Partial saviour for Plastic Moulding (Cradley)

November 22, 2001 - Buyers have been found for part of the Plastic Moulding (Cradley) business which went into receivership in October. The main plant, warehouse and assembly department at PMC's headquarters in Park Lane, Cradley, have been bought by Lander Carlisle, an injection moulder also supplying the automotive business which has some customers in common with PMC. Lander Carlisle has been actively seeking to expand its business through acquisition.
     PMC's subsidiaries Spray-Wel, a spray painter, and Printaplas, a printing firm, have been bought by Wolf Corporation. Wolf has a subsidiary in thermoset compression moulding and intends to offer Spray-Wel's services to its customers in the switchgear, aerospace and defence markets.
     The sale of the main plant has saved 84 of the 280 jobs there. The sale of Spray-Wel and Printaplas has secured all jobs, and the existing management teams will continue to run them.

Development partners wanted for new plastics hard coat

November 22, 2001 - A scuff-resistant coating for plastics, metals and glass has been developed by TWI, which is looking for partners to help develop it commercially. The coating has been dubbed Vitresyn from vitreous and synthetic because it has a ceramic phase and a polymer phase which are intimately mixed at nanometer level. These phases can be adjusted for optimum performance such that, for example, the ceramic phase can be increased to 95 per cent without loss of transparency, or the phases' proprtions can be adjusted to control thermal expansion.
     TWI says Vitresyn outperforms commercial hardcoats in abrasion tests. Polycarbonate normally loses 30 per cent of its transparency in standard tests. With 'the leading commercial hardcoat' applied TWI says this is reduced to <8 per cent. When Vitresyn is used the transparency loss is less than 3 per cent.
     E-mail contact

Eastman split put on hold

November 22, 2001 - The division of Eastman Chemical Company into two separate businesses has been put on hold because of the weak financial market. It was planned to split the company into a speciality chemicals and a plastics business at the end of this year, but the company has now scheduled a review of the restructure for the middle of 2002.
     Eastman

BASF reduces EPS production

November 22, 2001 - BASF is cutting production of Styropor expandable polystyrene because of the weak market in polystyrene foams. It has reduced output at Ludwigshafen in Germany by 25 per cent, and is expected to keep it turned off until the end of January.
     BASF

Revamp of UK PP outlets by Basell and BP

November 22, 2001 - Changes in the distribution structure for major polypropylene brands in the UK see Hellyar Plastics switching from Basell to BP as Distrupol becomes exclusive Basell distributor.
     Basell is tightening its distributor network across Europe and Distrupol, which is one of its long-standing distributors, has been able to offer a single outlet in the UK, Ireland and Nordic regions since its takeover of Extrapol in Ireland and MBS Plastics in Scandinavia.
     Hellyar Plastics, which has also represented Basell for some time, ceases to be an official distributor from the beginning of next year. It has already, however, taken on distribution of BP's polypropylene following 30 years of selling the company's Rigidex HDPE. BP has become the second largest manufacturer with the coming into force on November 1 of the acquisition of Solvay's PP business.

CDT/Dow in LEP agreement

November 22, 2001 - Following its recent agreement with DuPont, Cambridge Display Technology has now signed a licensing agreement with Dow Advanced Electronic Materials enabling Dow to use CDT's polyfluorene-based light emitting polymer technology. Dow expects to be able to supply full colour LEP displays next year. It has commercialised a green display, and plans to introduce red by the end of this year. The tie up with CDT gives it access to technology to produce blue materials.
     CDT
     Dow

JGP Perrite gets BASF compounding contract

November 22, 2001 - BASF's Ronfalin ABS compounds are to be made by JGP Perrite for sale in the UK, Europe and Scandinavia. JGP Perrite is a division of Vita Thermoplastic Compounds and was once owned by DSM - which sold the Ronfalin business to BASF in 1999. The compounds will be made at Perrite's Warrington and Washington plants, and will be sold by the existing distributor network, with UK sales handled direct by JGP Perrite.

