GE sticks out to the wire

June 30, 2001 - The demise of GE's takeover of Honeywell may be, to paraphrase Mark Twain, greatly exaggerated. Despite reports a couple of weeks ago that GE had given up negotiations for European Commission approval, and the apparent confirmation last week that the EC's demands were too high for the deal to go ahead, the negotiations rumble on.
     On Thursday (June 28) GE agreed to sell 19·9 per cent of its GECAS aircraft leasing business - the block on which the whole deal is stumbling - and to divest less (GE had originally offered to sell businesses with revenues of $2·2 billion to meet anti-monopoly targets).
     But the brinkmanship had cost too much time, and EU competition commissioner Mario Monti told GE and Honeywell there was no time to consider the revised proposal. On Friday Honeywell CEO Michael Bonsignore wrote to GE's CEO Jack Welch asking that GE give in to the EC's demands and hand over both the GECAS partial sale and the full package of divestments proposed earlier - as he put it, 'a more complete alternative is the only possible effective solution that will satisfy the Commission'.
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     As compensation for the increased cost to GE. Mr Bonsignore offered to cut the price of Honeywell from 1.055 shares per share to 1.01.
     Jack Welch turned him down.
     In a somewhat shorter reply than the original request, he told Michael Bonsignore: 'as the conversation the two of us had yesterday with Commissioner Monti so clearly demonstrates, the GE-Honeywell proposals of both June 14th and June 27th are not acceptable and fall far short of what the Commission seeks.
     'What the Commission is seeking cuts the heart out of the strategic rationale of our deal.
     'The new deal you propose, in response to the Commission, makes no sense for our share owners, for the same strategic reasons.'
     The target date for the EC to complete its assessment is July 12, but a more meaningful date is seen as July 3 when EU commissioners meet in Strasbourg. GE and Honeywell have everything to play for, while the European Commission stands to win nothing in particular whatever the deal. The $42 billion merger that has taken eight months to bring this far will surely not fail now because of intransigence.

Dow revises profits forecast

June 30, 2001 - Dow Chemical is the latest company to revise down its profits forecast because of a worldwide slow down. While no longer expecting to meet its previous estimate of $0·35 to $0·45 per share for the second quarter, the company says its results will be 'substantially better than the underlying earnings in the first quarter'. The results will be published on July 26 and can be followed at www.dow.com. at 10 am EDT.

Schmalbach in US closure joint venture

June 30, 2001 - Schmalbach-Lubeca has formed a joint venture with American metal closures manufacturer Silgan Holdings to supply metal and plastic closures to the North American food and beverage market. The new company, White Cap, will combine Silgan's metal closures operations at Evansville and Richmond, Indiana, with Schmalbach's US and Mexican plants. Schmalbach will hold 65 per cent of the company, which will employ 1,500 people and have sales of around $270 milion.

Dow to expand French rubber production

June 30, 2001 - Dow Chemical is to expand polybutadiene rubber production capacity at its Berre L'Etang plant in France to 70,000 tonnes. Dow bought the plant in 1999 as part of Shell's general purpose rubber business.

Mid East VCM pitched at Asia Pacific

June 30, 2001 - A new chlorochemicals site set up by the Qatar Vinyl Company - a joint venture set up in 1997 by Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Petrochemical Company, NorskHydro and AtoFina - includes 360,000 tonnes of dichloroethane and 230,000 tonnes of vinyl chloride monomer. Target markets are Asia and Australia.

Basell quits Indian project

June 30, 2001 - Basell has pulled out of an olefins/polyolefins project in India. It has been collaborating with National Organic Chemical Industries, alongside Montell and Elenac, since 1998 to build a world scale plant at NOCIL's Thane site.
     However, the worldwide - and Indian - polyolefins and petrochemicals outlook has deteriorated since negotiations started, and Basell sought equity support for the project. As no equity partner could be found, Basell has decided to withdraw from the project.

Barlo to stop Belgian sheet manufacture

June 30, 2001 - Barlo Plastics is to close its Geel, Belgium sheet plant and transfer production to its factories at Nischwitz in Germany and Pribram in the Czech Republic. The plant makes 9,000 tonnes/year of PETG, PS, PMMA and SAN sheet. The move is a cost reduction, and has strategic benefits in that the PS sheet market is stabilising in Western Europe but Barlo expects it to continue to grow in Central Europe. In addition the production of SAN sheet has become particularly cost-sensitive.
     Barlo's plastics division continues with its headquarters in Belgium.

