Sheet extrusion: Brückner Formtec lands six-line order for China

Brückner Formtec (Siegsdorf, Germany) has received its largest order ever, a request for six twin-screw sheet-line extruders, from a Chinese manufacturer of A-PET (amorphous polyethylene terephthalate) products. Four of the lines will have a thickness range of 150-1200 microns, with the other two running at between 500 and 1800 microns for polished thick films. All the lines are twin screws and feature multilayer co-extrusion feed blocks and roll stacks with 2-step polishing, as well as a turret winder with multiweb inline slitting.

Brückner Formtec said it has a longstanding relationship with the client, which, in addition to its patented JuBo polishing roller technology helped secure the order. According to Karlheinz Weinmann, Brückner’s manager of corporate communications, the customer already owns 12 Brückner lines. The unnamed Chinese processor will boost its production capacity by two thirds with the new machines, lifting it to 100,000 tons/yr and making it a market leader, according to Brückner. The Chinese market for rigid packaging sheet is expanding annually at a rate in excess of 10% according to the extrusion system manufacturers and will soon eclipse 1 million tons of annual capacity.—[email protected]