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BASF goes to market with hydrogen peroxide PO process May 28, 2002
BASF has developed a new process for the production of propylene oxide - from which polyols are made - and is anticipating building a 250,000 tonnes plant using the process.
The new process uses hydrogen peroxide to oxidise propylene, with only water as a by-product. The current methods of making propylene oxide are the chlorohydrin process, which produces a waste liquor containing chlorine, or the propylene oxide styrene monomer process, with styrene as a by-product. The hydrogen peroxide process is seen as more environmentally friendly than the chlorohydrin process, and does not produce quantities of styrene monomer which, despite recent supply problems in the styrene derivatives business, is not regarded as a high demand product.
BASF is the the third company in recent years to develop a hydrogen peroxide based-process for PO production, but reckons to be the first commercial application - a pilot plant is running at Ludwigshafen in Germany. The other processes were announced by Sumitomo in 2000, and by Degussa-Hüls and Krupp Uhde in 2001.
To secure supplies of hydrogen peroxide BASF has signed an agreement with Solvay under which, following BASF's decision to go ahead with the plant, which is expected in the next two years, the two companies will build a joint venture 200,000 tonnes H2O2 plant. No decision on location of the PO plant has yet been made, beyond the likelihood of it being in Asia or the NAFTA countries, with start-up possibly by 2007.
Bayer invests to improve TDA production... May 28, 2002
Bayer is expanding and rationalising its production capacity for toluene diamine (TDA), an intermediate in polyurethane production. It is investing Eur 170 million in new plant at its Dormagen site in Germany to make 200,000 tonnes/year of TDA from the second half of next year. The new plant, which will use a new, more cost-effective process already implemented at Baytown in the USA, will replace current plants and it is anticipated that TDA from Dormagen will eventually be supplied to other sites including Leverkusen and Brunsbüttel.
Dow Chemical has warned that low inventory and a regularly scheduled maintenance shut down at its Freeport, Texas, USA plant will mean that it will not be able to meet global increases in demand for toluene diisocyanate (TDI) this year.
Berry Plastics, the US packaging moulder which has bought three European moulders including two in the UK in recent years, is being sold by its parent, buy out specialist First Atlantic Capital, to private equity banker Goldman Sachs. According to a report in the New York Times the $837·5 million deal came after a bidding war between GS and the Thomas H Lee Company.
Berry Plastics was bought by Atlantic 10 years ago for $8·7 m and since then has acquired 10 other moulding companies, including Norwich Injection Moulders and Capsol Certwood UK.
Williams takes the chair at EuPC May 28, 2002
The presidency of EuPC - the European Plastics Converters Association with more than 30,000 member companies - has gone to Britain for the first time since it was set up in 1990 with the appointment of David Williams. Mr Williams is managing director of the Linpac Group and is also chairman of the Polymer National Training Organisation and is a past president of the British Plastics Federation.
Concerted effort needed for PVC recycling May 28, 2002
EuPR, the European Plastics Recyclers organisation, is planning to set up a network of PVC collection facilities to back up the mechanical recycling of PVC and kick start a practical response to critics of the PVC Industry Voluntary Commitment. Earlier this month Greenpeace attacked a recent update report from the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers on the Voluntary Commitment, and among other criticisms, condemned the targets and progress in recycling, concluding that 'the potential for PVC recycling is limited'.
This incensed Rudy Galle, chairman of the EuPR PVC working group, who is also a director of Belgian PVC recycling specialist Rulo. In a statement from EuPR he comments that while European Union institutions have spent more than five years working on the broad PVC issue, companies like his have been at work actually handling the recycling task. 'Supporting the view of Greenpeace will only destroy the pioneering work my company and I started eight years ago', he added.
Now EuPR is calling for a concerted effort by all involved in the PVC production, processing and disposal chain to create a PVC recycling structure. The EuPR initiative is to set up a free-of-charge PVC post-consumer waste collection network - called Recovinyl - in all large European cities that want it and to channel the collected waste to its member PVC recyclers who, it says, 'will ensure the production of good quality R-PVC material in line with CEN requirements'.
Great Lakes Chemical Corporation is increasing the prices of two of its flame retardants. Its antimony trioxide products, sold under the TMS, Timonox, Trutint and Microfine names, go up $220/tonne on June 1. Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) products sold as CD-75, CD-75P and SP-75 go up 10 per cent on June 15.
