This page is an archive of news and news background stories. Stories are placed here when they expire from the news pages and are filed in date order, most recent on the top. Go to the most recent or browse through the headline links.
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BP/Hüls styrenics deal is completed February 26, 1998
The takeover by Deutsche BP of the Hüls styrene polymers business Styrenix Kunststoffe has been given the go-ahead by the European Commission and the Hüls supervisory board.
The takeover, which makes BP one of Europe's largest styrenics producers, was announced towards the end of last year and came into effect on January 1. It gives BP ownership of the two Styrenix sites at Marl in Germany and Trelleborg in Sweden, amounting to 380,000 tonnes of styrene, 420,000 tonnes of ethyl benzene, 180,000 tonnes of polystyrene, 75,000 tonnes of expandable polystyrene and 250,000 tonnes of cumene at Marl, and 70,000 tonnes of polystyrene at Trelleborg.
BP is also planning to expand one of its existing styrenics plants, at Wingles in northern France, which will go up to 200,000 tonnes of polystyrene and 90,000 tonnes of EPS.
Concargo appoints new general manager February 26 1998
The new general manager at Concargo Composites is Tony Campbell, for the last three years operations manager of Sears Manufacturing. Among his previous responsibilities in the composites business was a 10 year spell as manufacturing and team manager of the Formula 3 March Racing Team, for which he developed GRP applications for racing car construction.
Dutch combine to become Europe's largest plastics recycler February 25 1998
A joint venture in Holland looks set to become the largest recycler of post-consumer waste in Europe. DSM, NV EDON and NV ROVA Holding are to pool their resources and combine Reko (owned by DSM) and Wavin Re-Use (owned by the other two companies) to form a company with 230 employees on four sites processing around 100,000 tonnes of plastics waste per year. DSM will own 40 per cent of the new company and the other two 30 per cent each.
Reko brings to the venture a capacity of around 40,000 tonnes a year with 18 years' experience in recycling a broad range of materials such as LDPE agricultural and packaging film, PP bottle caps, HDPE detergent bottles, PET soft drink bottles, PC compact discs and PS coffee cups.
Wavin Re-Use has been involved primarily in LDPE film reclamation since the end of the 'fifties and its three sites in Holland reprocess around 50,000 tonnes a year of production waste generated by the film division of Wavin.
EVC bids for German PVC plant, plans Italian closures, and posts higher profits February 25 1998
EVC International's German subsidiary European Vinyls Corporation (Deutschland) is planning to take over the PVC operations of Buna Sow Leuna Olefinverbund in Schkopau, Germany, which has a vinyl chloride monomer plant. EVC plans to build a new suspension PVC plant on the site. The group sees this move as aiding its strategy for growth in the emerging Eastern European market. It is also to close the VCM and PVC site at Brindisi in Italy.
BSL's shareholders - among them Dow Chemical, which has 80 per cent - had been seeking a partner already active in PVC with which to develop the chlorine and VCM businesses on the site. EVC improved its financial performance in 1997 but still has some way to go to achieve satisfaction. Turnover was up 13 per cent on 1996 to NLG 2,367·6 million (£711·4 million), partly from higher sales volumes but also partly from higher PVC prices. This improved the gross margin from NLG187 million (£56·2 million) to NLG 217·5 million (£65·3 million) giving a substantial improvement on the 1996 operating profit of NLG 1 million (£300,500) to NLG 24·9 million (£7·5 million). This improvement masks an even better performance as fixed costs increased NLG 25·4 million (£7·6 million) because of the stronger Pound Sterling and Italian Lira but were actually 5·5 per cent lower in real terms than in 1996.
Apart from the BSL deal - which has yet to be approved by the regulatory authorities and the boards of the two companies - EVC is involved in a number of 'asset optimisation' moves:
The VCM plant at Runcorn is being uprated to 300,000 tonnes, with commissioning due later this year and the 190,000 tonnes VCM plant at Hillhouse is being closed, saving around NLG 45 million (£13·5 million);
A three year investment programme has been completed at Wilhelmshaven in Germany increasing output by 50 per cent and reducing costs by more than 20 per cent;
The closure of the Brindisi VCM and PVC sites announced today will take place by the end of 1999, leaving production concentrated on Porto Marghera and Ravenna, both of which are undergoing improvements;
The Hillhouse compounding site will be closed this year, with the business being consolidated at the Helsby site;
In Spain two compounding units have been integrated into one, improving productivity and reducing costs;
The Swiss subsidiary is being integrated into the Italian compounds business to reduce costs;
In August last year EVC bought a 51 per cent stake in Caprihans India, which makes PVC film, sheet and extruded products;
and in October EVC bought the packaging film production assets of Orbitaplast in eastern Germany.
Materials price rises February 24, 1998
AlliedSignal Plastics has increased the price of Capron nylons by an average of 8 per cent and Petra recycled PET and Nypel nylon by an average of 6 per cent.
Montell to expand PE/PP catalyst production February 23, 1998
Montell is to double production of Ziegler-Natta type catalyst at its plant in Ferrara, Italy. A 270 tonnes plant has gone on line bringing output up to 600 tonnes/year and a 1,400 tonnes catalyst support line will be completed in January next year.
The catalyst expansion will meet demand by Montell and its licensees for polypropylene made by the Spheripol process and polyethylene made by the Spherilene process, and also for Montell's own Catalloy process products.
Montell and its licensees account for around 40 per cent of the world's polypropylene output with 75 production lines and some 11 million tonnes of capacity, and for 1·4 million tonnes of polyethylene.
Zenith takes on Remu February 23, 1998
Zenith European, the injection machine sales agency set up last year out of Fahr Bucher UK, has taken on its first representation after Fahr Bucher. It is to sell Remu machines, previously represented in the UK by Soag Machinery.
