appointed Klaus-Ulrich Schmid as sales manager Europe responsible for the company’s direct sales in France, Germany, and the U.K. “This is a new position created for re-enforcing sales…in Europe where the shift from a hydraulic injection molding machine to an electric injection molding machine is gradually accelerated” says Ted Oda, Fanuc’s chairman.
Schmid has held several management positions in the plastics industry, mainly responsible for the sales and service activities at Ensinger, Cellpack AG, and, until January 2007, at Forteq AG medical.
Joining flat-die manufacturer EDI (Chippewa Falls, WI) as technical service and sales specialist is Ronald J. Allbritton. Allbritton comes to EDI from the HPM Division of Taylors Industrial Services, where he spent 13 years in technical service and project management positions. Previously he worked for Printpack Inc. (film extrusion), Klockner ER-WE-PA USA Inc. (cast extrusion systems), and Data Measurement Corp. (thickness-gauging systems).
Analytical Sensors and Instruments (ASI; Sugar Land, TX) has promoted Steve Zelenak to VP engineering and Frank Zheng to VP operations. Williams was formerly ASI’s executive VP and general manager. He’s stepping in for founder and CFO, Peter Cai, who retired. ASI uses injection molding and other manufacturing techniques to create sensors and analytical products. It has offices in Texas and Colorado, as well as Shanghai and Ningbo, China.
Injection molding machine maker Demag Plastics Group (Schwaig, Germany) has appointed Christian Renners as global sales manager. He has been with the firm in various capacities, but most recently worked for an automotive parts supplier in Europe.
Packaging firm RPC Group has brought on David Edwards from Autobar Packaging, where he was group managing director, to work on its senior management team. Edwards will work with Philip Hilton and Henk Kloeze focusing on the company’s thermoforming operations.
Bayer MaterialScience (Leverkusen, Germany) has hired Axel Steiger-Bagel as the chief administration officer, effective March 1, 2007. Steiger-Bagel replaces Gottfried Plumpe, who’s leaving the company.
Plastic film and auxiliary equipment manufacturer Precision AirConvey Corp. (PAC; Newark, DE) has named Jeffrey Kane as global sales manager. Kane was formerly a VP for a national industrial supply company and has more than 30 years of experience in industrial management, technical selling, and sales supervision.
Specialty plastics, additive, and coatings supplier Lubrizol Corp. (Cleveland, OH) has elected Harriett Tee Taggart and James Sweetnam as directors to its board. In addition, it announced that Peggy Gordon Miller and Daniel Somers are retiring from Lubrizol’s board of directors.
RadTech, the association of UV and electro-beam technology (Chevy Chase, MD), has named Petra L’Abbe of PPG Industries as group president for a two-year term. Mike Idacavage of Cytec is now RadTech president-elect and will assume the office in 2009. In related news, Peter Weissman of Cytec has received the 6th annual RadTech President’s Award for the member who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of UV and EB technology.
Enrique Rojas, director of sales for South America for the last 10 years, is retiring from B&H Labeling Systems (Ceres, CA) at the end of June. Until that time he will assist in recruiting and training his successor.
Extruder manufacturer Diamond America Corp. (Tallmadge, OH) named Jeffrey Schweizer its new CEO. He comes to the firm from extruder and extrusion-related equipment manufacturer The Bonnot Company (Uniontown, OH).
Most recently serving as general manager of technology of GE Advanced Materials, which was divested and became Momentive Performance Materials, Montgomery Alger has been named VP and chief technology officer for Air Products (Lehigh Valley, PA).
Briefs
Pultrusion processor Strongwell Corp. (Bristol,VA) has increased processing capacity at its Bristol and Highlands facilities. Strongwell acquired property adjacent to its largest plant in Bristol and will use this land for parking, material staging, and fabrication and preparation work on pultruded cooling-tower components. Strongwell plans to expand its Highlands plant in Washington County, VA from 85,000 sq ft to 142,000 sq ft, with construction expected to be completed later this year.
Plastics processor Pittsburgh Plastics Manufacturing Inc. (PPM; Butler, PA) has been granted a U.S. patent (No. 7124520) for an “energy absorbing pattern” used in the manufacture of footcare insoles, massaging gel insoles, heel cups, and forefoot pads made of styrene ethylene butylene styrene (SEBS) polymers and polyurethanes. The design can also be employed in footcare device applications, diffusing pressure and making walking more comfortable. PPM has both compression and injection molding capacity plus thermoforming.
SAV, a designer, manufacturer and supplier of mechanical, magnetic, and hydraulic workholding solutions, including magnetic bases for fixing injection molds, announced it’s opening a North American facility in Windsor, CT to service Canada, Mexico, and the United States with standard and custom work holding products. SAV North America is a branch of Germany’s SAV-Spanntechnik (Nuremberg).