PET bottle tooling centre opens in Accrington May 28, 2002
Anker PET Moulds & Tooling has opened a Eur 2·5 million tooling design centre in Accrington. The centre has been set up for the production of new PET moulds and tooling, and for the rebuilding of used injection stretch blow moulding equipment.
Anker PET Moulds & Tooling is one of five divisions of the Anker House company set up in the early 'nineties to specialise in PET bottle equipment. The others are Anker PET Equipment, Anker PET Services, Anker Chile and Anker Spare Parts. The Anker group also works in close collaboration with PET additives supplier ColorMatrix (Europe) and injection blow moulding machine manufacturer Sipa.
The group has key customer accounts with Coca Cola Bottlers, Schmalbach-Lubeca and the O-I Group among others, and recent development projects included the manufacture and proving of Coca-Cola Bottlers' new Deep River-Rock flaboured water bottle.
Research forecasts brighter outlook for injection machine sales May 28, 2002
Sales of injection moulding machines in the UK are forecast to grow from around £125 million a year now to just short of £140 million by 2005, according to a report from Research Solutions. The company says that current sales represent around 1,600 machines, and that, despite recent adverse economic conditions, the domestic market will steadily increase this number over the next 18 months and continue to grow at a steady pace for the next four years. However, it warns, the strength of Sterling will continue to hamper major growth despite increases in demand from the automotive and packaging sectors.
Sales of Taiwanese-built Apex robots in the UK and Ireland are being centralised in a new company, Apex Robot Systems UK, spun off from used Boy machine specialist STV. Apex machines had for a long time been sold by Spaceminster, but in recent years had also been supplied by other companies including KT Handling and High Class Machinery.
Apex Robot Systems has put in place a stock of spares for current and previous models, and is offering next day delivery for most of the machines in the range. Apex is best known for its sprue pickers, but also sells pneumatic and CNC beam robots, covering the 20 - 4,000 tonne injection moulding machine range.
Graham and Constar hit the stock market May 28, 2002
Two American-based international plastics packaging companies have gone public. Investment firm Blackstone Group is putting a yet-to-be-disclosed number of shares in Graham Packaging Co up for sale, while Crown Cork & Seal is floating shares in its Constar International subsidiary.
Big blow machine for Inblow Form May 28, 2002
Slough-based trade blow moulder Inblow Form has taken delivery of a Meico/ST TA 500 accumulator head machine from Henry Lenox Industrial to meet demand for large technical mouldings. The machine has a 70 mm extruder, 5 litre accumulator head, 100 point parison thickness control, and its tiebarless construction and electronic storage of setting data enable fast tool changes.
Irish injection moulder Streamstown mouldings of Mullingar has expanded into twin shot moulding with the installation of a Netstal 1750 HP. The company operates 23 machines in a newly built factory between Mullingar and Athlone and also has a toolroom in Dublin.
Injection investment May 28, 2002
Mainetti is installing six 300 tonne Sandretto Nove Series S injection moulding machines at its Jedburgh garment hanger plant. It already has a 130 tonne version of the Nove S, which was introduced last year with an emphasis on energy saving.
Also running a new Sandretto is Tex Industrial Plastics in Derby which has installed a Mega TW 610 tonne model. It was supplied as a complete moulding cell with a hopper loader, Dal Maschio Nepal S3 all-electric robot and indexing conveyor, and is used mainly for parts for Heatrae Sadia's Megaflo domestic water heating system.
Basell Australian PP film company to join Moplefan May 28, 2002
Basell is further reducing its non-core activities by planning to sell its Australian PP film business. Basell Australia (Holdings) has signed a letter of intent to sell Shorko Australia to Moplefan. Basell sold the majority of Moplefan to Dor Chemicals of Israel last year.
Thompson widens moulding scope with pDCPD purchase May 28, 2002
Specialist vehicle panel moulder Thompson Plastics Group has added another process with the purchase of a controlling stake in LMC Technik. Thompson makes components for off-road and low volume commercial vehicles in six sites around the UK using a variety of processes including thermoforming, pressure forming, twin sheet moulding, rotational moulding and various reinforced and unreinforced polyurethane processes.