Zenith is starting to build stocks of spares for the Remu machines currently installed in the UK - from 200 to 1,800 tonnes - and within three months intends to have a full service facility in place. It is also to extend its refurbishment and rebuild service to cover Remu machines.
W & H slims down February 23, 1998
German packaging and film machinery specialist Windmöller & Hölscher has divested itself of some of its fringe operations. It has transferred manufacture, sales and service of its Matador and Triumph paper bag making machines to its subsidiary Garant Maschinenhandel, and sold the woven products aspects of its Tirex LT tape stretching and Laminex G extrusion coating machinery businesses to Starlinger & Co of Austria.
UK contact for microfocus X-ray equipment February 23, 1998
Microfocus X-ray equipment for non-destructive real-time inspection built by Feinfocus of Germany is now available in the UK from Advanced Products and Technologies. Instruments range from a stand-alone source to fully-automated in-line inspection systems.
Static dissipative materials for clean room use February 23, 1998
A range of static dissipative polymers specifically for clean room environments has been introduced by TBA Electro Conductive Products. The company says they meet requirements for low off-gassing, low particulate contamination and excellent washability.
The ECP 2000 compounds are said to be true alloys, with a dispersed phase of static dissipative polymer within a host polymer, providing a continuous phase of the host material with a network of the static dissipative polymer interconnected in the second phase. Dissipative alloys with surface resistivities of 109 to 1010W square can be produced.
Base polymers include polypropylene, PETG, acrylic, ABS and thermoplastic polyurethane. The ECP 2000 materials can be processed on conventional equipment and can be recycled. Their action is independent of humidity.
Profits nearly doubled at Borealis last year as the Nordic polyolefins group improved efficiency. Net profit reached DKK 1,364 million (around £120 million) from DKK 790 million (around £66 million) in 1996. Operating profit increased to DKK 1,785 million (around £157 million), up from DKK 790 million (£69·5 million).
This improvement was against a background of a strong polyolefins market and internal improvement. Actual sales increase was 4 per cent over the previous year. Average market prices for polyolefins in 1997 were 16 per cent higher than in the year before, but while the average price for naphtha was practically unchanged, a strong US dollar forced cost increases of 12 per cent measured in DKK.
Bilham moves up to head Plascoat in the USA February 23, 1998
Powder coating specialist Plascoat Systems has appointed Keith Bilham president and chief executive officer of its North American operation Plascoat Corp. He moves up from worldwide sales development director to oversee the company's attempts to gain business in the American white and brown goods, fire extinguiser and fencing manufacturing businesses and the construction industry.
Managing director leaves Spaceminster February 23, 1998
The managing director of Spaceminster, Craig Robb, left the company suddenly last week after boardroom disagreements. For the time being chairman Keith Jackson is responsible for the day to day running of the group - which includes Boy Ltd, Biraghi UK, BPI Machines and Tool-Temp. A new managing director will be appointed 'at some stage'.
The Spaceminster Group was bought from its founders in May last year by a management group led by Craig Robb with minority backing by 3i.
Coralfoam devises new moulding techniques and gets its first UK contract February 18, 1998
Coralfoam has developed a new injection blow moulding/injection vacuum forming process, found a new approach to gas injection which enables it to be used in stack moulds, and has signed up the first commercial application in the UK for its CFT selective foaming process.
The new Injectform II forming process involves moulding a preform, and then exchanging the preform cavity for a blowing/forming cavity and forming the product during the opening stroke of the moulding machine.
The GiMtech gas injection - or more correctly, gas in melt ---technique, initially devised to dose nitrogen gas for the CFT process instead of using chemical blowing agents, puts the gas into the melt in the barrel, rather than injecting it into the mould.
Coralfoam's CFT process is to be used to make coathangers for Braitrim. The initial tool is for hangers for children's clothes, which will be moulded in polypropylene with a shot weight of 12 g in a cycle time of 6 seconds. They will replace polystyrene hangers weighing 17 g which are moulded in a cycle time of 12 seconds.
One factor in the reduced cycle time is the ease of demoulding of the CFT moulding, which 'pops out' of the tool under the action of the foam expansion; the tool for the polystyrene hanger has 14 ejector pins which complicate mould cooling.
A problem with moulding coat hangers in polypropylene is the tendency of the hooks to straighten over time under load. This is apparently not a problem with the CFT version because of the orientation set up by the expansion of the moulding's core and displacement of the skin.
As well as the material saving by lowering the shot weight, the new hanger offers further savings in disposal taxes while garment hangers are classed as packaging. See news background below.
Injectform II - a process for producing thinwalled mouldings by injection moulding a preform and then replacing the preform cavity with a final shape cavity during the mould open stroke to enable the product to be formed by air pressure or vacuum. GiMtech - a method of dosing nitrogen into a melt for the Coralfoam selective foam process as an alternative to the use of chemical blowing agents, but which also works as a gas assistance technique for injection moulding in which the gas is not injected into the cavity, but is metered into the melt before injection, and can be carried through hot runner systems.
Articulated cavity process enables preforms to be blow moulded or vacuum formed during the injection machine's mould open stroke
Coralfoam's CFT selective foaming process has been extended with a technique for forming preforms as they are demoulded.
CFT works by adding a blowing agent and demoulding the moment thin sections have set up, but while thick sections are still molten inside. Deprived of restraining packing pressure, the blowing agent expands and distorts the skin of the moulding, turning, for example, a flat section into a rod. The process is predictable and controllable, and so can be used to add ribs, form rounded edges to container rims, create 3D relief on the surface and produce a host of other moulding enhancements. It has additional benefits of shortening cycle times and aiding ejection.
