Industry News

Plasthing future in doubt after Loranger strikes from beyond the grave

More than two years after the collapse of U.S.-based automotive component supplier Loranger Mfg., shock waves are still being felt around the world. Trustees of the company, which was forced to close in late 2002 after customers led by Delphi Automotive Systems Corp. and Visteon Corp. started involuntary bankruptcy proceedings against it a year earlier, served a writ for repayment of $150,000 at the end of last year from supplier Plasthing Hot Runner Systems Inc., (Mishawaka, IN), which Loranger had paid in early 2001. Unable to defer payment and with low liquidity, Plasthing Inc. filed for bankruptcy.

Plasthing makes all its hot runners in Turin, Italy, but the U.S. operation was owned through its U.K. arm, Plasthing Ltd., in Penge. That company was already suffering from the downturn in the U.S. and U.K. molding industries. The weak dollar had also caused it to lose at least one major U.S. order to North American competition, and to lose around $120,000 in a few months on currency exchanges alone.

Company owner John Donovan says the closure of Plasthing Inc. "created a $300,000 hole in the Plasthing Ltd. balance sheet." As a result of this and related cashflow problems, Plasthing Ltd. has also been forced to close.

"It was the final straw," Donovan said in late February. "We''d managed to survive two years of recessionary conditions and then this happens. We had just set up a whole new agency network, things were just beginning to move again, and we had some major carmakers coming to see us to place orders."

At press time, it was not clear if the Italian parent company, Plasthing SrL, would be pulled down by the failure of its subsidiaries. A special assembly was due to be held during the week of March 14. Donovan has been involved in discussions with its Italian banks and potential investors, but has been hampered by a severe back injury that required surgery in early February and confined him to his home in England from mid-December until early March.

Plasthing is best known as a supplier of high-end hot runner systems and controls, although it had planned to introduce an off-the-shelf range, first seen in prototype form at the U.K.''s Interplas 2002 show. Donovan, previously the managing director of Plasthing Ltd., acquired Plasthing SrL four years ago after the death of the founder.

RPC Group acquires four Rexam thin-wall container sites

RPC Group, Europe''s largest processor of rigid plastics packaging, has acquired four thin-wall molding and thermoforming sites from the Rexam Group, one of the world''s top consumer packaging suppliers. The £16.2-million ($29 million) acquisition includes injection molding and thermoforming operations in Hereford, England; Troyes, France; Antwerp, Belgium; and As, Czech Republic. RPC is using bank loans to finance the purchase.

The Czech site will be RPC''s first in that country, a point highlighted by CEO Ron Marsh in a statement. The four sites had combined 2003 earnings before interest, taxes, and depreciation of £5.1 million ($9.3 million) on sales of £40 million ($71.6 million), according to Rexam. Molding and thermoforming lines in place have been used to process lids and thin-walled containers for dairy products and spreads. RPC has more than 30 processing facilities in Europe.

Rexam maintains ownership of the PET stretch blowmolding operation co-located at the As site. The firm says it will focus its plastics packaging operations on use of its proprietary rotary thermoforming technology, which forms containers from a melt phase (as opposed to standard solid-phase thermoforming), and on its PET and PEN refillable bottle blowmolding operations. These refillable bottles see extensive use in Scandinavian countries, but limited use elsewhere. Rexam says it will use the proceeds of the sale to reduce debt.

Joint venture for automotive front-end modules

Three European suppliers of automobile systems and components are forming a joint venture to supply complete front-end modules. They are lighting and electronics company Hella KG Hueck & Co. (Lippstadt, Germany); Behr GmbH & Co. KG (Stuttgart), a specialist in vehicle air-conditioning and engine cooling systems; and Plastic Omnium (Levallois, France), whose auto exterior division is a world leader in exterior body parts and modules.

The JV, HBPO, which at press time was still awaiting regulatory approvals, will be headquartered in Lippstadt, Germany and have a dedicated facility at Plastic Omnium''s giant new Sigmatech R&D center in Lyon, France. Hella and Behr will transfer their Hella-Behr Fahrzeugsysteme GmbH front-end module JV to the new company. This JV has production in Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, Mexico, and South Korea.

Front-end modules comprise a structural frame, to which can be fitted headlamps and auxiliary lights, engine cooling and energy absorption systems, air guides, electronic devices, hood latches, and various tanks, bumpers, and other components.

HBPO will have sales of approximately €350 million in 2004, and 550 employees at eight production sites. Plastic Omnium says current annual output of 1.25 million front-end modules will be increased to more than two million over the next two years. It says HBPO is the only company in the world exclusively dedicated to front-end modules.

