Extruded filament processors team for global reach

Plastic filament extruders Lenzing, in Austria, and Thailand's KR Plastics have formed a mutual distribution and cooperation agreement to help both companies expand their geographic reach, while also strengthening Lenzing's position in the dental

market. Lenzing processes about 40,000 tones of plastics annually, with filaments accounting for about 11,000 tons of that.

The agreement official was signed between Hahl Filaments & Pedex, a subsidiary of Lenzing's filaments business unit, and KR Plastics. Lenzing's position in the dental market will be helped by access to KR's filament tapering technology and other speciality products. KR stands to benefit from Lenzing's strong positions in North America and Europe, and of course it gives Lenzing better access to Asian markets.

In addition, Lenzing will now be in a position to supply paint brush filaments, an application in which it has not been active but which is a particular strength of KR. Likewise KR will have access to Lenzing's extensive range of monofilaments and abrasive filaments for the Asian market.