E-Weekly
Aug 24th, 2007                                Print this article

e-Weekly News Briefs, August 20-24

By Modern Plastics Editorial Staff

Scandinavia set to get new plastics show

P.E. Schall (Frickenhausen, Germany), organizer of the Fakuma plastics fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany, which takes place every year except K years, has announced the creation of a new regional plastics show to attract visitors from throughout Scandinavia. “Elmia Polymer – Powered by Fakuma” exhibition is set to take place in Jönköping, Sweden in early 2009, with the date still undecided. The show is supported by the Swedish processing equipment suppliers association, PMG, as well as the country’s association for the plastics industry, SPIF.

“The geographic location of Jönköpings (southern Sweden) in the middle of a region with much plastics processing industry played a key role [in the selection of] this location [the Elmia fair grounds] for the next plastics and rubber show,” says project director Johan Ingemansson. Elmia already holds its regular vendor fair, Elmia Subcontractor, which is claimed to be the largest in Northern Europe, at which more than 150 plastics and rubber processing operations take part as exhibitors.

Purac adds PLA player

Lactic-acid producer Purac will offer compounded polylactic acid (PLA) polymers that withstand temperatures above 175°C, a key threshold the company says will allow applications in hot-fill bottles, microwaveable trays, and even electronics or automotive components. A division of CSM (Diemen, Netherlands), Purac’s D- and L+ PLA polymers use lactides as a monomer in resin production, which the company says will lower costs and promote PLA growth.

Purac Biomaterials already produces and markets 18 grades of Purasorb PLA materials for bioabsorbable medical devices and 12 grades for drug-delivery systems. The company began work with lactic acid in 1935, producing the chemical via sugar-beet fermentation. Today, it manufactures most of its basic products by fermenting carbohydrates from sugar cane, sugar beet, corn, and wheat. The company says production costs have doubled over the last two years, with the carbohydrate prices up 40-60% on the basis of increasing demand of crops like corn for bio-ethanol. The company is also reportedly investigating investments to meet future demand. The biomaterials unit, which has a dedicated manufacturing site at Gorinchem, Netherlands, opened in 2000; in 2002, polymer production capacity was doubled.

Carbon nanotubes dispersions being developed

Plastics supplier Bayer MaterialScience (Leverkusen) has announced a cooperation with FutureCarbon (Bayreuth, both Germany) to help Bayer drive its carbon nanotube (CNT) program forward. FutureCarbon will assist Bayer, which already has a pilot plant for making its Baytube nano-sized fillers, by using Baytubes and graphite to manufacture aqueous nano-dispersions using a patent-pending dispersion process.

Baytubes are agglomerates comprising multiwalled carbon nanotubes comprised of several graphite layers. Their mass is a fraction of steel’s but they offer a multiple in strength to the metal. Depending on their molecular structure, they can either act as semiconductors or can conduct electricity better than copper. CNT are resistant to heat and their heat-conducting properties are similar to those of diamonds.

Bayer MaterialScience is operating a pilot plant for the production of Baytubes with an annual capacity of 30 tonnes, soon to be doubled. An industrial-scale production plant with an annual capacity of 3000 metric tons is also planned.

GE Plastics—soon Sabic Innovative Plastics—makes moves in Japan

As announced in May, GE agreed to sell its plastics business to Sabic (Saudi Basic Industries Corp.), with one result that GE has acquired the equity interest of Mitsui Chemicals and Nagase in GE Plastics Japan Ltd., giving GEP 100% control. GEPJ's Chiba facility, located within Mitsui’s Ichihara plant, will be closed. Nagase remains a sales representative and distributor for GE Plastics in China and Southeast Asia.

Also, GE has acquired the entire equity interests of Nagase in GEM PC Ltd. (PC=polycarbonate), increasing its stake to 58%. GEMPC will continue to produce Lexan polycarbonate as a joint venture between GE and Mitsui until March 31, 2008. GEMPC will then cease business operations and be liquidated. GEPJ will supply Lexan polycarbonate from other GE Plastics’ polycarbonate manufacturing facilities located globally.

“As we look to simplify our global business and fully leverage our leading global polycarbonate asset base, this transaction makes a lot of sense for us,” stated Brian Gladden, CEO of GE Plastics. “This move will improve our global cost position for the Lexan business.” GE Plastics will be officially renamed Sabic Innovative Plastics in the next weeks.