Tessenderlo to increase VCM output

November 22, 2001 - Belgian-based Tessenderlo Chemie is to increase its Belgian chlorine capacity from 250,000 to at least 330,000 tonnes by the end of 2004. It says this is partly in response to growing demand for VCM, for which it operates Europe's biggest production plant with a 550,000 tonnes capacity. Tessenderlo has two plants making a total of 440,000 tonnes of S-PVC.
     Tessenderlo

Further expansion of Dyneema fibre production

November 22, 2001 - Growing demand for its Dyneema high strength polyethylene fibre is triggering further investment by DSM. The company is to build a fifth line at Heerlen in the Netherlands, extending the growth planned earlier this year. The new line will have a capacity of 600 tonnes, and will bring Herleen capacity up to 3,200 tonnes when it comes on stream in the last quarter of next year. The investment is worth around Eur 30 million.
     DSM

Clariant plans nanocomposite masterbatches

November 22, 2001 - Clariant is to start making nanocomposite masterbatches following a deal agreed with Nanocor, a subsidiary of AMCOL International in the USA. The addition of nano-scale clay particles to plastics offers a number of product enhancements including heat resistance, barrier properties, strength, stiffness, dimensional stability and flame retardancy. Clariant will sell the masterbatches under its own name, and will initially focus on polyolefin applications.
     AMCOL

Mann + Hummel invests in Chinese automotive market

November 22, 2001 - Mann + Hummel, which last month expanded its automotive components business with the purchase of Solvay's automotive components division, is to set up a a liquids and air filter plant in China. It has set up a joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, which also has joint ventures with Volkswagen, General Motors, and other automotive suppliers.
     Mann + Hummel

Promotions at Clariant

November 22, 2001 - Senior appointments have been made in Clariant's European operations. Malcolm Hurst, UK and Ireland operations manager, becomes vice president/general manager of UK and Ireland operations; controller of the midwest USA business unit Tim Capp becomes controller of the Europe/Middle East/Africa business unit; and Thilo Kind, previously vice president/general manager in the south east USA, becomes head of technology for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

New Vantico adhesives boss

November 22, 2001 - The new chief executive of Vantico's Adhesives and Tooling Division is Lano Ferretti, who moves from General Electric where he has spent the last 14 years working for its plastics and lighting divisions. He succeeds John Beadsmoore who is retiring at the end of the year.

Management changes at Industrial Copolymers

November 22, 2001 - Jonathan Gorick, operations director of Industrial Copolymers, has been appointed joint managing director with Dr Len Daniels. Previous joint MD Lionel Gorick continues as chairman.

1,000 jobs to go as BP sharpens up Grangemouth

November 14, 2001 - The Rigidex 2 polyethylene plant at Grangemouth is to be shut as part of a restructure by BP to make the site more competitive in the 'increasingly difficult international refining and chemicals environment'. Grangemouth currently houses three separate BP businesses - refining, petrochemicals and the Forties pipeline terminal. BP's plan is to integrate these as a single organisation to simplify site operation. As well as the closure of the Rigidex plant, BP is to shut the smallest of its three crude distillation units, and shed 1,000 of the site's 2,500 jobs.
     BP

Koch takes control of KoSa

November 14, 2001 - The European Commission has approved a plan for Koch Industries of the USA to buy out its 50:50 partner in KoSa, Imasab of Mexico. KoSa was set up in 1998 when Hoechst sold off its Trevira polyester business. It is a major producer of polyester and is undergoing a substantial capacity expansion.
     Koch itself is not active in polyesters, and while it does supply base materials to KoSa, the EC is satisfied that this vertical relationship gives no cause for concern.
     Kosa