LMC Technik operates in the same market, supplying customers such as Caterpillar, JCB and Volvo, from Houghton-le-Spring where it operates a pDCPD plant. pDCPD (polydicyclopentadiene) is a two-component reaction injection moulding process suitable for large structural components requiring a class A paint finish. Products maintain impact strength down to -40 degC and are chemical resistant. They can be painted or chrome-plated, and there is no restriction on component size, shape or wall thickness down to 3 mm.
Higher polymer prices to trigger further film price hikes May 28, 2002
Further polymer price rises expected over the next month are almost certain to force film prices higher, warns the Flexible Packaging Association. PE and PP prices rose around 30 per cent between January and the beginning of May, while film prices moved up between 10 and 20 per cent. 'Given the serious lack of profitability in the flexible packaging sector it is inconceivable that these massive cost increases can be absorbed by our members', says the FPA.
In-line compounding tie up May 28, 2002
US extrusion equipment manufacturer Davis-Standard has signed a mutually exclusive deal with Coperion of Germany to produce in-line compounding extrusion systems for sale in the NAFTA market. Coperion is supplying its Werner & Pfleiderer ZSK and Buss Kneader compounders for use on Davis-Standard extrusion lines. ZSK compounders are also used by Husky of Canada on a direct compounding injection moulding machine.
Research expands the potential of polypropylene May 13, 2002
A new polymerisation route for polypropylene is set to go commercial at Basell, while at the Antec conference in the USA two European PP users have described research into new properties and applications.
The new Basell PP process uses 'fifth generation' Ziegler-Natta type catalysts called succinates. These have been found to expand the properties of homopolymer and heterophasic copolymer polypropylenes by broadening their molecular weight distribution - as opposed to developments using metallocenes which have tightened molecular weight distribution to produce materials with focused properties.
PPs using succinates as catalysts have been trialled on Basell's Italian and Dutch plants and are expected to be in regular production there by early next year. They have been used to produce heterophasic copolymers with 'unprecedented stiffness/impact balances' and are expected to be used for pipe extrusion, BOPP film and injection moulding grades to improve stiffness and processability.
One of the developments described at Antec is an elastomeric homopolymer PP (dubbed EHPP) which Procter & Gamble is hoping to persuade PP producers to put into production. It is based on work at the University of Ulm in Germany and has been taken further by P & G Eurocor in Belgium. The material is seen as a potential lower cost replacement for conventional TPEs, and is made by controlling the errors that can occur on the backbone of metallocene-catalysed isotactic PP and which can add an elastic behaviour. Properties can be controlled between semi-crystalline and elastic, and elongation is said to reach more than 2,000 per cent.
The other new development at Antec was from Dutch flooring manufacturer Forbo-Novilon which has worked with Atofina and Sartomer to use Chemecol technology to polymerise an acrylic and syndiotactic PP mixture to produce a highly transparent material with high levels of toughness and flexibility. The first application is seen as the wear layer for floor coverings. In the Czech Republic a group of scientists has developed a co-catalyst said to at least double the output of PP and PE in the same period of time compared with the use of an ordinary co-catalyst. It is also said to significantly improve the quality of the material by removing the low weight fractions and increasing the molecular weight. All main properties of polyethylene and polypropylene are said to be much higher than materials currently available, and the co-catalyst can be used with the majority of current polymerisation technologies.
The group, Plastic Point, also says it has invented a method for improving the quality of existing PP, PE and PVC.
Italian supermarket adopts fully compostable packaging May 13, 2002
An Italian supermarket chain is to introduce a 'natural in natural' package during the summer when it starts to sell fresh food and pasta in thermoformed containers with heat-sealable film overlays made in Cargill Dow's NatureWorks polylactide (PLA).
PLA is synthesised from the carbon and other elements extracted from sugars, which have been broken down from starches from plants such as maize. The polymer is therefore sourced totally from renewable resources, and is said to be fully compostable in municipal and industrial compost facilities.
Test marketing by the IPER supermarket chain showed customer satisfaction to the extent that the chain is considering using NatureWorks packaging for the private label products in all 21 of its stores, accounting for around 4 per cent of its annual sales.