Cables, crash pads combined for swifter assembly

Wire and cable manufacturer Leoni Bordnetz-Systeme GmbH (Kitzingen) is using polyurethane foam from supplier Bayer MaterialScience (Leverkusen, both Germany) in a patented development whereby cable harnesses, already often protected with polyurethane (PUR) foam, have been combined into automobile interior crash pads.

PUR crash pads are used in interiors to reduce the impact force in case of accidents, and are found in, for example, side-impact protection in doors, in the A-pillar or headliner, and in the front impact area of the passenger compartment to protect occupants’ knees. Leoni, recognizing that PUR-protected cable harnesses often are routed along areas protected with PUR crash pads, combined the two in a single processing step.

The combined part makes for faster assembly, and crash pads no longer have to be handled separately, reducing OEM’s logistical issues. According to Klaus Huland, an expert in PUR energy absorption systems at Bayer, integrating the cable harness has a negligible effect on the effectiveness of the crash pads.

Crownbrook Debco adds Nicos to plastics-recycling portfolio

As part of its bid to become a national force in plastics recycling, Crownbrook Debco has acquired size-reduction and separation firm Nicos Polymers and Grinding Inc. (Nazareth, PA), including its 180,000-sq-ft facility, which employs 88. Crownbrook Debco, which is backed by Crownbrook Capital, made Debco Plastics Inc. (Freeport, NY) its first acquisition. Nicos works with post-industrial scrap, partnering with large and small manufacturers and retailers for full-stream recycling services, including logistics, offering grinding, pulverizing, blending, and substrate separation. Debco’s core competency is in compounding and pelletizing a variety of resins, and it has reclaimed a variety of resins, including thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polystyrene (PS). The company returns the resins to a state where they could be reprocessed. In addition, Debco provides fiber removal from garden hose, roofing membranes, and other supported fabrics.

Rohm and Haas creates Korean flat-panel film venture

As part of its efforts to create a flat-panel display business, Rohm and Haas Co. (Philadelphia) has started a joint venture with Korean firm SKC Inc. (Seoul), where that company will spin off its display technologies business into a separate unit owned 51% by Rohm and Haas. Rohm and Haas previously purchased the process chemicals and optical display films business of Eastman Kodak.

Sales for the joint venture are forecast to be $300 million in its first year, with Rohm and Haas investing $190 million. Products will include specialty display films for LCD and plasma displays, as well as pigment dispersions, TFT photoresists, and color filter chrome patterning. According to the Freedonia Group (Cleveland, OH), global demand for electronic display materials will grow 12% annually through 2008, as cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors and televisions are increasingly replaced with flat panels.

GIT pioneer Pearson joins Gas Injection Worldwide Ltd.

Terry Pearson, one of the pioneers of the gas injection technique (GIT) for forming hollow parts during injection molding, has joined Gas Injection Worldwide Ltd (GIWW) as chairman. Pearson is the former chairman of Cinpres Gas Injection Ltd., which he left in July 2005.

Since then he has been working with two U.K. universities on what he describes as new injection molding developments for which he hopes to make commercial announcements in the near future. GIWW is a former division of Gas Injection HK Co. Ltd. (GIHK), and began trading as an independent U.K. company on August 1, 2007. The firm has exclusive rights to market GIHK products outside China. Pearson was invited to join GIWW by William Yung, managing director and founder of GIHK. Pearson joins GIWW’s sales director, Raymond Foad, and technical director, Ken Crow.

Vinyl markets expect major growth in Asia

By 2011 global polyvinyl chloride (PVC) capacity is expected to reach 44 million tonnes/yr (presently 39 million tonnes/yr) but new capacity will come mainly in Asia, says a new study prepared by Chemical Market Associates (CMAI, Houston, TX). Although the average global growth of the polymer is 4%/yr, in some regions such as China, Russia, and the CIS countries it is seeing as much as 15% annual growth, says CMAI.

In Western Europe, where total PVC demand last year reached 6.4 million tonnes, the profile market took up 34% followed by pipes and fittings (23%), film and sheet (19%), wire and cable (8%), while bottles and containers sank to only 2%, being outpaced by higher growth from PET bottles.

SPE Automotive Composites division honors papers

Graduate papers submitted by students at the University of Wisconsin and Texas A&M University will be honored with the inaugural Steve Loud Scholarships for research in composites by the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE; Brookfield, CT) Automotive Composites division. Given in honor of journalist Steve Loud, the editor of Advanced Materials & Composite News who passed away last year, the scholarships will be presented to Roston Elwell of Texas A&M and Wisconsin’s Alejandro Londono-Hurtado at next year’s SPE Automotive Composites Conference & Exposition (ACCE; Sept. 15-18, 2008).