The new process, Injectform II, started as a requirement to mould an ultra-thin cup with a CFT lip. Injection moulding an ultra thin-wall cup has obvious requirements of a very low melt viscosity and high injection pressure to fill the tool, so Coralfoam looked at injection blow moulding, where a thin wall can be achieved by stretching a preform which can have a greater, and therefore easier to mould, wall thickness. The problem with combining injection blow with CFT is the time taken to move the preform to a blowing position. Even on modern high speed injection blow machines this is long enough for the foaming process to start before the cup is blown, putting the foam in the wrong place.
The essence of CFT is to adapt the melt as it comes from the machine, whereas injection blow machines either have to reheat the preform, or try to keep it hot while it is moved from the injection to the blow mould. Injectform II reverses the injection blow process. Instead of moving the preform to the blow mould, the blow mould is moved to the preform.
This is done as part of the opening stroke of the machine by peeling the blow mould cavity into sections pivotted at one end and linked to the hydraulic ejector. As the mould opens the ejector pushes forward and the open 'petals' come together to form a cavity into which the preform, which has not moved from the core, can then be stretched. Coralfoam calculates that with a cooling time of 0·2 seconds, the blowing cavity can swing into place and gas pressure be applied in 0·7 seconds after injection.
A typical cycle analysis of a multi-impression 4 g cup would be:
Injection
0·2 sec
Cooling
0·2 sec
Mould open, preform stretch, close second cavity, blow
1·3 sec
Open second cavity, eject, close
0·9 sec
Total
2·6 sec
During this process the thickened lip of the preform remains a closed cavity, preventing any expansion of the foam until the cup is ejected.
While this is seen as the most appropriate way to produce thinwall containers with a CFT lip, Coralfoam says the Injectform II process offers much as a competitor to conventional injection, injection blow or thermoforming.
It has to be said that the tooling is likely to be expensive when compared with standard injection moulding or thermoforming tooling, but not when related to a set of preform and blowing tools. And tooling cost differences may become less significant as production benefits are applied.
Production of a container with a 0·3 mm wall by injection moulding requires a high melt flow material. This can carry a double penalty in the price premium for the material, and also a trade off of mechanical properties to achieve high flow. The Injectform II process as originally visualised could achieve a 0·3 mm wall from stretching a 0·9 mm preform that could be moulded in a standard melt flow material. A refinement to Injectform II has been to incorporate preform stretching by extending the core on mould open. This would have the effect of reducing the flow length of the preform and increasing the wall thickness, making filling the preform cavity with standard flow material even faster.
Such a 'plug assist' technique could have further benefits for some products by trapping the base in its as-moulded form, only stretching the walls in the forming process. One application suggested is in flower pots, where the base could be moulded complete with drainage holes: in thermoforming these holes would have to be punched, and injection moulding is unlikely to achieve a low enough product weight to be competitive.
Because the process takes place without moving the preform from the injection core it lends itself to multi-cavity stack tool operation. Coralfoam has calculated that a 500 g yellow fats tub could be moulded in a 4 + 4 stack tool on a 420 tonne injection machine at 9,600 an hour. A typical cost analysis of an ice cream container would be:
2 + 2 stack mould in a 350 tonne high speed injection moulding machine
Product weight
40 g
Cycle time
3 seconds
Machine cost
£250,000
Mould cost
£150,000
Product handling
£50,000
This will produce 4,500 per hour with only one packer.
Using £50/hour as a recovery rate, machine cost per £1,000 is £11·10
Polypropylene at £600/tonne × 40 g = £24·00/1,000
Cost per 1,000 = £35·10
These products are more often made by thermoforming, but Coralfoam sees additional factors coming into play as product quality demands increase. Yellow fats producers, for instance, are looking towards greater assurance of sterility of their containers. An injection moulding machine could be teamed with a printing machine in a sterile cell, eliminating the form - store - print sequence which might open containers to the risk of contamination.
Printing itself could be improved, or at least the efficiency of print. Coralfoam is associated with Pentex Sales, UK agent for Van Dam printing machinery, and says that in some applications the printing machines are throttled back from their maximum output because of the instability which can be caused by wall thickness variation of thermoformed containers as they spin on the mandrels.
In comparison with thermoforming, Injectform II is said to give a better wall thickness distribution which has benefits extending beyond printing speed: the base thickness is no longer dictated by the sheet thickness needed to achieve the depth of draw, but can be specified by profiling the preform. This, and a more predictable wall thickness distribution, should enable container weight to be reduced, bringing savings from a reduction in packaging disposal taxes.
Coralfoam claims further benefits from the control of all process variables by a single computer, and the scrapless nature of the process. And of course, the ability to add a CFT lip.
While it does not foresee wholesale adoption of Injectform II at the expense of thermoforming lines, Coralfoam does anticipate its application to products where existing thermoforming processes may be fallible, and has already had 'serious interest' from some major thermoforming companies.
Gas assisted moulding can be used with stack tools
Coraltech - Coralfoam's holding company - has set up a company called GiMtech to sell what is effectively a process improvement to CFT, but could have wider application.
The GiM of GiMtech stands for gas in melt, and is what Coraltech sees as the fundamental difference between its new process and existing gas injection technologies. Existing processes and patents, it says, refer to the injection of gas into the mould. GiMtech doses the gas into the melt before it is injected into the mould.
It is not yet making public the exact method of getting the gas into the melt, but it is quite straightforward and requires less modification of the moulding machine than other gas processes.
The reason for its development lies in the fundamental nature of the CFT process, in which a chemical blowing agent is dosed at quite a high proportion to achieve the rapid foaming on demoulding. This use of chemical blowing agent can add anything from £60 - £120 per tonne of material. And for some of the applications for which CFT would be suited this is a serious disincentive.
So the company set out to find a way of adding gas directly to the melt rather than generating it with an expensive chemical reaction. The result is GiMtech.