Glassburn leaves Toshiba to oversee all-electric business at Demag

After moving from VP of operations to the head of after-sales support at Toshiba Machine Co. America (Elk Grove Village, IL) in November of last year, Tim Glassburn has left the company entirely, signing on with the U.S. branch of Demag Plastics Group (Strongsville, OH) to become product manager of that company''s all-electric offering, the IntElect.

Glassburn spent 16 years with Toshiba, working in various sales and

management positions, but it was his 1999 management of the rollout of all-electrics in the U.S. for the Japan-based company that drew the attention of Demag, and made him a natural fit to oversee Demag''s all-electric IntElect family. "All-electric IMMs continue to be a growing segment of the North American market," Glassburn said in a statement. In another move to boost its position in the U.S., Demag created an applications group to offer customers pre- and post-sales assistance. Bob Lewis, most recently Demag''s Southeast regional sales manager and a 22-year veteran of the company, will head the new operation.

Anti-PVC lawsuit gets tossed

The American Chemistry Council (ACI) and over 30 other defendants are not guilty of any negligence leading to the illness of a woman who once worked in a PVC pipe extrusion plant in the late 1970s.

The plaintiff, Lori Anne Sanzone, worked only a few days at the extruder plant but brought suit in Delaware against many businesses in the PVC industry. She blamed her contact with PVC for the development of a rare form of liver cancer, and charged the industry with a conspiracy to hide health hazards of PVC. Her argument reached mass audiences after she was highlighted in the film Blue Vinyl, a decidedly anti-PVC documentary.

But as it turns out, she actually suffered from a different disease not linked in any way to PVC. The Superior Court of Delaware found no basis for conspiracy charges and granted the defendants'' motion for summary judgment, which was unopposed by the plaintiff.

In a statement, Don Evans, senior council for ACI, said, "We wish Ms. Sanzone the best and hope for her full recovery. At the same time, we are pleased the court recognized that vinyl chloride played no role in the illness she contracted or the claims that she brought.

"We are very gratified by the outcome of this case, especially considering the notoriety this suit received with the release of the film Blue Vinyl. This is a major blow to those who would try to file unjustified lawsuits," according to Evans.

The law firm that won the case, Thompson Hine LLP, is still busy defending PVC in other related lawsuits.

BOPP film market gives Bruckner banner year

Film stretching line manufacturer Bruckner Group (Siegsdorf, Germany) had a banner year, nearly doubling turnover to €495 million in 2003, and results this year are expected to top €400 million. The firm estimates it increased its market share for film stretching lines from 50% to more than 60% last year, with already strong sales to China staying that way.

Bruckner is anticipating a consolidation of both machine suppliers and processors for this market. With fewer machine makers likely, Bruckner is positioning itself by means of alliances with firms offering complementary technologies, such as the one announced between its Formtech division and PTi (Aurora, IL) last summer.

In that arrangement, Formtech agreed to globally market sheet extrusion equipment for thermoforming applications produced by PTi (Aurora, IL). Bruckner spokesman Karlheinz Weinmann says the firm is considering similar deals but would not yet provide details. The firm does say it intends to become a one-stop shop to enable sales of turnkey lines, so likely it is looking at auxiliary equipment manufacturers serving the film extrusion market.

Was Mickey a processor?

The Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. (SPI; Washington) recently unveiled plans to open a 5000-sq-ft exhibit this summer at Epcot in the Walt Disney resort in Florida. The "Fantastic Plastics Works" showcase is anchored by SPI members DuPont (Wilmington, DE) and GE Advanced Materials (Pittsfield, MA), and supported by contributions from those companies and other participants. The exhibit seeks to improve the public''s understanding and appreciation of the plastics industry and encourage youngsters to consider careers in it.

Solvay acquires Thermoplastic Rubber Systems

Solvay Engineered Polymers Inc. (Mansfield, TX), a major supplier of elastomer-modified polyolefins (TPOs) to the automotive industry, has acquired the assets of Thermoplastic Rubber Systems Inc. (Shirley, MA). It exercised an option agreed to in June 2002, when it assumed near-global responsibility for marketing TRS products to the auto industry. TRS, founded in 2000, developed various thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) under various brands, including Nexprene fully vulcanized types (TPVs). Jonas Angus, president of TRS, will assume the title of general manager of a new TPV business unit at Solvay.

