E-Update Industry News 21230

BP polymers business headed for divestment...

Following the lead of other petrochemicals producers, BP (London) has decided to break up its business sectors, putting its olefins and derivatives businesses up for sale. The move involves olefins and their derivatives: low- and linear-low-density polyethylene; polypropylene (BP is the world''s second-largest supplier after Basell); and Barex (a nitrile-based barrier resin) businesses, as well as BP''s share of a high-density polyethylene joint venture with Solvay (Brussels).

A company spokesman says BP expects to set up a standalone polymers business (valued at about $6 billion in operating capital) by the end of this year, with a partial initial public offering of that business planned for 2005. More of the business will be sold over a number of years. An IPO would circumvent any regulatory problems if BP tried to sell to a petrochemical competitor, and it is speculated that private equity companies would be unable to come up with the amount of cash needed to buy the divisions as a single unit.

Atofina reorganizing as well

As part of a reorganization to improve its financial position, French oil and chemicals conglomerate Total intends to adopt a new structure that would facilitate divestiture of its acrylics business, as well as its PVC supply, compounding, and pipe processing operations, among others. This would likely occur via an initial public offering, according to the firm. Total is the parent of Atofina (Paris), the former Elf Atochem.

The reorganization will form a business tentatively titled CIP (Chlorochemicals, Intermediates and Performance Products), with a new name to be announced when the business is officially established in the fall. Taken alone, the businesses included in CIP had o5 billion in sales last year, and include global PMMA supply leader Atoglass, as well as Atofina''s operations in PVC supply and compounding, pipe processing, plastics additives, and functional polyolefins, plus other nonplastics-related chemicals.

Milacron''s new investors take stake

By converting $30 million in notes into 15 million shares of common stock, Glencore Finance AG and Mizuho International plc have laid claim to a 30% share in the Cincinnati-based machinery manufacturer, holding 21% and 9% stakes, respectively.

Glencore, with 10.5 million shares, and Mizuho, with 4.5 million, received the equity in exchange for debt notes after injecting $100 million into Milacron as it faced a debt deadline in March. Milacron also announced that Steven N. Isaacs, a director with Glencore Finance AG, was appointed to its board of directors.

Not enough recyclate to go around in Europe, North America

David Williams, president of the European processors association EuPC (Brussels), has voiced concerns of the growing export of plastics waste from Europe to unspecified Asian countries. He said EU countries need to enforce stricter rules to prevent plastics scrap from being shipped to Asia to be picked over and then landfilled rather than recycled in Europe. He says the shipments have an adverse affect on European plastics recyclers who are unable to access sufficient EU-generated waste to remain viable.

A similar concern has arisen in North America over PET recyclate. The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR) said in a May 10 statement, "the continued critical shortage of bottles collected for recycling will soon cause the collapse of the North American plastics recycling infrastructure." Here, too, export of collected material-35% of the total PET collected is sent to China, says APR-has aggravated the supply shortage and inflated domestic prices for recyclate.

ProTec, Kawata form European auxiliary alliance

Japanese auxiliary equipment supplier Kawata (Osaka) has formed an alliance with Mann + Hummel ProTec GmbH (Ludwigsburg, Germany). The collaboration, to be established in Frankfurt next month, will see Kawata Europe market entry-level ProTec products such as dryers, conveyors, and dosing and mixing systems to Japanese users in Europe, particularly those in automobile, electrical, and IT industries with operations in Eastern Europe. In addition, the two firms will work together to market and provide service for Kawata cleanroom-compliant drying systems and mold-temperature regulators for CD, DVD, and plastic lens applications in Europe.

In the longer term, the alliance may be expanded to encompass technology exchange. Production of Kawata auxiliary equipment may also eventuate.

ProTec is in the process of relocating its production and R&D facilities from Ludwigsburg to Bensheim, near Frankfurt. Production facilities at Weiterstadt and Konigswinter had previously been relocated to the new Bensheim facility.

New consulting firm aims to help extrusion processors

Dana Darley, former president of Kreyenborg Industries, has formed Extrusion Auxiliary Services Inc. (Dacula, GA) to provide equipment consulting, personnel consulting and recruitment, and technical assistance for the entire extrusion process from materials handling through the die. A goal is to ensure that extruders make the most of available auxiliary equipment.

Services offered include process evaluation, equipment specification, request for bid, review of proposals, and recommendations for purchase. The firm will also assist with documentation and manuals, and coordinate vendors for operator orientation and training. More information, including a partial listing of fees, can be found at www.extrusionauxiliary.com.

Moldmaker expands reach

Purchasing a shop with geographic proximity to an existing client in Florida, Ameritech Die & Mold Inc. (Roselle, IL) acquired Pinnacle Mold (Ormond Beach, FL). In addition to its existing machining capabilities, Ameritech added a 400-ton injection molding machine to perform mold qualifications and pre-production runs.