Agr International Inc. (Butler, PA) and Husky Injection Molding Systems (Bolton, ON) have formed a joint marketing agreement for the distribution of the former firm’s Agr TopWave laboratory testing products as part of Husky’s turn-key injection molding systems for the PET container industry. Under this agreement, Husky will now be able to offer a variety of devices for monitoring material distribution, volume, strength, and dimensions as well as other performance-related attributes, all from Agr TopWave, along with its own products.
Italian injection molding machine manufacturer Negri Bossi, a Sacmi Group company, announced its North American subsidiary Negri Bossi Inc. (Mississauga, ON) is launching a comprehensive Canadian ’identity’ that will include hiring of new employees and new machine technology, with more on the latter to come in the next weeks. Machines now are painted red to clearly identify the brand. Negri Bossi entered the Canadian market in 2001 and in the last several years has maintained double-digit growth there, it says. By press time, the firm had not responded to questions regarding its installed base in North America.
Polymer and additives producer BASF (Lundwigshafen, Germany) saw record earnings in 2006 with sales jumping by 23%. For the first time in the company’s history, sales passed the €50 billion mark. Higher volumes and price increases led to an improvement in sales in the company’s plastics segment. Sales rose by 9% to €12.8 billion. In related news, BASF is increasing capacity of its Ultraform-brand acetal from 41,000 tonnes/yr to 55,000 tonnes/yr. The project will be completed by the first quarter of next year.
The Solvay Solexis division of engineering resins producer Solvay (Brussels) will double capacity of its perfluoropolyether (PFPE) polymers at its Spinetta Marengo, Italy plant. The company, which does not release exact capacity figures, expects to have the expansion in operation during next year.
Spanish-Argentinean plastics supplier Repsol-YPF (Madrid) has decided to license the multizone circulating reactor technology Spherizone from Basell for a new 300,000 tonnes/yr capacity polypropylene (PP) plant it plans to build in Sines, Portugal for start up in 2010. This technique [August 2001 MPI pg. 32; MP pg. 30] is said to produce PP faster, using less energy, and with better properties than competitive systems.
Resins supplier INEOS (Lyndhurst, England) plans to invest in a 400,000-tonnes/yr capacity phenol plant in Zhangjiagang, China. The new facility, which will also produce 250,000 tonnes/yr of acetone, will be solely owned by INEOS and should be completed by the end of 2009.
Higher demand for expandable polystyrene (EPS) has spurred NOVA Innovene (Fribourg, Switzerland) to debottleneck all of its European manufacturing sites during the next 12 months. The move will increase total EPS nameplate capacity at the company from 350,000 tonnes/yr to 410,000 tonnes/yr.
Peter Greven Fett-Chemie (Bad Munstereifel, Germany) and IOI Oleochemicals (Bursa, Malaysia) are setting up a 60/40 joint venture in Penang, Malaysia to produce and distribute metallic soaps. Main markets for the additives will be in Asia and India.
Peter Greven is a leading supplier of metallic stearates in the European market. These metallic soaps are used as additives in many applications with the biggest industry partners in the plastics, rubber, building protection, and paper industry. The IOI Oleochemicals Group is Malaysia’s largest and most integrated downstream palm-based group.
More than 90% of companies assisted by the Polymer Cluster for the West Midlands, England during the last three years rate the help they received as good, very good, or excellent, reports Paul Hackney of the Polymer Cluster. The group helps small-to-medium sized companies in the region to increase innovation and get their products to the market in a profitable manner.
IDI Composites International (Noblesville IN) has received ISO 14001:2004 certification. IDI is a manufacturer of thermoset molding compounds for custom molders and OEMs.
Vinyl compounds and additives supplier PolyOne (Assesse, Belgium), in a collaboration with Kraton Polymers (Vélizy Villacoublay, France), has developed a new range of thermoplastic elastomer-styrene (TPE-S) for multicomponent molding to nylon 6. The OnFlex-S KA materials offer improved performance at high temperatures.
The European Composites Industry Assn. (EuCIA, Brussels) has set up shop under the umbrella of the European Plastics Converters association (EuPC). Volker Fritz has been elected president for a three-year term.
Additives and specialty chemicals producer Cognis (Monheim, Germany) has set up the Global Communications Project 2007 international competition for students intended to challenge young people to develop new ideas. More information about the contest is available at www.cognis.com.
With the acquisition of two extrusion blowmolding lines, Austria-based producer of 5-gal PET bottles, Capsnap Europe (Kremsmünster), expects to strengthen its distribution network and proximity to customers. It recently bought out the European production line machinery from Israeli bottle producer PCP. Günter Ausserwöger, Capsnap Europe general manager, says the move will strengthen its market in Eastern Europe.