As well as reducing the cost of CFT moulding, there is a product benefit in that there is more of a separation between plastic and gas - less of a foam - which means that more material is placed in the skin, improving rigidity.
Direct gassing has been found to work with both carbon dioxide and nitrogen, and trials are planned with some more esoteric inert gases.
The process may have application in standard gas injection tools, although competing with existing gas injection processes is low on GiMtech's list of priorities. There is one area, however, where it does seem advantageous, and that is in multi-cavity work.
Gas injection processes have been applied to multi-cavity tools, but their success has been limited to tools with only a few impressions. Coraltech says that because in the GiMtech process the gas is thoroughly immersed in the melt it can be fed easily to multi-cavity tools, and is suggesting its use in high cavitation stack moulds.
Plastics in the electrical and electronics sectors February 18, 1998
Plastics are forecast to represent 20 per cent by weight of electrical and electronic equipment by 2000, amounting to some 2·6 million tonnes - a growth of almost 190 per cent since 1980.
These figures come from a report published by the Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe, and are based on data gathered by the independent research organisation Sofres Conseil. The report, Plastics - a material of choice for the electrical and electronic industry - divides applications into equipment, such as televisions, household appliances, personal computers and telephones, which together account for 59 per cent of plastics consumption, and wire and cable, which account for the remaining 41 per cent. Taking a different perspective, the two major sectors for plastics consumption are telecommunications, at 58 per cent, and small appliances at 35 per cent.
More than 80 per cent of the plastics consumed are accounted for by five polymers - PVC, used mainly in cable sheathing, 25 per cent; PE, 19 per cent; ABS, 14 per cent; PS, 13 per cent and PP, 12 per cent.
Plastics accounted for 16 per cent of all electrical and electronic waste in 1995 at 836,800 tonnes, and this is predicted to increase to a million tonnes by the end of the century. Plastics waste from electrical and electronic goods accounts for 5 per cent of all plastics waste, while electrical and electronic waste itself represents just 0·2 per cent of the total solid waste in Europe.
Stadium posts record profits February 18, 1998
Plastics moulding operations contributed to the eighth consecutive year of growth and record profits at the Stadium Group, which saw turnover in 1997 increase 16·7 per cent to £62·6 million, and operating profit by 23·6 per cent to £6·4 million - giving an improved margin of 10·3 per cent of sales (1996: 9·7 per cent).
The group's preliminary results show that its plastics operations contributed £38·53 million to turnover and £3·589 million to profit. Volume growth in moulding was around 15 per cent while there was the first full year's contribution from Quest Consumer Products which the group acquired in September 1996. A third of Stadium Plastics' sales are to the motor industry and additional contracts for new models scheduled over the next three years are in the pipeline. The plastic building products business improved, and Quest Consumer Products expended 'considerable outlay in both capital and revenue' on product development in conjunction with Mothercare, for which it is now a principal supplier of baby care products and will launch a number of new products early this year.
Clive Clague, who has been chairman since 1989, has given notice of his intention to retire at the 1999 annual general meeting.
Phthalate plasticisers: testing is uncertain 'so they are safe' February 17, 1998
The EU Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment has called for a standardised method of testing to more fully determine the safety of soft PVC toys and child care items. The call comes in an interim report from the working group on phthalates in toys which says that current extraction methods for evaluating exposure give uncertain results because of differences in the methods. A standardised extraction method for toys is awaited from a study being conducted in Holland.
The European Council for Plasticisers and Intermediates is treating the uncertainty expressed by the committee as a confirmation that phthalate plasticisers may safely be used in toys. In its own response endorsing the Scientific Committee's call for more standardised testing the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers took a more conciliatory line than the ECPI's 'not proven guilty therefore innocent' approach. It commented: 'According to the ECPI, scientific evidence has shown that phthalates are not harmful to health or the environment, but if the authorities make well-researched, scientific judgements that specific plasticisers should not be used for a particular baby application, then we would obviously encourage our customers to use alternatives'. But it warned: 'An interim decision based on incomplete studies would be a disservice to customers and to industry and would be just as wrong as recommending alternatives which have not been so well researched'.
Austro-Brazilian PP deal February 17, 1998
Austrian polypropylene manufacturer PCD and OPP Petroquimica of Brazil have agreed to co-operate in PP manufacture and sale.
PCD's Daplen will be made in Brazil for sale in South America, while PCD will sell OPP's Polyvance in Europe. Both companies use identical production technologies.
PCD has annual capacity for 410,000 tonnes of PP and 445,000 tonnes of PE in Austria and Germany, with around 80,000 tonnes of compounding capacity in Austria and Italy. A 200,000 tonnes PP plant is under construction to replace two old slurry lines, which with debottlenecking should take PCD's capacity up to 550,000 tonnes of PP and 500,000 tonnes of PE by 2000.
OPP Petroquimica is the largest petrochemical resins producer in South America with a current capacity of around 1,400,000 tonnes at four locations in Brazil (480,000 tonnes of PP, 470,000 tonnes of PE and 460,000 tonnes of PVC). It also has around 55,000 tonnes of compounding capacity. Projects in hand including a 260,000 tonnes swing-PE plant and 250,000 tonnes PP plant should bring its capacity up to around 2,000,000 tonnes by 2000.
The agreement has no bearing on the continuing negotiations between PCD's parent OMV and Borealis.
Kalle expands in pharmaceutical films February 17, 1998
Kalle Pentaplast of Germany is strengthening its position in films for pharmaceutical use by buying Swiss films specialist Aerni-Leuch. Non-packaging film activities at Arni-Leuch will be disposed of before the takeover. Kalle-Pentaplast already has involvement in the pharmaceutical market through its sister company Klöckner Pentaplast of America.