Polymer majors spend in the East as business dips in the West

June 29, 2001 - Germany's big three plastics manufacturers are all reporting a slow down in business, but are continuing to invest for the future, with the emphasis on the Far East.
     BASF rattled the financial world with a reduced profits forecast and consequent cost-saving plan to shut 10 sites and an additional 14 plants. At the same time it announced a 20 per cent cut in capital expenditure. The blame was put on the global economic slow down with weaker growth in Europe and the depressed state of the US economy. However, the company is sticking to its goal of increasing profits by 10 per cent a year from 2000 to 2002.
     Cuts have already started in the BASF empire with the superabsorbents plant in Birkenhead - singled out as one of the contributors to the company's woes through lost production after closure because of a fire - now not to be re-opened. A pharmaceuticals plant in Beeston is also to be closed, and in the USA BASF is to close one of its three acrylic acid plants in Texas, reducing capacity by 75,000 tonnes.
     One of the reasons given by BASF for its potentially lower profits in the second quarter was delay in bringing new plants on stream. Shortly before the profits warning one of these new plants, for trimethylolpropane (TMP) which is used to make polyesters and polyurethanes, was started up at Ludwigshafen in Germany. The 20,000 tonnes plant uses new technology to produce ultra-pure TMP without additional salt production, and using a third less formaldehyde.
     BASF is also continuing to expand its styrenics business, and has agreed the purchase of a 320,000 tonnes styrene monomer plant from SK Evertec Corp in South Korea. The plant already has pipeline connections to BASF's existing styrenics operations at the Ulsan petrochemicals complex. BASF is also involved in a styrene monomer/propylene oxide plant in Singapore which it is building with Shell for a second half 2002 start up.
     Like BASF, Bayer has a lot more than just its polymers business to set the tone for the group's performance, and it listed a sharp drop in earnings from its Kogenate biotechnology healthcare product as one factor in a revision of forecast profits for this year to below those of last - which, to be fair, was the most successful in the company's history. The company is still forecasting a profit for 2001 of around Eur 3 billion.
     Bayer's polymers businesses have been hit by the US slow down, and the company says this is now causing growth to slow in Europe and Asia. However, the group is 'keeping faith with plastics' and is planning to invest Eur 1·7 billion in polymers this year. New plant costing Eur 1·4 billion accounts for almost half the group's total capital expenditure budget of Eur 3·1 billion, and there will be a further Eur 300 million spent on research and development.
     In a longer term investment Bayer is enhancing its position in Asia-Pacific. Groupwide Bayer is to invest $6 billion to increase the share of sales in the region from 16 to 25 per cent. In the first half of this year the group increased its sales from Asia-Pacific by 13 per cent over the equivalent 2000 period - with polymer sales revenue rising 20 per cent - and its aim is to top last year's Eur 4·9 billion sales record.
     Specifically in polymers, Bayer is investing $4 billion in South East Asia and China in the period 1996 - 2008. A $750 million investment in Thailand is due for completion in 2005, including a 350,000 tonnes polycarbonate plant. And following first phase investment of $300 million, Bayer has earmarked $3·1 billion for further polymer production facilities in China to be completed by 2008.
     The third of Germany's 'big three', although not now in the same category as BASF and Bayer since its detachment from Hoechst, is Ticona. It, too, is finding this year harder going than last, but still describes business this year as 'vigorous' - especially in Asia. Ticona does not have the price-sensitive commodity polymers business that makes BASF in particular so vulnerable to economic down turns, and is quoting average annual world growth rates in engineering polymers of around 8 per cent for the next five years, with Asia recording around 11 per cent.
     This year Ticona committed Eur 100 million to new capacity around the world which it expects to bring back an annual Eur 350 million in sales.
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     The most recent investment plan - announced yesterday - is for a 60,000 tonnes acetal plant to be built in China. The plant, due on stream in 2004, will be built by a consortium of Polyplastics (a Daicel/Ticona joint venture), Mitsubishi Gas Chemical and Ticona.
     Demand for acetal is estimated to be growing at 9 - 10 per cent a year in China, and currently stands at around 100,000 tonnes. There is no local producer, and more than 60 per cent of the market is currently supplied by Ticona associates Polyplastics and Korea Engineering Plastics.
      Apparently bucking the trend is GE Plastics which, while seeing some slow down, is still growing its business in Europe through new applications and products. The company is forecasting a strong year, is meeting targets, and expects to have 'a pretty good second half' despite the worldwide slow down.
     One coincidental benefit of the recession in the USA has been a loosening of the polycarbonate market. The notorious delivery times of past months have been easing as reduced US demand has freed capacity for sale elsewhere. GE is certainly bullish about the growth of polycarbonate. It sees continuing innovation in the building market as infra red blockers enable PC sheeting to be used in roofing in the more southerly parts of Europe; growth in film demand as customisation increases the use of in-mould decoration; further growth potential in optical discs as new formats become available; a potential to replace glass in nearly half the European vehicle headlight production; and the longer term holy grail of vehicle glazing, which it is exploring through its Exotech joint venture with Bayer.
     What has been more taxing at GE has been the sinking by the European Commission of its plan to take over Honeywell a couple of weeks ago. While there is as yet no categorical abandonment of the deal, this week GE described the chances of it happening as 'highly unlikely given how far apart we are'. All the fuss has been about aeroplanes, but buried in the relatively small print would have been the addition of Honeywell's ex-AlliedSignal nylon business to GE Plastics.
     GE, through Polymerland's distribution agreement with Rhodia, has nylon in its portfolio. But it would like more and has confirmed that it will look for options to add more nylon products. But doing a separate deal with Honeywell to buy the nylon business seems out of the question at present, as GE is resting on its stance that the overall agreement it has with Honeywell is the one it wants, and it is all or nothing. The deadline for the deal to be scrapped, or for it to be brought in line to dispel European Commission monopoly fears, is July 12.