SpecialChem and PU2PU.com are partnering, bringing together SpecialChem’s 250,000 members worldwide, with PU2PU.com, which is a site dedicated to the polyurethane industry. The partners plan a series of new products, including flame-retardant, aliphatic polyisocyanates, coatings, and adhesive tech centers.
The Pack Expo Las Vegas event (Oct. 15-17, 2007) will expand in the coming year, with the International Bottled Water Assn. (IBWA; Arlington, VA) bringing its 2007 Convention and Tabletop Trade Show to the Las Vegas Hilton, adjacent to the Plastic Machinery Manufacturers Institute’s (PMMI; Arlington, VA) Pack Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center. In addition, the Converting and Package Printing Expo and Process Expo will also collocate with Pack Expo.
High-speed machine tool supplier Makino (Mason, OH) has announced its second quarter 2007 online seminar schedule, with the supplier citing strong interest from clients with reportedly thousands of participants using live and archived offerings going back to the program’s inception in 2005. Previously aired seminars on topics ranging from automation to hard milling are available as archives at www.makino.com/events. The events are free to registered attendees, and except for one break on May 31, run weekly from April 12 through June 21. To sign up go to www.makino.com/events.
The Plastics Institute of American Inc. and the University of Massachusetts Lowell are planning a sustainable materials conference on Green Plastic Manufacturing for April 17-18, 2007, to be held at the UMass Lowell campus. The event will feature biopolymer synthesis and design; processing and manufacturing; and environmental footprint. UMass Lowell professors will chair the sessions, with speakers and presenters from Outlast Technologies, Sappi Saicor, Metabolix, Leistritz, and Coperion, among others. Conference details are available at http://continuinged.uml.edu/sustainability2007.
Piramidal Termoplasticos LTDA (Sao Paulo) will distribute polyolefin manufacturer Borealis’s polypropylene (PP) compounds in Brazil, offering full after-sales care. Piramidal will reportedly provide technical support to customers, with the distribution arrangement beginning in January 2007.
Allowing an expansion of the firm’s 3D printing and prototyping services, United Global Sourcing Inc. (UGS) moved its headquarters to a new facility in Troy, MI on Feb. 19 in the Oakland County campus. In addition to serving as the headquarters, the new location will contain a product-development center. UGS has been in operation for 26 years.
The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE; Brookfield, CT) was pleased enough with the inaugural Polymer Nanocomposites Mini-Conference in 2006, that it has expanded the event to two days, hosting this year’s at Lehigh University’s Rauch Business Center from March 6-7 in Bethlehem, PA. Ray Pearson of Lehigh will serve as the 2007 conference’s technical chair. This year’s event has been expanded to include barrier properties and flame retardancy in nanocomposites, and it will cover fillers such as expanded graphite platelets, halloysite nanotubes, nanosize calcium carbonate, and self-assembling triblock terpolymers. To register online go to http://www.4spe.org/conf/pn07/index.php.
Taking submissions for peer review in new materials, processing/enabling technologies, and new composite applications, the Society of Plastics Engineers’ (SPE; Brookfield, CT) Automotive Composites Conference & Exposition (ACCE; Sept. 11-13, 2007; MSU Management Education Center, Troy, MI) will honor three papers. The awards will recognize submitted papers versus slide presentations as part of the conference. Abstracts are due by March 30, 2007 and should be sent to ACCEpapers@gmail.com.
Owens Corning (Toledo, OH) and Saint-Gobain (Paris, France) keep progressing with the merger of their plastics reinforcements and composite plastics businesses, intending to call the new business OCV Reinforcements. The merger includes Owens Corning’s Reinforcements Business and Saint-Gobain’s Reinforcements and Composites Business (known as Vetrotex). Last July the two firms announced they were in discussions to merge their respective reinforcements and composites businesses; the merged operation has global revenues of approximately $1.8 billion and about 10,000 employees.
An agreement signed on Feb. 20, 2007 contemplates that the joint venture will be owned 60% by Owens Corning and 40% by Saint-Gobain. After a minimum of four years, Saint-Gobain will have the option to sell its stake to Owens Corning, and Owens Corning will have the option to buy Saint-Gobain’s stake in the joint venture. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2007.
Weekly futures activity from the LME
Futures trading of linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) and polypropylene (PP) on the London Metal Exchange (LME) for the week of Feb. 19-23 saw a low price for LLDPE of $1100/tonne set on Monday, Feb. 19, through Thursday, Feb. 22, for March buyers. LLDPE’s high of $1155/tonne was reached on Monday, Feb. 19 for May sellers.
For PP, a low price of $1100/tonne was reached on Wednesday, Feb. 21, and Thursday, Feb. 22, for March buyers. The high of $1150/tonne was reached on Monday, Feb. 19 for May sellers.
| 