Elwell posted a paper on the use of active core composite sandwich panels with tunable mechanical properties and changeable geometry. The technology is intended for use in collision energy absorption panels for cars. Londono-Hurtado investigated the application of computer simulation and numerical modeling to predict fiber orientation and density distribution during fiber-reinforced automotive-part molding. The $2000 scholarships were awarded following review by committee members representing General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, among others. The ACCE committee also selected winning papers from the pool of those submitted for peer review in categories including, processing/enabling technologies, composite applications, and new materials. Winners will be recognized at the start of the 2007 ACCE event, to be held Sept. 11-13 at the Michigan State University Management Education Center (Troy, MI).

Briefs

Many more of them too: happy anniversary to Netco Extruded Plastics Inc. of Hudson, MA, which celebrated its 70th year in business on June 14, 2007. Netco processes plastic extrusions, profiles and custom parts for applications in the telecommunications, medical, safety, construction and industrial markets.

“It is very unusual these days for companies to be celebrating 70 years in business, especially in the manufacturing sector,” said Knut Schmiedeknecht, president and CEO of Netco Extruded Plastics. “I am particularly proud that our organization has been able to adapt over the years, yet maintain a focus on supplying product solutions to our customers.” Netco Extruded Plastics was established in 1937 as the New England Tape Company.

PET producer M&G Group (Tortona, Italy) says it is expanding PET production in the U.S. with an 800,000-tonnes/yr plant to be built at a still-undecided location. The company claims that PTA feedstock supplies have already been secured enabling the initial startup of the facility in the first half of 2009 with an output of 650,000 tonnes/yr. For this new plant, M&G is set to use its own EasyUp SSP technology, the same used in a 450,000 tonnes/yr capacity plant in Brazil. In other news from the company, it plans to debottleneck both its West Virginia and Mexico plants to expand cumulative capacity of both sites by about 200,000 tonnes/yr.

Windsor Kunststofftechnologie GmbH (Hanau, Germany) is now a sales partner for The Japan Steel Works Ltd. (JSW; Tokyo) and will now sell and service that manufacturer’s electric injection molding machines in Germany and Eastern Europe. The machines range in size from 350-25,000 kN of clamp force. Windsor offers spare parts and service for injection molding machinery, and also makes and markets systems for multi-component molding and gas injection technique.

During next month’s K Show, October 24-31 in Düsseldorf, JSW and Windsor will share a stand (7aD32). “We are happy about the confidence JSW shows towards us,” says Reiner Nowacki, managing director of Windsor GmbH. “JSW entrusted us with the complete handling of sales and services in Germany and Eastern Europe.”

Screw, barrel, and machine component manufacturer and supplier General Plastex (Barberton, OH) is now offering on-site audits of screws and barrels, including bore gauging, to boost processor output. On-site inspections allow General Plastex to view an operation first hand and make more-informed observations.

The largest biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) line in Africa is to be delivered by tenter frame builder Brückner (Siegsdorf, Germany) at Nigerian film producer Tempo Paper Pulp and Packaging (Abeokuta). The 8.2 m-wide BOPP line has an annual output of more than 30,000 tonnes. Brückner already has smaller lines in operation in South Africa and Egypt.

Dutch medical parts processor Medisize (Hillegom, the Netherlands) has added a KraussMaffei all-electric injection molding machine to its stable, which includes 61 injection molding machines in facilities in the Netherlands, Ireland, Czech Republic, and Switzerland, plus 20 blowmolding machines at the Swiss site. Medisize is a full-service contract manufacturer specializing in custom-made, single use medical devices and primary pharmaceutical packaging. It has Class 7 clean room facilities in all of its facilities.

Jeco Plastic Products (Plainfield, IN), a designer and rotomolder/thermoformer of plastic pallets and containers, announced that if its customers cannot locate a nearby recycling agency that can recycle their Jeco products, they may be returned prepaid to Jeco, where they will be recycled at no cost to the customer. Announcing the Jeco recycling program, Jeco VP Ann Carson commented: “Many Jeco customers wish to buy products that can be recycled. Our products are made entirely with virgin plastic, thus ensuring that they are fully recyclable by most recyclers. Should a customer fail to find a qualified recycler nearby, Jeco products may be returned prepaid directly to Jeco for responsible recycling.”