Fortron evaluates 'breakthroughs' in PPS production

June 29, 2001 - More cost-effective ways of making polyphenylene sulphide could open up the market for this high performance engineering thermoplastic. Ticona and Kureha Chemicals, partners in PPS manufacturer Fortron Industries, have each developed new technologies aimed at improving the overall productivity of PPS manufacture.
     Fortron is now to evaluate these technologies which it describes as 'breakthrough' and will use them either to de-bottleneck and expand its Wilmington, USA, plant and/or build a new plant. Whichever route it takes, Forton expects to bring additional capacity on stream by 2004.
     The Wilmington plant was overhauled last year in a multi-million dollar expansion which increased capacity by 25 per cent.

US extruder builder opens in Britain

June 29, 2001 - An American extruder manufacturer has opened a subsidiary in Britain. Entek Manufacturing has set up Entek Extruders in Uttoxeter (01889 562167, sjones@entekmfg.demon.co.uk), managed by Stephen Jones formerly of Douglas Baker Plastics, to sell co- and counter-rotating twin screw extruders and supporting equipment. This includes replacement screw and barrel sections for Leistritz, W & P, Berstorff, Maris and other compounder makes.
     High torque, high throughput machines are built in sizes from 27 to 133 mm, and Entek also makes low shear machines for sensitive materials including bio-composites and rubber. The company can supply turnkey lines including strand dies, feeding equipment, gear pumps and pelletisers.
     Entek has a sister company, Entek International, which has a plant at Killingworth near Newcastle on Tyne, where it runs 10 Entek twin screw sheet lines equipped with multiple feeders and liquid injection, producing battery separator film.

New big machine range from Husky

June 29, 2001 - Husky has upgraded the two-platen injection moulding machine series it introduced in 1995 and called it the Quadloc range, spanning locking forces of 1,500 to 8,000 tonnes.
     Control now uses the Polaris personal computer/Windows-based system using a single PC and eliminating the communications delays associated with multiple controllers. Repeatability is said to have been improved by a factor of 10 through higher scan rates and faster communication. The Polaris also controls the integrated robotics and ancillary equipment.
     The hydraulics use the latest generation of Moog servo valves which are said to be more robust and resistant to contamination than previous valves, and to be more accurate. Position transducers have also been upgraded to improve resolution from 100 micron to 5 micron.
     More variation has been built in to injection/clamp unit combinations and there are now 38. Quick barrel change has been incorporated in the smaller units and electric screw drives are available up to 135 mm. Motor power can also be selected in modules according to the application, and the hydraulics are now driven by variable displacement pumps with water-cooled motors.

More capacity for plastic armour plate

June 29, 2001 - The new Dyneema UD plant to be built by DSM High Performance Fibers at its Greenville, North Carolina, USA site will have a capacity of around 600 tonnes and will be in production by the end of this year. Dyneema UD (uni-directional) uses Dyneema high strength polyethylene fibres to produce a lightweight material for personal ballistic protection, vehicle armour and similar applications.

Hemo in administration

June 29, 2001 - Thermoset moulder Hemo of Oldbury has gone into administration. Turnover last year was £6·3 million, but lower turnover this year has been compounded by the effects of the strong pound to undermine profitability.