The Aerni-Leuch business, which turns over around DM 30 million with 60 employees, will be run as an independent subsidiary within the Kalle Pentaplast group. Approval is awaited from the monopolies office.
Composites companies combined February 17, 1998
A new full-service composites company has been set up following last year's acquisition by the BI Group of Cortworth plc.
The BI Group - descended from Bromsgrove Industries - incorporates a number of specialist engineering companies, one of which was Trisport Composites. Cortworth plc included among its companies Bridgtown Industries. BI Group has now put these two companies together as BI Composites, on the Bridgtown site near Cannock.
Bridgtown brings into the company expertise in a variety of non-thermoplastic composites techniques, such as S-RIM with which it makes interior components for Jaguar. Trisport Composites was a specialist in thermoplastic composites, notably the use of PP/continuous glass pre-pregs which are formed by light pressing or vacuum consolidation to make components such as vehicle roof panels or floor pans.
Gas Injection targets the USA and joins with Incoe in R & D February 17, 1998
Gas assisted moulding specialist Gas Injection Ltd has started US operations with the setting up of a subsidiary company - Gas Injection Corp - and the appointment of Advanced Injection Solutions of Michigan as representative.
One of the first outcomes is the sale of a Phased Pressure Control system to Incoe Corporation, with whom Gas Injection is planning an R & D programme on the use of hot runners and valve gates with gas assist. GIL says there is particular interest in hot runners with sequential gating and gas assist for paint-free TV cabinets to avoid the post-moulding painting operation which can cost up to $8 per cabinet.
Gas Injection has extended its range of equipment for both generating nitrogen and introducing it into mouldings. New nitrogen generators suitable for servicing up to five moulding machines have a combined generator and compressor with the option of continuous analysis of nitrogen purity. Gas may be stored at low or high pressure inside the cabinet. Bigger generators have been introduced capable of servicing 8 - 12 moulding machines depending on moulding conditions, and are designed for continuous running from factory air, with the option of an air feed compressor for where no factory supply is available.
The new range of Phased Pressure Control equipment includes a portable handset for more convenient setting and monitoring of gas moulding conditions, particularly when more than one moulding machine is being served by a single console. Servicing and retrofitting of additional gas control circuitry has been speeded up, enabling additional gas circuits to be installed in five minutes. The console can be wheeled between machines, which can be of any make or size. An intensifier pump can be fitted to enable the console to be fed from standard bottles when high pressure gas is not available.
GIL founder Terry Pearson will be presenting a paper Latest Developments in Gas Assisted Moulding Emphasising Gas Channel Design at the Molding '98 conference in Cleveland on March 23/24.
DSM is planning to double its polycarbonate compounding capacity at Genk in Belgium. The plant will produce not only Xantar PC compounds, but also Stapron C PC/ABS and Stapron E PC/PET blends. The expansion follows an agreement last year with Dow Chemical giving DSM drawing rights of up to 30,000 tonnes/year of polycarbonate. The Genk PC blending plant was recently certified to QS9000. In line with this increased production capacity, DSM has taken on an additional UK distributor. Victor International Plastics - a member of the M A Hanna group - will sell Xantar and Stapron C and E alongside DSM's existing distributor Ashland Plastics.
Otter takes over from the Stephens 2300 controller February 16, 1998
A water temperature controller specifically for small injection moulding machines has been introduced by Tangent Industries as a replacement for the Stephens 2300. The Stephens 2300 controller was in production for around 30 years until 1996, with many aged 20 years or more still in the field. However, maintenance of a spares source was getting more difficult, so Tangent has designed the Otter temperature controller as a straight replacement but using modern components and materials.
The Otter is a self-contained controller requiring no water supply or drain, able to control moulds up to 120 g shot within ±1·5 degC.
Thermal analysis combined with atomic force microscopy February 16, 1998
A materials characterisation technique that combines thermal analysis with atomic force microscopy has been developed by TA Instruments and will be unveiled at the Pittcon '98 exhibition in New Orleans, USA, at the beginning of March.
Dubbed micro-thermal analysis, the technique uses an atomic force microscope with an ultra-miniature temperature probe fitted to the head. This provides a heat source, and also measures response, providing information similar to that from traditional thermal analysis, but on a microscopic scale.
µTA can be used to characterise materials and surfaces, visualising the spatial distribution of phases, components and contaminants in terms of topography, thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity. Resolution is approximately 1 µm and any point on the image can be selected for characterisation of its calorimetric and mechanical properties.
The small sample size means that heating and cooling rates are very high, enabling many measurements to be made in a short time.
Enhanced fluid resistance for Viton February 11, 1998
In keeping with its claim to have the broadest fluid resistance among fluoroelastomers while maintaining the same high temperature performance as previous grades, the new Viton series from DuPont Dow Elastomers has been dubbed the Extreme range.
The new grades are said to combine enhanced amine and solvent resistance with improved processability - giving the good mould flow and mould release achievable with the latest standard peroxide-curable Vitons. Potential is seen in sealing applications requiring fluid resistance superior to that of standard FKM polymers, such as in the refining and petrochemical industries.
Targor PP catalyst plant now commercial February 11, 1998
Targor has commissioned the Ziegler-Natta type polypropylene catalyst plant at its Tarragona, Spain, facility which has been on trial since last November.
LNP gets its own back in Japan February 11, 1998
A 'refocussing' exercise by its parent Kawasaki Steel Corporation is giving LNP Plastics responsibility for engineering compounds sales in Japan. Kawasaki is planning new investment in its K-Plasheet stampable polypropylene/glass fibre sheet, and is passing back the representation of LNP's operations in Japan to LNP itself.
DSM names Unipol for Gelsenkirchen PE project February 6, 1998
The 300,000 tonnes linear low and high density polyethylene plant planned by DSM Polyethylenes for its Gelsenkirchen, Germany, site will use the Union Carbide Unipol process licensed from the UC/Exxon technology joint venture Univation. DSM already makes LDPE using its own tubular technology.