MPM to build machine components in Slovakia

Mannesmann Plastics Machinery, which owns Berstorff, Billion, Demag Plastics Group, Krauss-Maffei Kunststofftechnik, and Netstal, plans to build a production facility for the manufacturing of small injection molding machinery components in Martin, Slovakia and fitting them to machines from Krauss-Maffei Kunststofftechnik and Demag Plastics Group. MPM says Martin will also serve as the mainstay for subsidiaries to purchase components made in Eastern Europe. Construction starts around mid-year.

Flatscreen demand prompts increased capacity

JSR Corp. (Tokyo) has increased production capacity for its Arton heat-resistant transparent cyclic olefin copolymer resin three-fold, to 3000 tonnes/year at Chiba, Japan. Demand for Arton film is particularly strong for use in flatscreen televisions. JSR is also focusing on growing demand for transparent conductive film, light guiding plates, and camera lenses for cellular phones.

Big money for PVC parts at the K

PVC supplier SolVin, the joint venture of Solvay (75% ownership) and BASF (25%), plans again to honor processors innovating with PVC during the K show this October. The monetary awards of €50,000, €25,000, and e10,000 are open to processors, additive suppliers, processing machine manufacturers, academic institutions, and others. Submissions are due by month''s end.

World''s largest PP compounder to be installed at Polish plant

Processing equipment manufacturer Coperion Werner & Pfleiderer (Stuttgart, Germany) has produced the world''s largest system for compounding and pelletizing polypropylene (PP). The twin-screw MEGAcompounder ZSK380Mc, with a throughput of 60 tonnes/hr, will be installed at the Basell Orlen Polyolefins plant (Plock, Poland), a joint venture between the PKN Orlen and Basell Polyolefins. Startup is early next year. The compounder is powered by a 14-mW motor, has an automatic nonstop screenchanger, and the largest PP underwater pelletizer with a heated die plate.

Masterbatcher seeks new business opportunity through niche delivery

Looking for new marketing chances, Colour Tone Masterbatch (Caerphilly, Wales), a color masterbatcher, is now focusing on supplying processors of small-run applications with limited material rather than requiring purchases in standard batches. It is offering 10 and 15 kg lots of universal and polymer-specific masterbatch in previously approved colors, rather than the usual 25-kg minimum, on a 24-hour delivery turnaround.

Omnexus materials data center now run by M-Base

German software company M-Base (Aachen) has taken over the Material Data Center it codeveloped for Omnexus, the defunct web-based materials marketplace. It has set up a new website, www.materialdatacenter.com.

M-Base says the MDC has a functionality unrivalled on the Internet, capable of handling searches for technical criteria, individual table views, multipoint data (including curve overlays of different materials), and textual information in several languages. It includes the complete set of CAMPUS materials data, as well as data collected under ASTM standards for the U.S. market.

"We will gradually add different modules for the mechanical design with plastics, like snap-fit calculation and calculation of creep effects," M-Base says. The MDC also includes an application database. The user can search applications by name, industrial sector, and materials used. There are links between applications and the data sheets of the materials used. The company plans to add modules for cooling-time calculation, flow-length calculation, and determination of material parameters.

There is an annual access fee to the MDC of €350. A demo version can be downloaded from the site.

In related news, the firm has updated its materials database in version 5.0, available for free download at www.campusplastics.com. A new feature is an integrated web update function, allowing users to check if their data is current.

GE building up application resources in Europe

General Electric''s Global Research Center-Europe (Munich), to open in June, will be dedicated to applications-related research in energy and power; electronics and automation; medical; and automotive, including such areas as lighting, glazing, drive-by-wire, and alternatives to paint decoration. The center will house some 150 PhDs in its first phase, rising to 300 in a second phase.

Golnar Motahari Pour, president of GE Advanced Materials-Plastics, says the increasingly competitive nature of the European marketplace is pushing the company to accelerate differentiated application development. She says the new center will enable the conglomerate to develop applications that combine technologies coming from different business units, such as light-emitting diodes from GE Lighting and high performance thermoplastics or liquid silicone rubbers from GEAM.

Motahari notes that between 2000 and 2004, GE Plastics (now part of GEAM) increased global spending on technology resources by 33%, and increased the number of people involved in market and applications development by 65%.

DuPont acquires Czech PVB business

DuPont has acquired Retrim, a safety glass interlayer company with plant operations in Zlin, Czech Republic. Included in the acquisition is proprietary technology allowing the re-use of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) trim materials produced during the manufacture of automotive and architectural laminated glass.

DSM Somos stereolithography resins qualified for use in Sony Solid Creation Systems

All UV-curable stereolithography resins from DSM Somos (New Castle, DE) have been qualified for use in Sony''s Solid Creation Systems (SCS), which the company launched in North America last May. Several DSM Somos products have been used in SCS in Japan for several years.