Qatar-based blown film processor Qatar Plastic Products (Mesaieed), has installed a new concept of water chillers from Eurochiller (Castello d’Agogna, Italy) for its extrusion hall. These two chillers are needed due to ambient daytime temperatures reaching up to 52°C.

St. Gallen, Switzerland-based temperature control maker Regloplas has opened a branch office in Suresnes, France to meet growing demand in the country.

Rowing athletes in Team Kunststoff sponsored by Germany’s polymer makers, PlasticsEurope Deutschland (Frankfurt), took a total of 18 medals at last week’s world championship in Duisburg, Germany. Men and woman sponsored by the plastics producers won nine gold, six silver, and three bronze medals at the Wedau canoe stadium. The event attracted 850 athletes from 90 countries.

Additives and fillers supplier Süd-Chemie (Münich, Germany) saw sales up by 13.7% or by €64.3 million for the first half of this year to reach a total of €533 million. Operating profit was 63.7% or €20.6 million above the same six month period last year.

ComPaMED, a leading international trade fair for the medical-device sector, (Düsseldorf, Germany; November 14-17) expects 35% more exhibitors than last year and says it is offering an increase of 45% more space for exhibitors at the show. According to fair organizer Messe Düsseldorf, 425 exhibitors have already signed up (315 the previous year). This medical device show, which runs in conjunction with the world’s largest medical fair, Medica, will occupy a total of 8300 sq m (previous year: 5700 sq m) in both halls 8a and 8b.

Shenyang Paraffin-Wax Chemical (Shenyang City, China), an affiliate of Shenyang Chemical Group, has selected Unipol PE gas-phase process from Univation Technologies (Houston, TX) for a 100,000-tonnes/yr capacity polyethylene plant to be built at Shenyang City. This swing plant will be able to produce either linear-low or high-density polyethylene. In other news from Univation, its licensee Kazanorgsintez (Kazan, Tatarstan region, Russia) has completed its first production of bimodal PE100 pipe resin. This Unipol PE plant uses Prodigy catalyst to produce the bimodal polymer in a single reactor. It is the country’s first production of this type of high density polyethylene used for pressure pipe applications.

European nonwoven products grew by 6.5% last year to reach 1,494,000 tonnes, compared to 1,403,000 tonnes the previous year, according to figures released by Edana (Brussels, Belgium), the international association serving the nonwovens and related products industries. According to organization estimates based on member responses in 2005 and 2006, the average price of nonwoven goods appears to have increased by 3% last year from €3.33 to €3.43/kg. That would put total European turnover for the sector at about €5.124 million. The main end-use remains the hygiene market that took 33% of the total. This sector grew by 5.4% last year.

ExxonMobil Chemical (Houston, TX) has introduced a metallocene-based copolymer, ethylene propylene monomer (EPM), that it says could give traditional high purity, cross-linked low density polyethylene (LDPE) a run for its money in medium and low-voltage wire and cable applications. This new product, Vistalon EPM722, claims that its flexibility at low temperatures is better than crosslinked PE. The company also says overall cost and performance is improved. Compared to metallocene-based terpolymer ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) grades used for such applications, ExxonMobil says the new product offers higher electrical properties.

Auxiliary equipment manufacturer Mann + Hummel (Ludwigsburg, Germany) has won the Supplier Award in the mechanics category from electronics and electrical components OEM Bosch Group. Assessment criteria for the award included reliability, quality, pricing, communication, cooperation, and a willingness to improve.

Specialty chemical supplier Gabriel Performance Products (Ashtabula, OH) has expanded the distribution reach of its Mercaptan hardener/curing agent for thermoset resins. In addition to the North American distribution agreements, Gabriel hired Ron Cimmino to act as director of distribution and corporate accounts.

A .75-liter PET bottle shaped like a rugby ball has been created by stretch blowmolding machine manufacturer Sidel to commemorate the 2007 Rugby World Cup (Sept. 7-Oct. 20, France). Made to exactly mirror a ruby ball in all details, down to the laces and some 10,000 dimples, Sidel (Octeville sur Mer, France) designed the bottle and supplied tooling to its filler, Eaux minerals d´Alet.

Names in the news

Stretch blowmolding machinery supplier W. Amsler Equipment Inc. (Richmond Hill, ON) has restructured its sales force, adding a dedicated sales coordinator and five sales reps to the U.S., as well as a new sales manager and rep for Canada. Bob Milne will fill the role of U.S. sales coordinator, with Heidi Amsler now serving as sales manager.

