Pharmaceutical packaging promises to be a growth market globally, with North America, Western Europe, and Japan continuing to be the largest markets. These more developed regions will see slower growth, however, and demand in China, India and Brazil could soar.

World pharmaceutical packaging demand is projected to increase 6.3% annually to $62.3 billion in 2013, with the developed countries of Western Europe, the U.S., and Japan continuing to account for more than 60% of this amount.

Many film-extrusion equipment exhibitors at NPE2009 said that quoting activity had risen in recent weeks, and for several, purchase orders are trickling in as well, including deals announced at NPE and ones consummated just prior. On June 25, Macro Engineering & Technology Inc. announced the sale of three polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cling-film lines to an unnamed Middle Eastern processor. The first line will be delivered near the end of the year, with the other two to be installed in mid-2010.

During the recently concluded NPE2009 tradeshow, StackTeck Systems Ltd. (Brampton, ON) presented several of the company’s innovative solutions, announced a new partnership with injection molding machinery manufacturer Arburg, and talked up an expanded joint development effort with Matrix Technology Specialists Ltd. (Hong Kong).
 

Eastman’s Tritan copolyester continues to make inroads in the consumer housewares market, gaining momentum through its mix of properties and public concerns over the presence of bisphenol A (BPA) in competitive material polycarbonate (PC).

India’s processors serving the automotive market can expect some new polypropylene grades to be available soon, as Borouge announced it will work with Indian compounder Machino Polymers Ltd., a compounder based in Gurgaon, India. Borouge is a JV between Borealis (Vienna, Austria) and ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company).
 

Ending the joint venture they formed in October 2007, Cargill (Minneapolis, MN) has acquired for an undisclosed price the 50% of the NatureWorks bioplastic supply venture that had been owned by Japanese conglomerate Teijin Ltd. NatureWorks markets its materials, derived from plant starch, under the Ingeo brand name.

Sweden-based Rapid Granulator AB announced a significant move at NPE2009—its acquisition of Shanghai-based Avian Machinery, the second-largest manufacturer of granulator machinery in Asia.