When it comes on-line in 2000 the plant will be one of the biggest single reactor PE plants in Europe.
DSM is the 48th licensee of the Unipol process, and there are currently 80 Unipol PE reactors in use worldwide with an annual capacity of more than 10 million tonnes.
Distrupol to distribute Alcryn February 6, 1998
Alcryn thermoplastic elastomer is to be distributed in the UK by Distrupol. Alcryn was developed by DuPont, and sold last year to a management team which set up Advanced Polymer Alloys. APA's parent company Advanced Polymer Compounding has been the contract compounder of Alcryn for more than 10 years and continues to buy its basic materials from DuPont.
US plasticisers to be made in Britain February 5, 1998
US plasticiser manufacturer Velsicol Chemical Corporation is to start making plasticisers in the UK. It has done a deal with AP Chemical in Manchester for AP to make Benzoflex plasticisers from the middle of the year. Velsicol's products are distributed through a now independent former subsidiary Velsicol Chemical in Basingstoke.
Paul Hamm (48) formerly director of the DSM Deretil business unit, has been appointed director of the DSM Elastomers business group from February 1, succeeding Rob de Visser (52) who is leaving the company.
Spectacular profits against an uneasy background February 5, 1998
Which are the five most profitable companies in the UK plastics industry? Company analyst Plimsoll Publishing will tell you, and for £305 will tell you a lot more.
The company's latest report, Plimsoll Portfolio Analysis - Plastics, First Edition 1998 names the most profitable companies as: Polymer Applications Ltd (37·4 per cent pre-tax profit margin), Sims Portex Ltd (36·8 per cent), Motec Moulding Ltd (34·2 per cent), Arjobex Ltd (33·2 per cent) and BDE Plastics Ltd (32·9 per cent).
However, the overall picture is not so rosy. Plimsoll says that its five leaders considerably outperform the industry in general, where the average pre-tax profit was 4·4 per cent, with some 20 per cent of companies unable to make a profit.
Company size is significant. Plimsoll says that companies with a turnover in excess of £20·6 million managed an average pre-tax profit margin of 6·1 per cent, while those with sales of less than £3·3 million managed only an average 4·4 per cent. However, only a third of the loss-makers fell into this category.
Uponor extends technology by acquisition February 5, 1998
The Finnish plastic pipe system giant Uponor has made another purchase bringing additional technology into the group, and has bought itself manufacturing capacity in Canada.
Its UK company Uponor Ltd has taken over Radius Plastics of Banbridge in Northern Ireland which makes underground ducting for telecommunications and cable television, with an emphasis on optical fibre cabling. Radius employs 68 people and has annual sales of around £7 million. The company has developed a method of compounding a highly lubricious silicone-based polyethylene which can be co-extruded with HDPE pipe to provide an internal low friction path for fibre optic cables. The technology bought in with Radius will aid Uponor's growth in housing systems for optical fibres, telecom, cable television and information distribution.
In North America Uponor's subsidiary Hot Water Systems NA Inc has bought Plasco Manufacturing Ltd of Langley, British Columbia, Canada. Plasco is a major manufacturer of hot water pipes and systems, and its acquisition gives Uponor a Canadian manufacturing base - until now its presence has been sales-only through its subsidiary Wirsbo of Canada Ltd.
Last month Uponor Group bought three companies involved in underfloor heating in Germany, the USA and Denmark.
Rolltec Heizsysteme of Germany and Stadler Corporation in the USA are both underfloor heating system manufacturers. PentaCom of Denmark, of which Uponor bought a 50 per cent shareholding, has worked with Uponor's German subsidiary Velta to develop a method of regulating room temperature by controlling the underfloor heating with radio signals.
Uponor Group has 34 factories in 14 countries employing 3,700 people.
Malaysia restructures rubber support February 5, 1998
Malaysia has streamlined its support operations for rubber production by amalgamating them. The Malaysian Rubber Research & Development Board, the Rubber Research Institute of Malysia and the Malaysian Rubber Exchange and Licensing Board have been brought together in the Malaysian Rubber Board. The headquarters of the new organisation are at 260, Jalan Ampang, PO Box 10150, 50908 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Chairman of the MRB is Y Bhg Datuk Alladin bin Hashmim, former director general of the Federal Land Development Authority, who has been chairman of the Agricultural Science and Biology Sub Committee of the MRRDB Co-ordinating Advisory committee for a number of years. Director general of the new organisation is Y Bhg Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz bin S A Kadir who has been director of the RRIM for the past 12 years.
Datuk Alladin also becomes ex officio chairman of the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre at Brickendonbury near Hertford. The MRB London representative, and so vice chairman of the TARRC board is Dr Wan Abdul Rahaman bin Wan Yaacob, previously an assistant director responsible for research and product development at the RRIM. Dr C S L Baker continues as director of the TARRC.
ICI out of OPP, PET film and TPU manufacture February 5, 1998
ICI has further withdrawn from the polymer industry which has been so much part of its existence for the past 50 years as it raises cash to reduce its borrowings. It has completed the sale of its Melinex polyester film business to DuPont and sold its Propafilm oriented polypropylene film business to UCB. During January it sold its thermoplastic polyurethane production to BF Goodrich.
The Propafilm deal sees the transfer to UCB of Belgium of production units in Dumfries and at Ghent in Belgium, 280 staff, and a £50 million a year business. UCB is buying only one of the two Dumfries lines. The older line, dating back to the early '60s, will continue in operation by ICI on behalf of UCB until the end of June, when it will close.