Most recently serving as London Metal Exchange (LME) director of exchange development and traveling the world over the last two years and prior to promote and support the launch of its plastics futures contracts, Neil Banks has decided to take early retirement from the nonferrous metals and plastics exchange. At the LME for 18 years, Banks worked in nearly all areas, including finance, regulation, operations, warehousing, and membership. Banks will officially step down Sept. 14, and LME spokesman says work to find a replacement continues.

Clariant Masterbatches North America has named Kirk Jacobs as business director, additive masterbatches North America, based in Winchester, VA at the firm’s North American additive masterbatch headquarters. Jacobs’ career in technical marketing and business development spans 25 years. Most recently, he worked for seven years at Johnson Polymers (recently acquired by BASF), where he started and headed a global plastics additives business group. From 1989 to 1999 he held various positions at Engelhard Corp. Prior to joining Engelhard, Jacobs was a management consultant with A.T. Kearney Inc., working primarily with clients in the plastics industry.

Wood-plastic composites (WPC) compounder and processor, JER Envirotech International Corp. (Vancouver, BC) announced a series of executive appointments, including a new chief financial officer (CFO), chief operating officer (COO), chief technology officer (CTO), VP of global sales and marketing, and a VP of manufacturing, joining Edward Trueman, who was named JER president and CEO in December 2006. Ji Yoon, formerly of Taiga Building Products, will be the CFO; Peter Baran becomes COO, leaving CGI Information Systems and Management; Peter Kelly will become the CTO, with prior experience including a senior research role at DuPont Canada; William Hunnicutt leaves AlphaGary to become VP global sales and marketing; and William Anderson takes on the VP manufacturing post, coming from Ry-Coll Industries.

Begun in 1997, JER worked with the National Research Council of Canada and the Industrial Materials Institute to develop WPC compounds. Signaling what it called a shift from product development to commercialization, JER appointed Trueman as president and CEO when co-founder Raphael Diego stepped down. Prior to working at JER, Trueman also worked for AlphaGary. JER currently has manufacturing in Canada and Malaysia and is in the process of adding plants in the Philippines and India.

In a bid to “shorten the lines of communication and speed up decision making”, Bob Rossiter, chairman and CEO of Tier One automotive supplier Lear (Southfield, MI), will assume direct control of all business units, with current president and COO, Doug DelGrosso, agreeing to leave the company. In the last year, Lear has jettisoned its European and North American interiors businesses, leaving it to focus on seating, electrical, and electronics businesses. Rossiter will be offered a new three-year contract, with CFO Jim Vandenberghe signed on through 2008 and Daniel Ninivaggi retained as executive VP and general counsel.

Global Plastics Bulletin Board

The biennial Mid-Atlantic Machine Tool Show, sponsored by the American Machine Tool Distributors Assn. (AMTDA; Rockville, MD), is scheduled for Oct. 16-18 at the Valley Forge Convention Center (King of Prussia, PA). For more information, e-mail Naomi Romanchok at nromanchok@amtda.org.

Chemical Market Associates Inc.’s (CMAI; Houston) 4th Annual Plastics Processors Conference & Polyolefins In-Depth Workshop will take place Sept. 17-18, 2007 in Huntington Beach, CA at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach. Early registration closed on August 22, but day-of, walk-up registrations are also accepted. For more information, go to www.cmaiglobal.com.

Engineered, expanded foam material supplier JSP has updated its website, www.jsp.com, to include product information, application insights, and technical services for the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In addition to English, the company will also make the site available in French, German, Spanish, and Russian.

The Assn. of Rotational Molding (ARM; Oak Brook, IL) International will host its Latin American Division (LAD) meeting Sept. 19-22 at the Hotel Fiesta Americana, Mansion Galindo, in San Juan del Rio, Querataro, Mexico. The second edition of the event features workshops, a design contest, and an exhibition area with suppliers. For more information, go to www.rotomolding.org.

Lubricants supplier Klüber Lubrication (Münich, Germany), together with a coatings partner, Adelheim, will hold a seminar on dry lubrication for processing equipment on Nov. 15 in Reutlingen, Germany. More information is available at www.klueber.com or e-mail: petra.scheede@klueber.com.

Weekly futures activity from the LME

LME Plastics Evaluated Prices (US$ per tonne) for August 13-17

Key:

PP Global (global polypropylene); PA Asia (Asia polypropylene); PE Europe (Europe polypropylene); PN NA (North America polypropylene); LL Global (global linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE); LA Asia (Asia LLDPE); LE Europe (Europe LLDPE); LN NA (North America LLDPE)

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