Bayer and BASF suffer at the three quarter stage

November 14, 2001 - The two major German plastics companies both appear shocked by their performance in the first nine months of this year. The continuing decline in the global economy hit Bayer harder than it had expected earlier in the year and, together with problems in its pharmaceuticals business, caused a net loss of Eur 183 million in the first nine months. After its profits warning earlier in the year BASF seemed more prepared for the downturn, but as the year has unfolded it seems that this preparedness did not go far enough. Chairman Dr Jürgen Strube commented: 'At the beginning of the year macroeconomic prognoses sugested worldwide growth in chemical production of about 4 per cent. Economists were predicting a soft landing for the United States, a slight levelling off of growth in Europe and healthy growth in South America and Asia. In the course of the year these prognoses were corrected downward with increasing frequency.' As it was, group sales increased 8 per cent to Eur 24 billion, but income fell 15 per cent to Eur 2 billion - although the group closed each quarter in the black.
     The polymer business in particular is suffering from the weak market and, according to Bayer chairman Dr Manfred Schneider, falling raw material prices are still not low enough to compensate for depressed selling prices, and there is no prospect yet of a much needed price increase. Operating profit fell 40 per cent on the previous three-quarters at Eur 513 million.
     Plans in place at Bayer to cut costs will bring savings in the polymers business of Eur 700 million by 2005, with Eur 300 million of this showing up in next year's figures, said Dr Schneider.
     Expansion in China was the driver to Asian growth which countered the weak North American and average European growth so far this year, and work has now started on the Eur 3·4 billion chemicals complex in Caojing.
     BASF, too, is restructuring to cut costs but is now intending to save even more. The original forecast of Eur 190 million costs savings in 2002 is being increased to a planned saving of Eur 240 million. And as capacity at its major sites has fallen to the lowest level for many years, BASF is examining potential for short term plant closures.
     Like Bayer, BASF is also staking a lot on China, and has now started work on a chemicals plant at Nanjing which will cost in excess of Eur 3 billion. On top of this it has recently signed the contract to build a joint venture TDI and MDI plant at Caojing which will cost more than Eur 1 billion.
     Bayer
     BASF

Basell sells Moplefan

November 14, 2001 - Basell has sold a majority slice of its Italian-based Moplefan polypropylene film business to an Israeli company. Dor Chemicals is part of The Dankner Group, an Israeli investment company, and makes intermediate petrochemical products. In recent years it has also made BOPP film on a 13,000 tonnes lines.
     Dor has bought 80 per cent of Moplefan (subject to Italian regulatory approval) for a reported $45 m, $13 m less than the agreed price when the deal was struck earlier this year. Basell retains 20 per cent initially and Dor has an option to purchase this after two years for $2 m. With the sale go Moplefan's five European production plants at Terni, Battipaglia, San Gimignano and Lamezia Terme in Italy, and Liège in Belgium. These plants have a total capacity of 120,000 tonnes and employ more than 500.
     The sale cuts away a non-core activity for Basell, and gives it a long term customer for polypropylene.
     Basell

Ex-Perry toolmakers switch to EDI maintenance

November 14, 2001 - American flat die manufacturer Extrusion Dies Inc has set up a UK subsidiary for maintenance and rework. Extrusion Dies UK is managed by Ted Rankin, formerly of G Perry & Sons, which was put up for sale by Weir Group alongside Tooling Products earlier this year, and is staffed by ex-Perry employees. Perry used to provide re-work facilities under license from EDI.
     Sales of new dies from EDI are through Flat Dies UK.
     Extrusion Dies UK is at Unit E8, Enderby Road Industrial Estate, Whetstone, Leicester LE8 6HZ.

Eastman PE process taken up in Asia

November 14, 2001 - Eastman is to license its Energx DCX polyethylene process technology to an undisclosed Asian petrochemical company. The process is used in gas phase polyethylene plants to produce LLDPE and HDPE, although the new licensing arrangement will expand the use of the technology beyond the gas phase process currently used commercially, says Eastman.
     Energx technology is used by Eastman to make Hifor, Hifor Clear and Hifor Xtreme, and the earlier version has been licensed to Chevron Phillips.
     Eastman

GE licenses coating technology for Lexan sheet

November 14, 2001 - Polycarbonate film with anti-fog and anti-scratch coatings will become available from GE Structured Products through a new licensing agreement with Film Specialities of New Jersey, USA. FSI makes Visgard coatings used in applications such as safety lenses, gauge and instrument covers, headlights, displays, mirrors and architectural glazing. It has licensed GE to use the technology on Lexan polycarbonate sheet and film for worldwide distribution.
     GE

Flexible polyol expansion

November 14, 2001 - Shell Chemicals is to build a polymer polyol plant at the Shell Nederland Chemie plant at Pernis near Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It will will be one of the largest polymer polyol plants in Europe with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes, and will come on stream in 2003 making high solids SAN polyols using a proprietary stabiliser technology.
     Together with an expansion of polyol capacity due on line at Seraya in Singapore in the second quarter of next year the new plant will bring Shell's total capacity for flexible polyols to more than 400,000 tonnes.
     Shell

New boss at Billion

November 14, 2001 - Michel Fauconnier is the new managing director of French injection moulding machine manufacturer Billion. He joins the company after 14 years with a company making industrial cleaners.