Development of the thermoformed packaging was done by Autobar Disposables Group in Britain, and the film overlay was developed by Trespaphan in Germany.
Australian packaging group Amcor has bought the PET container and closures businesses of Schmalbach-Lubeca, which have been up for sale for the past couple of years. Earlier this year Amcor bought film production and conversion companies in Britain and Spain.
Schmalbach was already the world's biggest PET container manufacturer, and is now enhanced with the addition of Amcor's own business. Schmalbach has 32 PET plants in 17 countries with sales of Eur 1·480 billion. Amcor has 18 plants in seven countries with sales of Eur 467 million. Together they will employ 5,632 people making 24·8 billion bottles a year.
A similar comparison applies to the closures business where Schmalbach's White Cap business has 16 plants in 11 countries while Amcor has five plants in five countries.
Amcor is paying Eur 1·725 billion for Schmalbach-Lubeca as part of its effort to become the world's biggest packaging producer. Part of this sum will be raised by selling its 45 per cent interest in Kimberly-Clark Australia. The purchase of Schmalbach is expected to take effect at the beginning of July. Schmalbach-Lubeca will continue to manage the Continental Can Europe product group.
The Amcor/Schmalbach deal came too late for Applied Market Information which has just published a survey of Europe's plastic packaging producers. Schmalbach-Lubeca is listed as the seventh largest European packaging producer. Neither Amcor nor its recent purchases in Europe appear in the top 10.
Mergers have contributed to the ranking of at least the top five European packaging companies. According to AMI Alpla-Werke of Austria/Germany is the biggest packaging producer in Europe with sales in 2001 of around Eur 800 million, and since its takeover of Tetra Pak's European PET preform business in March, is set to be even bigger. Excluding the Tetra plants Alpla has 35 plants in Europe, seven of which are in-plant operations for its customers.
Sealed Air is rated second largest European packaging producer in value terms thanks to its takeover of Dolphin Packaging in 2000. Alcan Aluminium had only a limited involvement in plastics packaging in Europe, but the addition of the Lawson Mardon packaging operations has made Alcan Packaging Europe's third largest packaging producer, and the biggest flexible packaging converter.
Fourth in AMI's list is Huhtamäki which bought Royal Packaging Van Leer in 1999, and fifth is Pechiney, which doubled its flexible sales in Europe last year when it bought Soplaril from TotalFinaElf.
The report, Corporate Performance and Ownership Among Plastics Packaging Producers - A Review of Europe's 50 Largest Players (Eur 560/£350) includes companies selected on the basis of their turnover in plastics packaging in Europe only. They account for sales of around Eur 14·5 billion in 2001, and the consumption of around 5·4 million tonnes of polymer materials. They represent around 30 per cent of the total plastics packaging business in Europe.
Top 10 plastics packaging producers in Europe 2001
Company
Head office
Sector
Conversion processes
Alpla-Werke
Germany
Rigid
Injection and blow moulding.
Sealed Air
USA
Flexible/rigid
Film/sheet extrusion.
Alcan Packaging
Switzerland
Flexible/rigid
Injection and blow moulding, film extrusion.
Huhtamäki
Finland
Flexible/rigid
Film/sheet extrusion.
Pechiney
France
Flexible/rigid
Injection and blow moulding, film and tube extrusion.
Crown Cork & Seal
France
Rigid
Injection and blow moulding.
Schmalbach-Lubeca
Germany
Rigid
Injection and blow moulding.
RPC Group
UK
Rigid
Injection and blow moulding. Sheet extrusion & thermoforming.
Solvay's takeover of the fluorinated specialities group Ausimont has passed approvals by European and US competition authorities subject to some divestments, including Solvay's US PVDF business in Decatur, Alabama which holds a 50 per cent share with Dyneon in Alventia, a manufacturer of PVDF precursor VF2. The takeover doubles Solvay's fluorine activities and gives it a business with a turnover of Eur 860 million on 2001 figures.
Ciba buys melamine flame retardant business from DSM May 3, 2002
Ciba Specialty Chemicals has bought the Melapur melamine-based flame retardant business from DSM. Melapur is a non-halogenated flame retardant which will be sold alongside Ciba's existing Flamestab and Tinuvin halogen-free products. Flamestab is intended for polyolefins, mainly fibres, and Tinuvin is a combined flame retardant and light stabiliser for polypropylene used in products such as stadium seating. Melapur is mainly for use in engineering plastics, and has applications in the automotive, electronic and electrical sectors.