European EVOH production to double

June 29, 2001 - Kuraray Co is to double production capacity at EVAL Europe in Belgium to 24,000 tonnes/year. EVAL makes ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) barrier resin, and the expansion is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2003 at an estimated investment of ¥8·5 billion.
     Annual worldwide growth in EVOH demand exceeds 10 per cent. Kuraray has a plant in Japan (capacity 10,000 tonnes), in the USA (capacity 23,000 tonnes) and the Belgian facility.
     Following the European expansion Kuraray is considering a similar increase at its EVAL Company of America site in Texas. This would increase capacity by between 12,000 and 24,000 tonnes/year.

US testing equipment agency

June 29, 2001 - Nortest is now selling the American-built MTS Systems range of electro-mechanical universal testers and accessories in the UK and Republic of Ireland. For many years Nortest has sold the French-made Adamel Lhomargy range, which is now part of MTS Systems. Nortest will also sell ReNew kits for rebuilding and updating mainframes not necessarily of MTS origin.
     As part of the agreement Test Assured will provide technical support and UKAS accredited calibration services for MTS instruments.

Calendar consolidation

June 29, 2001 - German textile and non-woven calendar manufacturer Kleinewefers Textilmaschinen has been taken over by its sister company Kleinewefers Kunststoffanlagen which makes film calendars and other web handling equipment. At the same time the company name has been changed to KKA Kleinewefers Anlagen.

Phasa moves

June 29, 2001 - Phasa Developments is moving on July 9 to a new 1,000 m² purpose-built factory at International House, Horsecroft Road, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5SU. Tel: 01279 630200, fax: 01279 630222.

Change of agency for Italtech

June 29, 2001 - CJ Machine Services has taken over the agency for Italtech injection moulding machines following the demise of Ital Machinery. Italtech makes machines from 90 to 8,000 tonnes, but is best known for its large machines used mainly in the automotive industry and particularly by its ultimate parent, Fiat.

Composites bodies unite

June 29, 2001 - The National Glass Reinforced Plastics Federation has become part of the British Plastics Federation's Composites Group.
     The NGRPF was formed by firms engaged in the glass reinforced plastics industry and aimed to set standards for GRP in construction and to provide information and technical advice for architects, specifiers and users. It brings into the BPF two technical bulletins, Design Guide for Tolerances in GRP Cladding and The Storage, Handling and Protection of GRP Products.

Stadium to sell off plastics companies

June 27, 2001 - Stadium Group is planning to pull out of plastics. It is to sell its injection moulding businesses in order to concentrate on its other activity, electronic manufacturing services. Stadium has decided on this tactic because it says it is difficult for a company of its size to grow when it is involved in a range of activities. Its seven-site electronics operations in the UK are to be restructured to provide a platform for future expansion,and 'all other activities' in the UK are to be disposed of.
     Stadium says that the injection moulding businesses have greater opportunity for growth as part of a larger plastics operation, where they would benefit from economies of scale and extended markets. Two of the businesses serve the building products and baby care markets, and between them turn over around £12 million. In addition there are four other businesses with an aggregate turnover of around £11 million. Stadium anticipates interest from both trade and venture capital buyers.
     The group is forecasting profits this year 'significantly below those for 2000'.

Cova changes hands

June 27, 2001 - Cramlington-based surface foils manufacturer Cova Products is part of an exchange of companies between Solvay of Belgium and Langbein-Pfanhauser Werke (LPW) of Germany.
     Solvay is planning to buy Cova from LPW, while LPW takes over Solvay's decoration business, which is operated through companies including Alkor Deco (Germany), Venilia (France), Veninov (France), Boekelo Folien (The Netherlands) and their commercial subsidiaries. The deal is scheduled to be concluded by the end of July.
     Cova Products makes laminates which are used as coatings for furniture, electric appliances, leisure equipment, window frames etc under the Cova trademark. Sales last year were Eur 36 million with a total staff of some 240. Cova, which has a strong presence in Europe, the USA and Asia, will complement Solvay's own laminates activities, which include brands such as Alkorcell and Alkortherm.
     The Solvay decoration businesses being sold to LPW are principally in decorative self-adhesives and tabletops, with sales of Eur 122 million last year, and about 800 employees.

Perrier in PET

June 27, 2001 - Perrier drinkers may have noticed that the mineral water is now packaged in PET. Since May it has been sold in the UK, France, the Benelux countries and Switzerland in a 0·5 litre multi-layer bottle specially adapted by Schmalbach-Lubeca for this mineral water, which has the highest carbonic acid content in the world. Perrier is the first mineral water to be bottled in the multi-layer bottle from Schmalbach.