China eyes automotive prize

Speaking to state-run media in April, China''s Vice Minister of Commerce, Wei Jianguo, set the bar high for the country''s burgeoning automotive sector, saying it wants to export $70 to $100 billion in full vehicles and components by 2010. To achieve such figures, the growth, even by China''s standards, would have to be nothing short of incendiary. In 2003, automotive exports rose by one-third to $4.7 billion, but Jianguo says the short-term goal is to increase exports by $15 to $20 billion in 2004.

"China is likely to become the component supply center for international auto manufacturers in the future," Wei said. To achieve this, the government is prodding the development of 10 "automobile and component exporting bases" by relaxing merger and acquisitions rules to allow the creation of large multinational players.

Self-service polyolefins shopping venture starts

A so-called ''no-frills'' online purchasing program for polyolefins, Alastian, is now available for European processors from polymer producer Basell (Hoofddorp, the Netherlands). The program is for customers who order truckload quantities and need little or no service. Volker Trautz, Basell''s president, says the service targets those buyers who are very familiar with the polyolefin products they already use, and seldom need technical advice from the resin supplier. Orders are taken around the clock and the company promises "attractive prices" for service users. Those who register now get an unspecified introductory discount at: www.alastian.com.

Previous attempts at online resin sales, including Omnexus (January MP;MPI), ended in failure. At the time of its demise, former Omnexus VP David Jukes said processors may not have been ready for such a service and predicted the industry would eventually catch up. Basell was never an Omnexus member.

DSM upping nylon 6 capacity for flexible packaging

DSM Engineering Plastics will have extra capacity for Akulon in Emmen, the Netherlands, ready by mid-2005. The expansion of the 85,000-tonne/yr capacity plant-by more than 33%, though no absolute data are given-will be dedicated to the production of high-viscosity nylon 6, which is used in flexible packaging, stock shapes, and monofilament. Nylon 6 packaging film is used mostly for food applications to improve barrier properties and extend the shelf life of pre-packaged foods. DSM offers Akulon XP for this application.

Iranians expand in PO; Saudis sign license deal

Arak Petrochemical of Iran (APC; Tehran) is expanding capacity of its 50,000-tonnes/yr polypropylene plant by 50%, and output at its 60,000-tonnes/yr capacity high-density polyethylene facility will jump 40%. Both plants use technology licensed from Basell. In Saudi Arabia, the National Petrochemical Industrial Co. (NATPET) has signed a licensing agreement with Basell for a new 400,000-tonnes/yr polypropylene plant at Yanbu Industrial City. Startup is planned for 2007.

Negri Bossi looking better, slimmer

Italian injection molding group Negri Bossi, in Cologno Monzese, posted a net loss of ¤5.1 million on sales of ¤105.9 million in 2003, but says it is on the road to recovery after a restructuring exercise that saw its workforce cut from 555 to 368 (achieved in part by increased outsourcing of low-added-value operations); fixed costs reduced by 20.4%; and variable costs by 28.2%. Several months ago, the company underwent a major management shake-up that saw several positions filled by executives from Sacmi, the Imola-based company that bought Negri Bossi in 2002. The Negri Bossi group includes BM Biraghi and Oima.

Sales in 2003 were down from ¤138.3 million in 2002, when the group recorded a loss of ¤8.2 million. But the 2003 figure includes a restructuring cost of around ¤2.5 million, while the 2002 number included an income of ¤4.3 million from a property sale.

Toshiba shifts notebook production

Leaving behind existing production lines in Japan, China, and the Philippines, Toshiba announced that all notebook production would be shifted to its Hangzhou, China facility, where it plans to double capacity to 3 million/yr. China has become the world''s largest PC production center thanks to similar moves by Dell and others. Toshiba''s Filipino operation will close by the end of this year, and the Japanese operation will be ratcheted down until it only includes R&D and product testing.

Water soluble films giant formed

Water-soluble films processor MonoSol LLC (Portage, IN) has acquired blown-film processor Aquafilm Ltd. (Worcestershire, England). MonoSol is a market leader in water-soluble films, using mostly cast-film extrusion, whereas Aquafilm is better known as a blown-film extruder. The acquisition gives MonoSol substantial manufacturing capabilities in Europe.

Construction started on new plastics recycling plant

Adding to its North American capacity, Plastic Reclaiming Technologies (Huntsville, AL) opened a new facility in La Porte, IN that uses a centrifuge to separate out copper, nylon, PVC, polyethylene, and polypropylene from wires and other waste products. No steam or incineration is used in the process, which, once it reaches full capacity, will reclaim 20,000 tons of plastics annually.