Sidel restructures management

November 14, 2001 - Following the European Commission's rejection of the Tetra Laval bid to take over Sidel, a former Tetra Pak man has become Sidel's new chief executive. Gérard Stricher has joined Sidel having previously worked for Carnaud MetalBox for eight years and Tetra Pak for six. His appointment is part of a management restructure in which two separate boards will control day to day management (the Directoire) and general supervisory functions (the Conseil de Surveillance). Gérard Stricher will be named chairman of the Directoire as soon as it is created. Jean-Marie Descarpentries, already a main board member, is expected to be the first chairman of the Conseil de Surveillance.
     In September Sidel appointed Martin Pinot as director of its core business operations, including blowing, filling, engineering and turnkey operations. He joined from Rhône-Poulenc where his responsibilities included oversight of the company's polyester business.
     Sidel

Nova invests in the Netherlands

November 14, 2001 - Nova Chemicals is to open a $5 m styrenics technology centre at Breda in the Netherlands, the plant it bought from Shell two years ago. The centre will provide facilities to develop solid, expanded and high performance polystyrenes and will also give customer support.

Granulator name change

November 14, 2001 - German granulator manufacturer Herbold Zerkleinerungstechnik has been renamed Herbold Meckesheim, to make it easier to pronounce by non-Germans. The name change is also intended to avoid confusion with other companies. Herbold Zerkleinerungstechnik was founded in 1995 after the bankruptcy of the Herbold group, which built equipment under the Herbold, Refakt, Resortek, Condux and Sima brands.

HW man heads BPF Windows Group

November 14, 2001 - The new chairman of the British Plastics Federation Windows Group is Steve Sutherland, managing director of HW Plastics, recently restructured to combine Heywood Williams' plastics building products interests.

Borealis appoints new chief financial officer

November 14, 2001 - Borealis has appointed Clive Watson as chief financial officer and executive vice president replacing Franz Wurm who is leaving the company. He has worked with Arthur Andersen, CIC International, Black & Decker and Thorn Lighting.

Reluctance to invest causes automation company to shut up shop

November 12, 2001 - German injection moulding automation company Neureder is to shut its UK office because it has found that British moulders cannot or will not spend the money required for investment. UK general manager Richard Meechan commented that there was 'lots of interest in top-level automation' but that 'shorter-term investment restrictions are stopping the necessary technical growth here'. In contrast, he said, companies in countries such as Germany are making the investment in order to stop the outflow of large quantities of work to 'cheaper labour-based' economies.
     Neureder will shut its Slough office in January and will look for an agent to represent it in the UK and Irish Republic.

New MD and deeper European penetration for Conair

November 12, 2001 - Conair Europe has a new managing director and has opened offices in France and Germany.
     The new MD is John Vandenbergh who has been with the company for 13 years, latterly as vice president of product management.
     The new French and German offices join representation in the UK, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece and Scandinavian countries.
     Conair Europe

Trexel invests in European support for MuCell

November 12, 2001 - Trexel is to open a technology centre for its MuCell microcellular injection moulding process in Gummersbach, Germany. With the new centre comes a tie up with Plastec Kunststofftechnikum Oberberg which is an injection moulding product development and optimisation company.
     Trexel's aim is to support the growing number of European licensees for MuCell, and Plastec will provide installation assistance, start-up services, troubleshooting mould trials and training.
     Trexel
     Plastec e-mail

Borealis stamps its seal on cable compounds

November 12, 2001 - Borealis has now renamed the former US joint venture with Nova Chemicals in cable compounds which it bought out earlier this year. It is now Borealis Compounds LLC.

EC says no to Tetra Laval takeover of Sidel

November 12, 2001 - The takeover by Tetra Laval of the Sidel blow moulding machinery company which had been stalled for further consideration by the European Commission has been prohibited. The Commission said that Tetra's dominant position in carton packaging, combined with Sidel's leading position in PET packaging equipment, would give the combined company the ability to use its dominant position in carton packaging to gain a dominant position in PET packaging equipment. And by eliminating Sidel as a competitor in a closely neighbouring market, Tetra's dominant position in carton would be strengthened.
     The EC is now left to ponder the practicality of separating the two companies, as Tetra Laval has already acquired virtually all of Sidel's shares.