As well as the existing grades in powder and granule form, Ciba intends to sell Melapur in customer-specific forms, and to develop blends with other additives to give combinations of effects.
DSM Research will co-operate with Ciba in further flame retardant applications for melamine chemistry.
Nylon 6 is now available in a thermoforming sheet form from Sustaplast of Germany and according to Bayer, which is supplying its Durethan material for extrusion of the sheet, this is the first time nylon 6 sheet has been commercially available.
The nylon is glass-reinforced and impact-modified, and formings can be used at a continuous 140 degC with short term peaks up to 170 degC. The sheet is also substantially chemically resistant. These properties, says Bayer, make it suitable for under-bonnet applications, particularly where volumes are low and injection moulding becomes relatively expensive.
Thermoforming machine manufacturer Illig has tested the material and wants to add it as the first nylon 6 in its in-house list of recommended thermoformable materials.
The Sustavacu sheet is initially available in 2 - 6 mm thick sheets, coloured black. Sustaplast also makes cast nylon 6 sheet for machining.
Bayer to expand PU dispersion capacity eightfold May 3, 2002
An Eur 5 million expansion from 5,000 to 40,000 tonnes capacity is being planned for Bayer's polyurethane dispersions plant at Dormagen in Germany. Aqueous polyurethane dispersions are used in such things as adhesives, coatings and sizes for glass fibres and generally replace solvent-borne materials.
Supreme Plastics Group has invested £2·6 million at its Lincoln site, more than doubling existing factory space with a new building housing an eight-colour printing press with solvent abatement to limit emissions.
The new Axioma 8 Millennium flexographic press is the first eight-colour Bielloni press to be installed in the UK by Wakefield-based agent David Hulme Machinery, and the third Bielloni machine at the factory since 1989.
The Lincoln factory provides extrusion, printing and converting processes to manufacture products predominantly for the Brayford Plastics and Malpack divisions of the group. Products made by these divisions include ready-made (stock and custom-designed) bags for a variety of industries, and printed film on the reel for the food industry.
The Supreme Plastics Group has manufacturing and distribution sites in Whitby, Lincoln, Isle of Man and Arundel. Turnover last year was just over £17 million, up just over £2·5 million on the previous year, returning an operating profit of almost £1·3 million.
German injection moulders have declined in numbers but increased in output, according to a new survey from Applied Market Information. Since it last reported on the sector four years ago, AMI says that more than 300 companies have gone, while fewer than 200 new sites have been added. However, polymer demand from injection moulders has grown by nearly 3 per cent per year to average more than 800 tonnes/site compared with 650 tonnes five years ago.
The largest market served by injection moulders is packaging, which accounted for 24 per cent of polymer usage by moulders in 2001. The automotive and electrical sectors both accounted for approximately 18 per cent of polymer demand in 2001. More than half the moulders in the AMI database of around 2,300 companies are involved in supplying into the automotive sector in some form or another. AMI's Guide to the Injection Moulding Industry in Germany shows all the markets individual companies are active in as well as information on post-moulding services offered by each site, number and size of machines and polymers they process. It costs Eur 560.
Great Lakes Chemical Corporation has increased the price of its Firemaster 2100 flame retardant globally by $0·22/kg from May 1.
Ashland integrates distribution divisions May 2, 2002
Ashland Distribution Company has combined the management of its Ashland Plastics Europe subsidiary with that of its US-based General Polymers division. David J Bening's role as vice president and general manager of General Polymers has been expanded to include Ashland Plastics Europe. Michael W Ojile has been promoted to global director of source management for North America and Europe and Gianpaolo Armando has been promoted to European director of sales and marketing.
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In the Czech Republic a group of scientists has developed a co-catalyst said to at least double the output of PP and PE in the same period of time compared with the use of an ordinary co-catalyst. It is also said to significantly improve the quality of the material by removing the low weight fractions and increasing the molecular weight. All main properties of polyethylene and polypropylene are said to be much higher than materials currently available, and the co-catalyst can be used with the majority of current polymerisation technologies.