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Large and hollow are two descriptors that can quickly preclude parts from export since shipping air is a very inefficient proposition.

Tony Deligio

January 15, 2009

4 Min Read
Roto carves out regional niches

Large and hollow are two descriptors that can quickly preclude parts from export since shipping air is a very inefficient proposition.

'Tornadoe' rotational molding machine



This TRM 4000-4C rotational molding machine is one of three 'Tornadoes' STP Rotomachinery has installed at an Australian customer. The machine has a 4m spherical swing and four offset arms for “independent” rotomolding.

Ferry 'Rotospeed'



This Ferry RS 5500 machine is part of Ferry Industries Rotospeed line, which includes independent-arm, fixed-arm turret, clamshell, shuttle, rocking oven, vertical, and laboratory machines.

Meese pre-assembly



Meese Orbitron Dunne (MOD; Ashtabula, OH) offers a pre-assembly service program that includes manual assembly, testing, and quality-control procedures, reducing lead times as well as packaging, shipping, and outsourced assembly costs.

Meese Orbitron Dunne (MOD; Ashtabula, OH) offers a pre-assembly service program that includes manual assembly, testing, and quality-control procedures, reducing lead times as well as packaging, shipping, and outsourced assembly costs. As such, rotational molding remains a very regional, and in some ways, insulated industry.

That parochial nature was evident at the International Assn. of Rotational Molders (ARM; Glen Ellyn, IL) Rotoplas event, where the roughly 900 attendees (including exhibitors) traveled from more than 20 countries to Rosemont, IL. The regional concentrations are also represented by preponderance of associations: the South Asia rotomolding division claims 70 members in seven countries, while the Nordic Assn. of Rotational Moulders boasts 21 members spread among Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, with specific groups for Latin American, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Australia, among others.

Roto in the Western Hemisphere

Numbers vary, with some ambiguity due to captive rotomolding operations, as well as shops that mix rotation molding and other technologies like thermoforming or blowmolding, but Harry Covington, president of rotomolding machine supplier Ferry Industries (Stow, OH), estimates there are approximately 400-500 rotomolders in North America. Covington says Ferry’s top end markets are agriculture, industrial storage, and technical products in areas like medical, automotive, and aerospace.
Covington says Ferry always exported a fair amount of machines—30-35% this year—but the number had been boosted by a weak dollar earlier in 2008, with the largest international markets in Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, and Europe.
Michel Truax, sales director for Quebec-based STP Rotomachinery Inc., which is part of Italian firm Polivinil Rotomachinery SpA (Cerano), estimates there are around 35 rotomolders in Canada. Truax says the company’s top markets are the agricultural and petrochemical, with very little growth in the other markets, currently.

South of the U.S. border, Covington estimates there are approximately 80-90 rotomolders in Mexico, although he says most are fairly small. Miguel Angel Vial Galvan, who represented Mexico’s Polimeros Nacionales at Rotoplas, estimates there are about 120 rotomolders that specialize in water tanks, with only about 12 custom shops. Polimeros, which offers micropellets for rotomolding, including engineering materials like ABS and PC, says there are five powder suppliers within Mexico at this time.

India as Asia’s roto epicenter

The hottest rotomolding market could be in India. At ARM’s annual meeting last year, a representative of the South Asia division pegged rotomolding’s annual growth in the country at 16%. Much of that is aimed at infrastructure, with India to spend more than $500 billion over next five years. Other applications are seen in areas as diverse as automotive, septic tanks, and school furniture.
Speaking to MPW at Rotoplas, Lal Singh, managing director of the Fixopan Group (New Delhi), estimated there are around 300 rotational molders in India. Of these, Singh said most run more rudimentary open flame machines and sheet-metal tools. However crude, Singh tabbed roto’s growth in the country at 21%.

Also at Rotoplas, Iyer Ramchandran, director of Shree Momai Rotocast Machinery, which sells machines, tooling, and pellet pulverisors, estimated there are around 200 rotomolders in the country. The local market for machines is around 100/yr, with more than ample supply from the country’s roughly 15 rotomolding machine manufacturers.

Rajendra Shukla, director of M. Plast India Ltd. (Noida), fell between Singh and Ramchandran in his estimate of Indian rotomolders, guessing there were more than 200, with a growth rate exceeding 15%. For Shukla, 70% of his business comes from existing customers expanding or updating their machine base, with strong opportunities in the Middle East and the next potential big market coming in Africa.

The other Indian machine makers also look outside the country for business, with Fixopan’s approximately 400 installed machines spread among 50 countries, according to Singh. Shree Momai has supplied machines to South America (Bolivia, Argentina), the Middle East (Kuwait, Bahrain), and Australia, while M. Plast’s most recent sale was for 50-kiloliter water-tank production in Dubai.—[email protected]

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