Composite Technologies moves, expands

Twin-screw extruder and strand-die pelletizer replacement parts manufacturer Composite Technologies Inc. (CTI) has relocated its sales and manufacturing facilities from Winona, MN to an existing building in nearby Trempealeau, WI. CTI makes OEM replacement parts for over 14 different twin-screw extruder brands. The 10-year-old firm plans to add additional manufacturing equipment and personnel, and this spring will construct a machine assembly and storage building to expand its extruder and pelletizer rebuilding business.

Colorants suppliers, Maguire Products form alliance

Colorants suppliers Chroma Corp. (McHenry, IL) and Riverdale Color (Perth Amboy, NJ), along with auxiliary equipment supplier Maguire Products, have formed a strategic alliance in which Riverdale will use its manufacturing capacity to make Chroma''s Injecta Color liquid colorant formulations. Chroma initially had intended to open a new facility for the Injecta Color business, but a meeting with Riverdale officials opened the door for the alliance, and the business is now moving into Riverdale''s plant. The two remain separate businesses, however, with Riverdale focusing on liquid colorants and Chroma assuming responsibility for solids, plus distribution of liquid colorants in the western U.S. Maguire (Aston, PA) will bring its knowledge of feeding and blending systems to the alliance.

Engel sells largest machine ever in North America

Injection molding machine maker Engel, with North American headquarters in York, PA, says it has sold a two-platen, 4400-ton machine to an unidentified Tier 1 automotive parts supplier. Engel makes machines to 6000 U.S. tons; the 4400-ton model is the largest yet sold in North America.

The buyer will use the machine to mold bumper fascias. It is also equipped with a secondary injection unit, mounted over the main unit, which will produce small secondary components while molding the fascias.

Great Lakes sets up FR JV

Laurel Industries (LaPorte, TX), a division of OxyChem and Great Lakes Chemical (Indianapolis, IN) are merging their antimony business into a 50:50 joint venture that will produce antimony oxide flame retardants. The new company, GLCC Laurel, will concentrate antimony production in Reynosa, Mexico and close Laurel''s plant in LaPorte.

PVC bag venture for bagging PVC

PVC producer SolVin (Brussels) and Eurosak Imballaggi Industriali, a European processor of packaging materials, are launching what they call an environmentally friendly packaging concept throughout Europe using vinyl to package vinyl resin in industrial bags. PVC ECO-Bag is intended to simplify collection of sacks. After use, bags are collected for a closed-loop production of recyclate that is uncontaminated by other polymers.

Moldmaker completes product development center

Largely serving the caps and closures market, F&S Tool (Erie, PA) has invested one year and $1.7 million in a new product development center, adding a 100-ton Demag, a 300-ton Husky hydraulic, and a 500-ton Husky Hylectric hybrid. The machines feature high-speed packaging options and software to sample stack tooling and other complex packaging molds. The 55-person company has also added a hot runner and manifold specialist to work full time on hot runner inspection, repair, and design.

Harvest hopes for a composites bounty

Harvest Polymers, a distributor of thermoplastics elastomers, has started a composites venture, Solent Composite Systems (Isle of Wight, England), to produce specialty composites for marine, wind-farm, and offshore oil applications.

U.S. wire & cable market: slow, but steady, growth through 2008

Demand for plastics for wire and cable applications in the U.S. will grow about 3.2%/yr through 2008, or from 2003''s 1782 lb to about 2098 lb by 2008, according to the report Wire and Cable: Polymer Materials and Structures prepared by Business Communications Company Inc. (www.bccresearch.com). The $3950 report was published in May 2004.

Thermoplastics make up the bulk of demand and will continue to eat away at the position held by thermoset elastomers. Among thermoplastics, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride will remain leaders. The report identifies plastic optical fiber (POF) as an application likely to see solid demand growth as several new short-length wire applications are expected to appear in automotive and inside-the-home wiring by 2008; Still, POF remains a small field with only about 15 million lb manufactured last year.

Shakeup among Reichold leadership

Dainippon Ink and Chemicals (DIC), parent company of leading unsaturated polyesters supplier Reichold (Durham, NC), has replaced Chairman and CEO Gary Krall with new President and CEO, John Gaither, who spent 32 years with the supplier before leaving in 1998.

Kreyenborg enters infrared dryer market

Spare parts and auxiliary equipment manufacturer Kreyenborg GmbH (Munster, Germany) has acquired the infrared dryer range of German engineering firm SIAC GmbH (Neunkirchen). Kreyenborg has also taken on Sven-Olaf Zillmann, who was IR dryer product manager at SIAC.

Infrared dryers use infrared rays to dry material rather than hot air as in conventional dyers; their principal advantage is lower energy consumption. Kreyenborg says it plans to exhibit the range at this October''s K show and develop it further.