The Sony lineup includes the SCS-9000D system, which has the largest modeling platform available in the world, and dual-beam scanning technology. "Sony''s entry into the U.S. stereolithography market will undoubtedly foster some exciting new developments in both equipment and processing technology," says DSM Somos business director James Reitz.

JV expands injection molder''s presence in U.S., Mexico

Offering a range of thermoset and thermoplastic molded products, Glastic Corp. (Cleveland, OH) has signed a joint venture with Productos Plasco SA de CV (Mexico City) to create Glastic Molding LLC-an electrical and industrial products molder with facilities in Jefferson, OH; Salem, MI; and Mexico City. Glastic controls 80% of the venture, which is looking to expand into Asia and does not include the parent company''s electrical-grade proprietary products.

Blowmolder pairs with chemical supplier looking to vertically integrate packaging

Chemical products manufacturer Old World Industries (Northbrook, IL) has teamed with blowmolder Madras Packaging LLC (Northbrook, IL), with Madras supplying packaging for some Old World products, including its Peak antifreeze and washer fluid offerings. Old World will also use Madras'' HDPE bottles for its de-icing solutions and coolants, and it has taken a financial stake in the blowmolder.

New home for Mould & Matic

Thermoform tooling and injection mold manufacturer Mould & Matic Solutions has moved from Kremsmuenster to new offices in Micheldorf, both Austria. The firm had been a captive manufacturing operation for Austrian processor Greiner Packaging but now is marketing molds on the open market.

Machine tool leader hopes for better days ahead

The world''s leading supplier of machine tools for moldmaking, Agie Charmilles (Zug, Switzerland), lost money last year as sales nose-dived, especially in North America and Europe, although Germany has shown improvement. For the first time, the firm''s sales in Asia exceeded its sales in North America, as demand in China jumped 26% in local currency. The firm expects results to improve this year.

Russia getting PE100 plant for pipe market

A 120,000-tonnes/yr high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant to be run by Salavatnefteorgsintez (Moscow) using Basell (Hoofddorp, The Netherlands) technology, is scheduled to be built at Salavat, Bashkortostan, Russia. The facility will concentrate on bimodal PE100 pipe grades and high-tenacity film resins.

DSM hikes TPE-E capacity

DSM Engineering Plastics (Sittard, The Netherlands) is expanding its thermoplastics elastomer ether ester block copolymer (TPE-E) capacity by 25% at its Emmen plant through de-bottlenecking. The energy-absorbing material is used in airbag covers and constant-velocity axle joint boots.

PVC window turns 50 in Germany

This year marks a half-century of extruded PVC window and door profiles in Germany. The first series of vinyl window frame was processed in Troisdorf, Germany in 1954. Today, plastics profiles hold 55% of the total German market, and more than 80% in Great Britain.

Masterbatchers blast EU program as unworkable

Germany''s masterbatch producers association, Masterbatch Verband (Frankfurt), has condemned a proposed European Commission for European Union-wide regulatory measure for the chemicals sector. A preliminary proposal covering the manufacture and imports of chemical products, REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of CHemicals), has been termed "bureaucratic, impractical, and too expensive for the masterbatch sector, which is mainly made up of small- and medium-sized enterprises," says association spokesperson Heike Liewald.

A pilot project using the REACH guidelines in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has shown that the amounts of time, personnel, and costs are generally beyond the means of most masterbatch producers, says Liewald. Also small-lot masterbatches would become too expensive to produce, and the association believes they would eventually disappear from the market, leaving processors with less of a choice.

It also sees the danger of masterbatch production moving outside EU countries where such regulations have no affect, thereby endangering jobs and processors'' existence.

Scottish processors said to make world''s largest tanks

Balmoral Chemical Tanks (Aberdeen, Scotland) says it has installed equipment to produce the world''s largest rotomolded storage tanks. The single-piece, polyethylene tanks have a capacity of 1300 to 75,000 liters, and are both UV- and chemical-resistant. The 50-tonne rotomolder, which Balmoral managing director Jim Milne says required construction of a new building to accommodate, has an oven capacity of 10 by 4.5 by 4.5 m. Total investment is more than £2 million. (www.balmoraltanks.com)

Deal signed to build Russian HDPE plant

Italian engineering and construction company Tecnimont (Milan), part of the Edison Group, has contracted with Russian petrochemical company Salavatnefteorgsintez, part of Gazprom (Moscow), to construct a 120,000-tonnes/yr high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant at Salavat, Bashkortostan, Russia. The $80-million facility, which uses Basell technology, is scheduled for completion in mid-2006. Basell has also sold a license for its technology to PetroChina for a 200-tonnes/yr low density PE plant being built at Lanzhou, China. (www.basell.com)