LB buys business and real estate

June 27, 2001 - LB Plastics, part of the Litchfield Group, has bought G Molyneux (Products) which is also a building products company. LB has also recently bought an additional 100 acre manufacturing site near its Derbyshire headquarters.

GE/Honeywell merger off?

June 17, 2001 - GE's takeover of Honeywell - which would bring the former AlliedSignal Plastics business into GE Plastics - looks to have been torpedoed by the European Commission. Talks have been going on this week between GE and the EC to find a way to meet EC anti-competition requirements. But at the end of the week The Daily Telegraph reported that the GE negotiators had suddenly packed up and gone home, trailling a statement that 'Although we want to complete the transaction we have always said there is a point at which we would not do that deal. The Commission's extraordinary demands are far beyond that point'.
     The stumbling block has been the EC's apparent insistence that GE should sell its GECAS aircraft leasing business. GE had already offered sales of assets with revenues of $2·2 billion, and described the EC as wanting sales of 'billions more'. The EC said that 'we have explored with the parties commitments which would not have entailed further divestments in the aerospace industry but rather a structural commitment to modify the commercial behaviour of GECAS. We regret that this avenue has not been pursued.'
     The proposed takeover has already received broad acceptance from the anti-trust bodies in the USA and Canada. When the EC notified GE that it intended to go to a second phase review in February, GE commented that 'we obviously had expected a more timely resolution'. In the statement following the apparent abandonment of the deal this week, GE chairman and chief executive Jack Welch said: 'The European regulators' demands exceed anything I or our European advisers imagined and differed sharply from the anti-trust counterparts in the US and Canada.'
     Honeywell supported GE's negotiations with the EC, but in light of the regulatory difficulties has a contingency plan to continue operations in a leaner form following the restructuring operation it began when the takeover was announced. Its annual expenses have been reduced by approximately $600 million, with a 10 per cent reduction in its worldwide workforce.

New plants and process technology from Basell

June 17, 2001 - Basell is expanding its PE and PP capacity with two new plants, for HDPE in Germany and in a PP joint venture in Saudi Arabia.
     The new plant at Wesseling in Germany will make 320,000 tonnes/year of HDPE for pipe extrusion using Basell's Advanced Cascade Process extension of the Hostalen slurry technology. Construction starts in October for start-up in the fourth quarter of 2003. Grades of black, blue and orange-yellow will be produced for water, sewage and gas distribution pressure pipe. Basell puts a figure of 5·5 per cent on the annual growth of the Western European pipe market.
     The Saudi Arabian project is a joint venture with the National Petrochemical Industrialization Company and will be called Saudi Polyolefins Company. NPIC will hold 75 per cent of the equity and Basell the remainder. The 450,000 tonnes plant will be built at Al-Jaubail and will produce homopolymers and random copolymers using the Novolen gas phase process. An associated 450,000 tonnes hydrogenation unit for converting propane into propylene will use the ABB Lummus Global Catofin technology. PP from the plant will be sold both domestically and internationally.
 Basell has recently unveiled a new technology for making polypropylene which improves the property profile and homogeneity of the product. It also offers higher outputs and significant energy savings compared with a fluidised bed reactor, and compared with the Spheripol process it has no limitations in operating temperature and gas composition, and reduced propylene hold-up in the polymerisation sector.
     Basell terms the new process Multizone Circulating Reactor technology, and its essence is to continuously exchange the growing polymer granules between two different gas environments. Control options enable the production of monomodal and bimodal homopolymers, random copolymers, random terpolymers, and special blends such as homo+raco, twin racos, and raco+rubber.
     Basell is currently refitting its oldest Spheripol plant at Brindisi in Italy, where a commercial scale MZCR unit will replace the liquid loop reactors, with start-up scheduled for the second quarter of 2002.

DuPont to sell US PET bottle resin business

June 17, 2001 - DuPont is to sell some of its American polyester facilities - notably PET bottle resin production - to a Mexican-based group. Alpek, the petrochemical operation of Alfa, is buying the terephthalic acid business and its PET container resins business and the plants at Cape Fear in Wilmington and Cedar Creek in Fayetteville, both in North Carolina.
     Alpek will also buy polyester polymerisation facilities at the Cape Fear site and at the Cooper River site in Charleston, South Carolina. DuPont will grant licenses to Alpek for manufacturing technology of PET resins and the use of the Melinar and Laser+ brands in the Americas.
     DuPont and Alpek have existing business relationships in polyester. As part of this new deal DuPont has agreed to exit the companies' polyester staple fiber joint venture - formed in 1999 - by mid-year 2002. In a separate agreement DuPont is to increase its equity position from 40 to 50 per cent in the two companies' Mexican joint venture Fielmex, which manufactures and markets Lycra elastane fiber.
     The PET sale is expected to be complete in July.

