Specialty thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) supplier Merquinsa (Barcelona, Spain) has opened its first office in China to provide TPU product training, application development and technical sales & marketing support to local users. The Guangzhou operation is headed up by technical sales manager Stephen Xu.

Speaking at the company's  Innovation Award Ceremony and Dinner held during the recent Chinaplas show in Guangzhou, global business manager Jean-Marc Galvez said the new office would spearhead the companies efforts to raise its China sales to 30% of global sales by 2015.

Merquinsa highlighted the development of a 62% bio content TPU grade for electronic applications at Chinaplas: Pearlthane ECO D12T80. The soft, transparent, UV- and scratch-resistant grade targets cellphone applications, among others, and features 40% less CO₂ emissions.

Merquinsa also recognized several of its users by presenting them with awards, among them molder Luen Tai and distributor Ngai Hing Hong (both Hong Kong) for a sports watch strap molded from Pearlthane 16N85UV UV-stabilized, polyether-based TPU. Also awarded were Brooks and its molders Guangzhou Ever Tech Plastic and  Yi-Chyi Plastic Industry (Shenzhen, China) for running shoes soles molded from Pearlthane ECO D12T95 UV stabilized, bio TPU featuring 5% lower weight and 36% less CO₂ emissions.

Coming up trumps in the electronics category was BioSerie (Hong Kong) for its uses of a UV-stabilized bio-based Pearlthane TPU in iPhone covers. Commercial production of the covers is due to start in July 2011.-[email protected]