In a last move before handing control of Melinex polyester film to DuPont - a sale agreed last year - ICI announced closure of one of its Dutch production lines as its expanded Dumfries facility comes up to full production. The new £62 million line - line 53 - is described as the largest, fastest, widest and lowest cost polyester line in the world. It will take over the output of line 33 at Rozenberg, which makes thin film mainly for food packaging applications, which will cease production on April 30.
The sale of the TPU plant at Shepton Mallet comes as part of a partnership agreement with BF Goodrich under which Goodrich will make TPU for ICI Polyurethanes, which will continue development of TPU footwear products.
New tools for pipe testing February 2, 1998
Pipe extruders have been given two new testing tools. TWI (The Welding Institute) has designed and built a test rig for the generation of data to allow the service life of pipe joints, as distinct from the pipes themselves, to be predicted, while Ray-Ran Test Equipment has produced a falling weight impact tester with a V-rest fixture designed specifically for pipe.
TWI says that tests for PE pipe systems designed on the basis of experimental regression curves of hoop stress versus time to failure are inadequate for predicting the service life of pipe joints, which tend to be more vulnerable to stresses in the axial direction, and axial stress is only half the hoop stress in a laboratory hydrostatic pressure test. In service, axial stresses may be significantly greater than half the hoop stress because of bending and thermal contraction of the pipe. With traditional tests, failure invariably occurs in the wall of the pipe first and no information about the long term performance of the joint is given.
The rig provides for a whole length of pipe containing a joint to be subjected to a known tensile stress at elevated temperature and measuring the time to failure of the joint. Regression curves of axial stress versus time to joint failure can be generated in this way.
Ray-Ran says its new Polytest RR3200 falling weight impact tester was developed in response to requests by pipe manufacturers and others for a reasonably priced tester of this kind. Its specification includes pneumatic load return, an anti bounce feature and variable drop height up to 2 m. The sample test table is adjustable and incorporates a V rest for pipes from 16 to 400 mm in diameter.
Ewart James, director and business manager in charge of Silvertown UK's Silentbloc Division, has been appointed managing director of Silvertown UK.
Silvergate extends its laboratory February 2, 1998
Colour masterbatch manufacturer Silvergate Plastics has opened an expanded laboratory facility which it describes as 'one of the first fruits of our membership of the British Vita Group' - British Vita bought Silvergate last July.
Included in the extended laboratory are a twin screw and a single screw extruder for sample production, a new Boy 22S injection moulding machine, and two upgraded laboratory presses.
Technical director for Dunlop Aircraft Tyres February 2, 1998
Stuart Smith has been appointed technical director at Dunlop Aircraft Tyres in Birmingham. He has held senior positions with Dunlop Aviation Division in Coventry where he gained experience in wheel and brake design and manufacture.
BIP combines heat resistance and flexibility in polyesters February 1, 1998
BIP is to introduce a new series of Beetle polyester resins which it says offer a hitherto unattainable combination of heat resistance and flexibility, sought for pultrusion and filament winding in the manufacture of large vessels. They will also be suitable for casting with fillers for worktop and solid surfacing, such as in sanitary applications, and are being produced in orthophthalic, isophthalic and npg isophthalic grades.
Simon plans expansion in its 40th birthday year February 1, 1998
R W Simon of Torrington, Devon, has started an expansion programme with the installation of a Negri Bossi 210 tonne machine, taking the number of machines up to 11. The company now also has full 3D solid modelling CAD. During this year - in which it celebrates 40 years in business - it plans to expand its moulding area, and invest in automated product handling and environmental systems approved to ISO 14001.
Greenpeace uses toy fair to highlight phthalate plasticiser concerns February 1, 1998
Greenpeace has written to the Minister for Consumer Affairs, Nigel Griffiths, urging him to regulate the use of soft PVC in children's toys. The environmental action group says other European countries have taken action to prevent the use of plasticised PVC in toys, ranging from voluntary measures in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium to legal moves in Denmark and Austria.
The concern is over the use of phthalate plasticisers which Greenpeace says can leach out when the toys are chewed or sucked, and can cause medical problems ranging from liver and kidney damage to reproductive abnormalities.
The lettter to Nigel Griffiths was timed to coincide with the British International Toy Fair in London.
E & E to sell Crosfield silicas February 1, 1998
Precipitated silicas made by Crosfield of Warrington will be available from Ellis & Everard (UK) on February 16 when E & E becomes Crosfield's UK distributor. Precipitated silicas have wide use across powder processing, and are used as reinforcing fillers in rubbers and plastics.
Plastic Omnium Group PTFE subsidiary 3P Group has bought PTFE Fabricators of Hitchin from Glynwed International. 3P Ltd in Telford sells the full range of 3P Group PTFE and fluoropolymer products, including lined pipe, sheet, rod, tube, thread sealing tape and skived products, and PTFE Fabricators adds thin-walled tube and sleeving extrusion, with key markets in automotive cabling, aerospace and domestic applications.
An end to Antrobus January 29, 1998
The Hellyar Group's recycling company P J Antrobus Ltd has been renamed Hellyar Reclaim Ltd, following the departure of the last member of the Antrobus family. P J Antrobus, a small, family-owned reprocessing company, was bought by Hellyar Plastics in the mid-1980s.
Expansion in ATH capacity January 29, 1998
Martinswerk is to increase capacity for its alumina trihydrate (ATH) flame retardant by 18,000 tonnes later this year, reaching 90,000 tonnes/year.
Acetal belt transmits switch action round corners January 29, 1998
A food mixer made by Bosch uses a flexible belt made from acetal copolymer to transmit force from the on-off switch on the handle to the motor switch in the centre of the appliance. The belt is made from Ticona's Hostaform C27021 and transmits force over a curved path. Friction is reduced by the inherent low friction properties of the material, and also by profiling the edge of the belt.