DuPont opens nylon compounding site in China

DuPont Engineering Polymers recently celebrated the opening of the DuPont Zytel GRZ nylon resin compounding facility in Shenzhen, China. The site was created to help meet increasing Chinese demand. DuPont is also constructing a polyacetal facility in China in a joint venture with Asahi Kasei, Tokyo. The 20,000-tonnes/yr plant was due to start operations in the first half of 2004. DuPont also opened the Engineering Polymers Technical Center in Shenzhen in October 2002.

Samyang announces plans for large ETP compounding site

South Korea''s Samyang Corp. will invest $7.5 million in an engineering plastics compounding facility in Shanghai. Three compounding lines will be installed with an overall capacity of 10,000 tonnes/yr. Key product lines will be Trirex, a polycarbonate resin used in automobile lamp lenses and housings, and Tribit, a PBT resin used in connectors, door handles, and ignition systems.

U.S. moldbuilders'' survey points to slight uptick

The latest business forecast survey conducted by the American Mold Builders Association (Roselle, IL) reveals some slight improvements since the winter 2004 forecast. The spring 2004 survey was conducted online and 121 member companies responded-a 35% response rate, about twice that of the winter survey.

Of the 121 respondents, 11% reported "Excellent" current business conditions. That number was slightly higher in the winter 2004 forecast, but the AMBA says the higher respondent rate makes this survey statistically more significant. Another 75% reported either "good" or "fair" current business conditions, up slightly from the winter 2004 Survey. The majority of responding companies (45%) expect business to remain the same in the next three months.

Unlike surveys of the past three years, where at least a small percentage of the respondents said they expect business to "decrease substantially," not a single company selected that response, and 6% of respondents expect business to "increase substantially."

Only 25% of the respondents report that profits are up, and employment is up for only 26% of the respondents. Current average workweek hours for shop employees are 47, and 46 hours for design/engineering employees. The average number of shop employees is 25, and the average number of design and engineering employees is five.

Premier Material Concepts adds new line

Sheet extruder Premier Material Concepts (PMC; Findlay, OH) has added a third extrusion line to its facility. The line is built around a 2.5-in extruder, and features a 1.25-in satellite, coextrusion block, 34-in-wide die, 24-in-diameter roll capacity, and the ability to produce thickness from .005 to .080 inch. The processor serves thermoforming and signage markets, among others.

European plastics suppliers show new face

As reported in the February issue (MP;MPI), the Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe (APME; Brussels) plans to integrate national lobbying organizations as a means to better coordination. In mid-May the APME announced the new organization will be called PlasticsEurope and is to be headed by John Taylor, president of polyolefins supplier Borealis. Nancy Russotto, current APME director general, retains that role in the new group.

The new association will merge current European and national plastics industry bodies into one networked organization. It will operate from six decentralized offices: one in Brussels, and one each in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. These regional centers will coordinate activities in nearby countries (including all 25 countries of the enlarged EU as well as Switzerland, Norway, and Turkey). The new organization takes effect no later than January 1, 2005.

Wilden bringing R&D under one roof

Injection molder Wilden (Regensburg, Germany), active in a wide variety of markets from automotive to medical parts and cosmetics packaging, is building a technical competence center in Wackersdorf (also Germany) to bring all of its R&D power under a single roof. Wilden already has a 2100-sq-m technical center; the new one will be more than double the size, at 4900 sq m.

Wilden officials say that while they intend to continue their strategy of operating processing facilities near their customers, they believe co-locating their diverse range of R&D personnel in one building will enable them to realize synergies across different markets. Officials also say that the move will ensure that molding of prototypes and project development testing need not interrupt production runs. The technical center includes R&D as well as moldmaking, project management, and automation technology.

Wilden has 13 facilitates in Asia, the U.S., and Europe, and is one of the five largest European injection molders.

Milliken lays its clarifier knowledge online at SpecialChem.com

Additives supplier Milliken (Spartanburg, SC) has developed a range of services now available online via the SpecialChem website (www.specialchem4polymers.com), including a visual online "Clarified Polypropylene showroom" to demonstrate to designers what effects and shapes can be achieved with that material. The dedicated area of SpecialChem''s website will also include information dedicated to processing polypropylene via injection molding, extrusion, and thermoforming, and the means to contact Milliken experts online at any time. SpecialChem and Milliken also have developed a technical resource center dedicated to hyper-nucleators, supplied by Milliken. Nucleators are plastic additives offering cycle-time and production-cost gains when used in polypropylene injection molding, extrusion, and thermoforming.

SpecialChem, based in Paris, France, says it has 60,000 registered users.

Matt Defosse [email protected]