Rubber compounder cuts energy costs

June 17, 2001 - Carter Brothers has linked up with Loughborough University to develop a new compounder for particulate rubber offering substantial energy savings. The Carter Continuous Compounder combines a single screw pre-mixing and feeding extruder with a twin zone rotor. The short extruder feeds the rotor tangentially, keeping the machine compact. Mixing is said to be totally homogeneous, with temperatures rising no higher than 100 degC, enabling curing agents to be included in the blend.
     So far only a prototype has been built, giving 150 kg/hr with an energy input of only 500 kJ/kg. The projected scale-up to a 1·5 tonnes/hr production machine would use only a 180 kW drive. Carter says that the machine has the potential to save £200,000 a year in energy costs compared with an equivalent internal mixer.
     As well as the high level of homogeneity which fully incorporates powdered additives like carbon black, the pre-mixing in the single screw extruder is said to enable abrasive materials to be encapsulated and so reduce abrasion of the compounding section.

New recycling organisation sets up in Britain

June 17, 2001 - Another organisation has been set up in Britain to encourage responsible waste management and recycling. Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is a not for profit organisation funded to the tune of £40 million by the Department of the Environment and the Regions, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Scottish Executive and the National Assembly for Wales. It has some 150 'stakeholders' drawn from a range of activities from manufacturing and retailing to the waste management industry.
     WRAP has put together a business plan advocating an increase in recycling from 35 per cent to 60 per cent. It has set specific targets for a range of materials, and in plastics it is setting a target for 2003/4 of a 20,000 tonnes increase in mixed plastics reprocessing for industrial products; the development of a new technology for making products from composites of recycled resins with wood or rubber; and a significant increase in bottle recycling. More information.

Kraton adds chemical crosslink for SBC

June 17, 2001 - A new crosslinking technology for styrene block copolymers which imparts higher temperature resistance has been developed by Kraton Polymers. SBCs produced by Kraton are ultraviolet or electron beam cured to give a crosslinked structure, but this is physical and not chemical, and so is reversible - when the polymer is heated above 90 degC it begins to soften.
     The new technology uses aluminium acetylacetonate as a crosslinking agent, reinforcing the physical crosslinking and increasing the softening point to about 150 degC.
     Chemical crosslinking now opens potential for Kraton SBC applications under the bonnet, and also adds resistance to solvents and PVC plasticisers, enabling them to be used in adhesives on PVC film labels. Other applications are in modified waxes, modified asphalts and in oil gels. More information.

Husky posts lower sales

June 17, 2001 - In common with other injection moulding machine manufacturers Husky has suffered a downturn in sales, and in the quarter to the end of April saw a 17 per cent decline on the equivalent period in the previous year at $163·1 million.
     North America was the weakest market, with sales falling 45 per cent and a consecutively lower order intake for the past four quarters. Latin American sales fell 32 per cent. In Asia Pacific sales increased 21 per cent and in Europe they rose 34 per cent in the quarter - although the company still referred to the European market as 'softened'.
     By the end of 2001 Husky anticipates having a wider portfolio of equipment as it completes its Hylectric electric/hydraulic hybrid range, and introduces an integrated stretch blow system.

Liquid colour agent

June 17, 2001 - AddMaster (UK) has been appointed UK and Irish agent for the liquid colour and additive systems made by Colortek of Germany.

Arburg invests in Switzerland

June 17, 2001 - Arburg's Swiss subsidiary has opened its own building. For the past seven years the company has worked from rented accommodation in Belp. Now it has a SFr 4 million technology centre on a 3,000 m² site at Münsingen.

Solvay starts Warrington expansion

June 17, 2001 - Solvay has started an expansion at its Warrington site, aimed at doubling capacity for caprolactone polymers over the next three years. The company built a new plant there in 1998. The first stage will be completed in 2002, and further work will continue until 2004.
     Solvay is also planning to double its capacity for low molecular weight polyols by 2002.

Roll covering takeover

June 17, 2001 - Xerium Group member Stowe Woodward, which describes itself as the world's largest manufacturer of elastomeric roll covers, has just got bigger with the acquisition of the Swedish Trelleborg Group's roll covering business. Trelleborg Rolls, located in the Swedish town of Trelleborg, has been renamed Stowe Woodward Sweden. It was already a licensee of Stowe Woodward technology.