Two other components are moulded in Hostaform, grade C9021. These are the on-off switch itself, which incorporates snap fit connections to aid assembly, and the ejector button for the whisks, which has an integral spring to return the button to its original position.
UniPoly, the Luxembourg-based conglomerate formed by the management buyout of the bulk of BTR's polymer businesses in November last year, has started on the acquisition trail. It has bought Georgia Duck and Cordage Mill, the USA's third largest conveyor belt company, which will be integrated into UniPoly Enerka Holdings.
Around 90 per cent of Georgia Duck's business is in conveyor belts for industries including mining, forest products and food and package handling. It makes belts in rubber, PVC and urethane - in that order of sales volume.
Elf Atochem and Rohm and Haas go their separate ways January 28, 1998
Elf Atochem and Rohm and Haas are to split from their joint ventures in acrylics. Elf Atochem is to buy the 50 per cent stake held by Rohm and Haas in AtoHaas, while Rohm and Haas will buy Elf Atochem's 50 per cent stake in Norsohaas.
Norsohaas was set up in France in 1989 to sell acrylic-based products. AtoHaas was formed in 1992 for the worldwide manufacture and sale of acrylic sheet and moulding resins sold as Plexiglas in North and South America and Altuglas in Europe. AtoHaas also produces and sells Tuffak polycarbonate sheet.
Completion of the two sales is expected in the first quarter of this year.
£1 m pipe installation training centre January 26, 1998
A £1 million pipe technology centre has been built in Britain by Uponor. The Technical Skills Centre will was opened on January 28 at Uponor's Hilcote, Derbyshire site and is intended for use by the company's customers, principally involved in gas and municipal installations, to develop skills in the use of Uponor's pipe systems.
From Mader to Mayne at APME January 23, 1998
The new head of the Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe is Dr Neil Mayne. He replaces Dr Fred Mader who retired at the end of last year. Dr Mayne has been seconded from Montell Polyolefins, where he was vice-president, techology business support.
Management buyout at ENBI January 23, 1998
ENBI Ireland, a subsidiary of the Dutch-based Royal Ten Cate Group, has been sold to its management, with RTC keeping around 20 per cent. ENBI makes technical rubber parts, with a speciality in seals for pipe systems, and employs 130. It has been renamed DIS ENBI Seals Ireland. The new managing director is Arthur Hendrickx.
Targor/Distrupol PP deal in Benelux January 23, 1998
Distrupol has been appointed distributor in the Benelux countries for Targor polypropylene compounds. The company will sell Novolen in the Netherlands, and Hostacom and Procom throughout Benelux.
Industry News Background - January 1998
In support of the start-up of its German aniline plant, Dow Polyurethanes produced a resume of the market growth in polyurethanes. This is an edited version of that resume.
The emerging economies of Latin America and the Pacific are the driving force in polyurethanes consumption, with 6 - 10 per cent annual compounded growth fuelled by demand for bedding, furniture, appliances, automotive products and flexible foams in general.
European and North American growth, while not so strong, will continue ahead of the gross domestic product growth rate. Flexible foams and automotive/appliance uses continue as a strong market, with a significant additional increase in rigid spray foams used in the building industry, which are growing at 8 - 10 per cent annually.
Worldwide, growth is predicted at 5·5 to 6 per cent.
1997 consumption is estimated at 5 million tonnes with the biggest markets in Europe and North America, each consuming around a third of global output. Latin America consumes 10 per cent and the Pacific around 25 per cent. Over the next five years there will be rapid growth in Latin America and the Pacific, and in the Pacific region the PU industry is expected to become as big, if not bigger, than that in Europe.
Raw materials
The growth in polyol production, estimated at 5·per cent globally, drives the growth of polyurethanes in general. Polyether polyols account for 10 per cent with an annual consumption of 2·7 - 3 million tonnes and a market capacity of around 4·1 million tonnes. Geographical consumption rates approximately mirror those of polyurethanes overall.
Demand for methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), primarily used for rigid and semi-rigid foams, elastomers and binders, is strong, primarily from uses in construction, appliances, adhesives, coatings, elastomers and sealants. The highest growth is in Latin America, with a compounded growth rate to 2000 predicted at 10 per cent. In the Pacific region this figure is around 8 per cent.
Demand for toluene diisocyanate (TDI) is expected to be strongest in Latin America at around 8 per cent compounded to 2000, with 5 per cent in the Pacific area.
Dow reckons to be the world's largest polyol producer, with 13 plants worldwide, including plants in Brazil, Colombia and Argentina. Capacity has been increased this year in Brazil and Argentina, bringing the Brazilian plant up to 105,000 tonnes and the Argentinian plant to 50,000 tonnes. A 50,000 tonnes propylene oxide plant has also been completed in Brazil - PO is an essential component of polyether polyols - and Dow is planning to increase its Texas, USA PO plant by 45,000 tonnes in January.
Capacity in isocyanates is being increased with the start up of the German aniline - an MDI feedstock - plant with 130,000 tonnes capacity and a planned TDI expansion in Texas which will add 100,000 tonnes next year.
Overall, Dow's input to global PU production amounts to some 1·6 million tonnes. Dow
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EVC improved its financial performance in 1997 but still has some way to go to achieve satisfaction. Turnover was up 13 per cent on 1996 to NLG 2,367·6 million (£711·4 million), partly from higher sales volumes but also partly from higher PVC prices. This improved the gross margin from NLG187 million (£56·2 million) to NLG 217·5 million (£65·3 million) giving a substantial improvement on the 1996 operating profit of NLG 1 million (£300,500) to NLG 24·9 million (£7·5 million). This improvement masks an even better performance as fixed costs increased NLG 25·4 million (£7·6 million) because of the stronger Pound Sterling and Italian Lira but were actually 5·5 per cent lower in real terms than in 1996.