Greek packaging equipment group buys United Packaging

November 11, 2001 - United Packaging has been bought by Greek-based packaging materials and equipment group M J Maillis. United Packaging makes stretch wrapping machines and systems and stretch and shrink films at Cleckheaton, and has a turnover of around £10 million.
     M J Maillis Group of Athens has secondary packaging as its core activity.
     United Packaging

Basell adds Australian polypropylene business

November 11, 2001 - Basell is tidying up its absorption of the BASF polypropylene business with the acquisition of the BASF Australia polypropylene compounds business. The acquisition is through Basell Australia (Holdings) and its associated company PolyPacific. It does not include any production assets, and customers will be supplied from existing PolyPacific plant in the region which is currently being expanded.
     Basell
     PolyPacific

More investment at Taylor Engineering

November 11, 2001 - Increased sales and expansion into new business areas have brought about a £1 million investment in new equipment at Taylor Engineering & Plastics in Rochdale. A 10 tonne Battenfeld injection moulding machine and a fourth purpose-built finishing plant are being installed in the injection moulding division, while phase 2 of an extension of the company's RIM division will bring new high capacity equipment for large mouldings.
     The new RIM machines will use 400 tonne presses to produce exterior body panels for commercial vehicles.
     A year ago the company spent £1 million on new reinforced RIM equipment to make vehicle body panels, and followed this with a £100,000 robotised painting line.

From father to son

November 11, 2001 - Barry White, managing director of sheet distributor Plastics Plus, has handed to job over to his son Stuart and become chairman.

Trade associations unite to promote manufacturing industry

November 11, 2001 - The British Plastics Federation has joined an alliance of trade associations formed to lobby government on the importance of manufacturing. The other seven associations in the new Engineering and Machinery Alliance are the British Fluid Power Association; British Gear Association; Gauge and Toolmakers Association; Machine Tool Technologies Association; Mechanical and Metal Trades Confederation; Printing, Papermaking and Converting Suppliers Association and the Processing and Packaging Machinery Association. Together they represent more than 4,000 companies with a £20 billion turnover and more than 400,000 employees.
     The EAMA is based at the MTTA's headquarters at 62 Bayswater Road, London, W2 3PS. Chairman is Mike Legg, immediate past president of the MTTA, and the secretariat is headed by Jim Hewitt, former chief executive of the British Gear Association.
     The BPF recently took part in a seven-handed trade association bid to persuade the government that the Climate Change Levy is damaging the polymer industry.
     EAMA e-mail

New polyols set to reduce fogging and odours from foams

November 11, 2001 - A new series of catalytically active polyols developed by Dow Chemicals is said to eliminate staining, fogging and odour from polyurethane foams used for automotive upholstery, bedding, furnishing and carpets. The Voranol Voractiv polyols reduce the amount of amine catalysts flexible foam producers need to add during the foaming process. It is the release of these amines in the presence of increased temperature and humidity that is blamed for windscreen fogging, odours, the discoloration of PVC and the degradation of polycarbonate components.
     Voranol Voractiv polyols are made by grafting the catalytic activity into the polyol, saving a formulation step in processing. Their use is also expected to yield better and more consistent foams with better compression set properties.
     Dow Chemical

Engel plans German automation centre

November 11, 2001 - Engel is planning to set up a self-contained automation centre for the German market in a new injection moulding and automation facility it is building at Hagen, in the Sauerland region. The new facility, which will cost some Eur 3 million, will replace the existing Cologne office, which has no further facility for expansion; Engel also has branches in Nurnberg and Hanover.
     The automation aspect of the site will come with the setting up of Engel Automatisierungstechnik Deutschland which will handle all automation projects in Germany. It will use robots and other equipment made at Engel's Austrian automation technology centre in Dietach, and add locally-sourced components to build complete automation systems. Dietach was opened in 1997, and in the 2000/2001 fiscal year delivered some 1,000 robots and handling devices.
     This year Engel opened a branch in Sweden and another in Korea.

BP switches off US polypropylene

November 11, 2001 - BP is mothballing 204,000 tonnes of polypropylene capacity at its Chocolate Bayou, Texas, USA plant because of the current depression in the PP market. The company has four plants making a total of 816,000 tonnes at Chocolate Bayou, and a further 472,000 tonnes elsewhere in the USA. Outside the USA it has around a million tonnes of capacity. On November 1 it acquired another 780,000 tonnes as the asset swap with Solvay came into force.