LG Chem chases Chinese ABS needs

June 17, 2001 - The increase in capacity of LG Chem's joint venture ABS plant in China is now revealed as just part of a much bigger expansion plan. Overall the company intends to reach a capacity of 1 million tonnes by 2006, with much of the offtake intended for China.
     The expansion will take place in two stages. Initially the LG Chem plant at Yeosu in Korea will be raised from 350,000 to 430,000 tonnes and the Ningbo LG Yongxing Chemical plant in China will be increased from 150,000 to 370,000 tonnes by mid-2003. A further investment in 2005 will add another 200,000 tonnes, to come on stream by 2006.
     LG Chem estimates current Chinese demand for ABS at 1·75 million tonnes, growing at 8·2 per cent/year.

Guyett joins as Electron Tech expands

June 17, 2001 - Electron Tech, UK sales and service agent for Sumitomo all-electric injection moulding machines and Yushin robot systems, has restructured into four operating divisions. As part of the restructure Mark Guyett, former head of the American MSI hot runner company in the UK, has joined as director of 'ET4'.
     The ET1 and ET2 divisions handle the Sumitomo and Yushin sales and ET3 is the spares and service arm. The new division offers a technical service for the design and manufacture of mould tools, mainly through the Swiss Scheu company which specialises in low cavity level moulds for electronics, connectors and medical applications. It also sells hot runner controllers, mixing nozzles, pressure and pressure/temperature transducers, insulation plates and quick couplings.

Rapra confirms new chief executive

June 17, 2001 - The new chief executive of Rapra Technology is Andrew Ward, who has been acting chief executive since the departure of Dr Phil Extance in October last year. He joined Rapra as finance director and company secretary in 1998.

PolyOne to close elastomer plant

June 17, 2001 - The latest move in PolyOne's continual plant rationalisation plan is the closure of an elastomers plant in the USA. The Kingstree plant in South Carolina is one of 12 in the company's Elastomers and Performance Additives division and was deemed insufficiently efficient for today's needs.

Enerpac QMC business goes solo

June 17, 2001 - The Enerpac quick mould change business has been bought by its management from the US-based Actuant company, and now operates as EAS mould & die change systems. Enerpac is concentrating on its core high pressure hydraulic tool business. EAS has also formed an alliance with French magnetic tool holding specialist Walker Braillon Magnetics. The company has set up a web site at www.EASchangesystems.com.

Akcros Chemicals to cut jobs

June 17, 2001 - Akzo Nobel's Akros Chemicals business is to cut 60 jobs in the production of PVC additives for rigid applications in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany. The company derives a third of its sales from this sector, which it says has become increasingly competitive in recent years. Half the redundancies will be in the manufacturing plant at Dahlem in Germany and the remainder in sales, administration, production and research at the Düren (Germany), Roermond (Netherlands) and Eccles (UK) sites. Akcros says no plant closures are planned.

MD for AlphaGary UK

June 6, 2001 - The new managing director of AlphaGary's UK operations is Simon Hubbard, who joins the company from automotive company Stankiewicz where he was also managing director.

New name for Dynisco Hot Runners

June 6, 2001 - Dynisco Hot Runners, the one Dynisco business that was not sold by Berwind Industries to Madison Capital Partners, has been renamed Synventive Molding Solutions - Synventive being derived from synergy and inventive.

UPM stops building granulators to sell the CMG range

June 5, 2001 - UPM Machinery Sales is to sell the CMG granulator range from Italy instead of its own Shurfeed machines which have become too expensive to build, and so effectively also takes on sales and support for machines in the Cumberland range. For the past 20 years CMG's granulators have been sold worldwide by Cumberland, but with Cumberland's sale to Harbour Group CMG decided to sell its machines under its own brand name.
     The Shurfeed machines were built by UPM under licence from Polymer in the USA. UPM will continue to sell spares for Shurfeed, and now additionally will supply spares for existing Cumberland granulators.
     The CMG granulators have feed openings from 17 × 22 cm to 60 × 100 cm with motors from 1·5 kW to 110 kW. Feed options include the UPM Dynacon modular belt conveyor system and evacuation facilities include blower and cyclone, screw conveyor and vacuum.

CMS buys into Rye

June 5, 2001 - Italian CNC machining centre manufacturer CMS has bought 25 per cent of Rye Technology of the UK, which makes CNC routers. Rye has been renamed Rye CMS, and is now offering the CMS range alongside its own entry level QM router. In addition CMS has added the QM to the range it sells in Italy. CMS was formerly represented in the UK by Trio Distribution, of Sheffield, which is now in liquidation.