Victrex, Zotefoams collaborate on new foams

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) producer Victrex (Thornton Cleveley, England) and Zotefoams (Croydon, England) are teaming up to produce a foamed version of PEEK. The material has densities as low as 650 kg/cu m. The technology uses nitrogen saturation to impregnate granules that are then injection molded to produce foamed parts, or extruded into foamed profiles. The materials have good chemical and UV resistance, very high temperature and good dielectric performance, low flammability, and buoyancy. The companies envision applications such as level sensors in chemically harsh environments, and low-weight, thermoformable panels for aerospace and mass transit. (www.victrex.com; www.zotefoams.com)

BASF to the rescue?

In the ongoing battle between Frankfurt Airport expansion opponents and supporters (MP E-Update, February 2004), involving the fate of Ticona''s 77,000-tonnes/yr-capacity acetal plant directly in the line of a proposed new runway, the name of a competitor has been bandied about as offering a possible solution. As reported on a local Frankfurt radio station, BASF has offered space at its headquarters in Ludwigshafen, Germany to relocate the plant. A BASF spokesperson would not comment on the matter. The present plant is located in Kelsterbach, in the state of Hesse, Germany. The state''s governor has already proposed relocating the facility but wants to keep the Ticona facility somewhere within the state to ensure continued tax revenue. This would be thwarted if Ticona were to move to Ludwigshafen, which is in an adjacent state. Previously, a Ticona spokesman said that if the company were forced to move he could not say if it would remain in high-wage Germany or move to a more favorable location. (www.basf.com; www.ticona-eu.com)

European packaging tape substrates on the move

Oriented polypropylene (OPP) is continuing to take market share from unplasticized PVC substrate film used for adhesive tapes in Europe. PVC has continued a 1% decline/yr since in 2002 (latest figures according to ExxonMobil Chemical) to about 800,000 million sq m. In contrast, OPP has jumped to more than 3.7 billion sq m. The strong euro has supported a trend in attracting OPP imports from Asia, the company says. (www.exxonmobil.com)

Swiss take over extruder maker

Buhler (Uzwil, Switzerland) has acquired some of the assets of insolvent extruder maker Theysohn Maschinenbau (Salzgitter, Germany), for an undisclosed price. Buhler says the takeover helps expand its activities in extruded plastics as well as powder coatings. Theysohn produced co-rotating, intermeshing twin-screw extruders which a Buhler spokesman says will be further developed. [www.buhlergroup.com]

Pakistan bemoans low plastics usage

According to Asif Rasheed, VP of the Pakistan Plastics Manufacturers Association (PPMA), the country has one of the lowest per capita plastics consumption rates in the world, at just 3.2 kg/person. This places Pakistan behind India (3.3 kg) and China (7 kg). Although the country boasts more than 6000 processors and 600,000 people working in the industry, "the plastics industry falls into cottage industry, and there are [only a few] manufacturers who are medium-sized industries," says PPMA spokesman Fayyaz Chauhdry. The country''s total consumption of polymer is about 450,000 tonnes/yr, 90% of which is imported. He says during the Iraq war, polymer prices in Pakistan shot up by as much as 70%.

Vinyl innovation prize announced

PVC and PVdC producer SolVin (Brussels, Belgium), a joint venture between BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany) and Solvay (Brussels), has launched an award for PVC innovation. The contest is open to processors, equipment makers, additives suppliers, service providers, designers, and academic institutions. SolVin is offering a total of €100,000 in cash prizes for projects which demonstrate new developments in the use of vinyl. Entries will be accepted until April 30. (www.solvinpvc.com)

BASF acquires U.S. PUR producer

Foam Enterprises (FEI, Minneapolis, MN) has been bought by resin producer BASF (Ludwigshafen) for an undisclosed sum. FEI produces rigid foam polyurethane (PUR) for noise and heat insulation, sanitary products, and pleasure boats. BASF is taking over the company''s headquarters and R&D center in Houston, TX along with a staff of 80. (ww.basf.de

Names in the News

Jorg Kariger has been named managing director of Profine, formerly traded as HT Troplast (Troisdorf, Germany), one of Europe''s largest PVC window and door profile extruders, and a manufacturer of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) film for sandwiched safety glass applications. Kariger will be in charge of finding a buyer for the operations, which its mother company, Rutgers (Essen, Germany), wants to off-load to concentrate on its core business. (www.profine-group.com)

Matthew Defosse [email protected]

Robert Colvin [email protected]