Beer bottle alternative undergoes blow moulding trials

November 11, 2001 - Attempts to enter the beer bottle market with its styrene-based AronX product have come a step closer for Safeglass (Europe) with trials in Canada to blow mould bottles. The company announced its intention to develop this application last year, with the contention that PET is aesthetically unsatisfactory, and that AronX is more glass-like in appearance and so more acceptable.
     Trials of aspects such as barrier properties, odour and taste have yet to be carried out.

Sales director for SMS film machinery

November 11, 2001 - Reiner Bunnenberg has joined SMS Folientechnik of Vienna - formerly the UK-based Battenfeld Gloucester film equipment company - as director of marketing and sales. Since 1997 he had been vice president of sales at Berstorff.

EP Moulding buys new machines

November 11, 2001 - Two new Sandretto injection moulding machines have been installed at EP Moulding of Knowsley in Liverpool, bringing the company's fleet to 26 machines, 16 of them from Sandretto. Both machines were installed as independent production cells with Dal Maschio driers, hopper loaders, de-mould robots and conveyors.

Board changes at British Vita

November 11, 2001 - David Campbell, managing director of British Vita, has become chief executive, replacing Jim Mercer who is now non-executive chairman. Head of the Industrial Polymers Division Roy Dobson is to retire next year, so from January 1 responsibility is being taken over by Calvin O'Connor, who will also remain finance director until a new finance director can be found.

Elastomer R & D emphasis on applications, not products

November 11, 2001 - DSM Elastomers is restructuring its global research and development to switch from a product-oriented organisation to being application-oriented. There will be three centres - Chiba in Japan covering Asia, Geleen in the Netherlands covering Europe and Leominster in the USA for the Americas. Each lab will be able to handle all the products and applications relevant to its global territory.

More co-operation in LEP development

November 11, 2001 - Light-producing plastics specialists Cambridge Display Technology and DuPont Displays have extended their co-operation with a cross-licensing technology agreement. DuPont has a non-exclusive license to CDT's technology enabling it to offer both active and passive light-emitting polymer display devices, and CDT gets access to technology from DuPont Displays subsidiary Uniax.

Erdöchemie name is dropped

November 11, 2001 - The former Bayer/BP petrochemicals business Erdöchemie, from which Bayer withdrew last year, has now been renamed BP Köln to emphasise its position as part of the BP Group.

Dow increases PS production in Brazil

November 8, 2001 - Dow Plastics has started up a polystyrene plant at its Guaruja, Brazil, facility. The new plant, for both GPPS and HIPS, increases Dow's PS capacity in Latin America to 270,000 tonnes - the company also makes polystyrene at Cartagena in Colombia.
     Dow became the largest producer of polystyrene in Latin America in October 1996 when it bought Estireno do Nordeste of Brazil.

More Engage grades as DuPont Dow increases capacity

November 8, 2001 - DuPont Dow Elastomers is increasing both capacity and the product range for its Engage polyolefin elastomers. It has increased capacity at its Freeport, Texas, USA plant to 90,000 tonnes through de-bottlenecking and next year will start up a plant in Plaquemine, Louisiana, USA which will bring total Engage capacity up to 227,000 tonnes.
     With the new Plaquemine plant will come additional grades bringing easier processing, better impact properties and higher melt strength. Developmental quantities of the new materials are now available, and they will become commercially available when the new plant opens.
     www.dupont-dow.com

Big Sandretto for Crystalware

November 8, 2001 - A 750 tonne MEGA T EF is the fourth Sandretto injection moulding machine to be installed at the Redditch plant of Crystalware during the past 12 months. Crystalware makes its own range of household and kitchenware and the high rate of injection of the new machine is being used for long flow path products such as a linen basket and large storage box.
     The company now has 15 injection moulding and three blow moulding machines, running 24 hours a day and producing more than 10 million parts annually.

Blowplast extends bottle size range

November 8, 2001 - Blowplast of High Wycombe has extended its fleet of Uniloy Milacron blow moulding machines to 18 with the installation of an HSM10 D for the production of 5 litre and 1 gallon containers. This size of container is new to Blowplast, which has built its business on the lightweight Polybottle it supplies to the dairy industry.