New name for Ems

June 5, 2001 - Ems Group has adopted the name of one of its engineering plastics, Grivory, as a trading name for the whole engineering plastics operation, which now has the trading style Ems-Grivory to distinguish it from Ems-Chemie Holding.

Growth in European machinery output to slow

June 5, 2001 - Manufacture of plastics and rubber processing machines in the countries covered by Euromap - Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the UK - increased by 10 per cent in 2000 over the previous year, from around Eur 8·3 billion to Eur 9·1 billion. Most of the increase was through higher output in Germany and Italy. France, Switzerland and Austria also increased production. In the UK there was virtually no increase, while in Spain production fell. Forecasts for this year show a more modest overall increase of around 3 per cent.

Ticona consolidates in the UK

June 5, 2001 - Ticona has moved its UK administration from Milton Keynes to its European compounding plant in Telford. The new telephone numbers are: general enquiries, 01952 213400, fax 01952 213423, and technical information hotline 01952 213456.

Palmarole strengthens compounding

June 4, 2001 - The compounding arm of Palmarole of France has merged with Rousset Compounds and set up Palmarole Compounds, operating from near Marseilles. Palmarole's operations in Europe are now focussed through two companies, Adeka Palmarole, which was set up last year as a distribution vehicle for Asahi Denka Kogyo of Japan, and the new company.
     Palmarole Compounds will have three lines of operation - it will make masterbatches and other additive forms for sale exclusively through Adeka Palmerole; it will operate as a custom compounder with the emphasis on engineering polymers; and it will develop speciality compounds using mainly Japanese-developed technology.

Capacity expansion by Swedish compounder

June 4, 2001 - Swedish compounder Polykemi is increasing capacity by 5,000 tonnes with two further Werner & Pfleiderer Mega Compact compounders. This brings total investment by the family-owned firm in the past three years to more than £6 million.
     Last year production exceeded 30,000 tonnes. The company exports half its production, primarily to Germany. UK distribution is handled by Hubron Sales.

CDT invests further in LEP application technology

June 4, 2001 - Cambridge Display Technology has entered a multi-million dollar joint development agreement with Tokki Corp of Japan to develop the next generation of Tokki's volume manufacturing physical vapour deposition (PVD) and encapsulation technology for CDT's light emitting polymer displays.
     CDT has purchased a 14 inch Tokki PVD machine to be installed at its pilot development line under construction in Godmanchester, near Cambridge.
     LEP technology is intended for use in electronic display products currently used for information management, communications and entertainment. Features include reduced power consumption, size, thickness and weight; very wide viewing angle; superior video imaging performance and the potential to create displays on plastic substrates.

BASF streamlines plastics

June 4, 2001 - BASF is reshaping its plastics and fibres operations into two business units. The Engineering Plastics division, Ultraplast business unit and Fiber Products division will become Performance Polymers on July 1, while the Styrenic Polymers and Styrene Copolymers operations will become the Styrenics division.
     In charge of the Performance Polymers division will be Raimar Jahn, who has headed the Automotive OEM Coatings business at BASF Corp in Southfield, USA since 1997. The Styrenics division will be run by Dr Fred Baumgartner, currently head of the Engineering Plastics division. Dr Werner Prätorius, head of the current Styrenic Polymers division, will take over as head of the Petrochemicals division at the end of this year.

Bayer and DuPont name PBT site

June 4, 2001 - The Bayer/DuPont joint venture PBT plant now has the official go-ahead and will be built at DuPont's Uentrop site in Germany. Start-up is planned for the first half of 2003. Capacity of the plant will be 80,000 tonnes, with each partner processing the PBT into compounds for sale independently. Construction is scheduled to start in the Autumn of this year.

Acetal expansion

June 4, 2001 - Adoption of Six Sigma operation at its Dordrecht, Netherlands acetal plant has given DuPont a further 10,000 tonnes of capacity without major capital investment.

UK agent for US materials handling equipment

June 4, 2001 - Orthos (Engineering) is now the European agent for J R Johanson's Diamondback Technology equipment for handling bulk particulate solids. This includes hoppers and ancillary equipment designed to combat problems such as bin hang-ups, arch formation, rat-holing, compaction, product degradation and flushing.
     Diamondback arch-breaking hoppers are backed up by air permeation systems, anti-segregation chutes and baffles, de-aeration devices, feeder interfaces, transition pieces, in-bin blending cylinders, off-set cone blenders and speciality hoppers custom-designed to match individual problems. Contact.