This page is an archive of news and news background stories. Stories are placed here when they expire from the news pages and are filed in date order, most recent on the top. Go to the most recent or browse through the headline links.
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Perstorp buys US phenolics producer October 28, 2002
The Perstorp Group has bought the Moldable Composites Division of US-based Rogers Corporation, which makes high performance mouldable phenolic composites, principally for the automotive and electrical industries. The Rogers division becomes part of Perstorp's Engineering Materials business and will be combined with Vyncolit of Belgium, which supplies reinforced engineering phenolics to the European automotive industry.
Vyncolit is already active in the US since the establishment of Vyncolit North America in 2000 and this move gives it a broader customer and product base.
The Rogers Moldable Composites Division has annual sales of approximately $35 million and about 150 employees. Perstorp is paying around $40 million, of which about $10 million will be paid on completion and the rest over a five year period.
Tetra Laval wins reversal of its Sidel takeover veto
October 28, 2002
The veto by the European Commission of the takeover of Sidel by Tera-Laval has been overturned by the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg. The EC rejected the takeover proposals on the grounds that because the PET and carton packaging markets were so closely related, Tetra Laval would be able to trade on its strength in cartons to increase Sidel's strength in PET packaging, and by eliminating Sidel as a competitor, to achieve dominance in carton packaging.
But the court decided that the EC had failed to prove this possibility and has overturned the veto. Tetra Laval is now hoping to push the merger quickly through the EC mergers procedure and finalise the takeover early in 2003.
It is understood that General Electric also has an application pending with the Court of First Instance to overturn the EC's high profile veto of its takeover of Honeywell.
Nova turns the corner in polyolefins, while styrenics are still suffering October 25, 2002
Nova Chemicals' styrene business continued to lose money in the third quarter, while the olefins/polyolefins business group returned to profit after a loss-making second quarter.
Net income of the olefins/polyolefins business was $8 million in the third quarter, compared to a net loss of $3 million in the second quarter and a net loss of $13 million in the third quarter of 2001. The improvement has been primarily through higher prices - sales volumes were 8 per cent lower than the second quarter due to seasonally softer polyethylene demand.
The styrenics business reported a net loss of $19 million in the third quarter, compared to a net loss of $11 million in the second quarter and a net loss of $56 million in the third quarter of 2001. Nova says that while prices for both monomer and polymers continued to rise from the second quarter, the price increases were more than offset by higher cost benzene feedstocks and lower sales volumes. Total volume of styrene monomer and polymer sales, were down 6 per cent from the second quarter. The $37 million improvement over the net loss in the third quarter of 2001 is primarily a result of improved product prices.
Year-to-date for 2002, the styrenics business lost $69 million, about half of the loss for the same period in
2001.
Croda switches to market-based structure October 25, 2002
Croda International is to restructure its European chemicals operations from January 1, changing from a divisional to a market-driven structure. The new company will be called Croda Chemicals Europe, and will incorporate the UK chemical manufacturing sites and all the UK and European mainland sales operations.
The two divisions will cover homecare and polymer additives, and personal care and healthcare. Croda's polymer additives interests lie in fatty amides used to modify and enhance the properties of plastics and rubbers. Key products include slip agents marketed under the Crodamide trade name, and Incroslip, a new additive for closures used in the bottled water market.
The European executive board will be headed by David Barraclough, who was previously responsible for the company's operations in Asia-Pacific. Managing director of Home Care & Polymer Additives business will be Steve Foots.
The new chairman of the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers is David Thompson, commercial director of EVC International.
Antiox price increase October 25, 2002
Great Lakes Chemical Corporation is increasing worldwide prices for Lowinox 22M46 hindered phenolic antioxidant by 10 per cent on November 1. Lowinox 22M46 is used primarily in acetal and ABS applications that produce white, light-coloured and transparent products to protect against crazing caused by extended exposure to air.
Former Hamiltons MD dies October 25, 2002
Former managing director of Hamilton Machinery Sales, Keith Whitehead, died on October 18. He had worked for Hamiltons for 23 years from 1969 to 1992 and was a key figure in developing the UK and Irish markets for Bekum blow moulding machinery.
SIG buys and sells to focus more on packaging October 17, 2002
Swiss packaging systems group SIG is tightening its focus on beverage packaging with the acquisition of a Canadian blow mould maker and the confirmation that it intends to sell its Kautex engineering blow moulding machine business.
The acquisition of Ryka Blow Molds gives SIG more access to the North American market and improves its ability to offer complete systems. Ryka has been in business for 30 years and earns 90 per cent of its Sfr 11 million (Eur 7·5 million) turnover from exports. President Michael Ryan and his 89 staff remain with the company. Ryka Blow Molds will be integrated into the SIG Beverages Division.
The sale of Kautex was mooted a year ago when at K2001 the company announced that it was to operate it independent of its Blowtec business, bringing suggestions - and denials - that it was being prepared for divestment. The Kautex business, which reckons to be the market leader in vehicle fuel tank machines, has often been regarded as something of an anomaly in a group which has such a pronounced intention to specialise in packaging. SIG has not confirmed that it has found a buyer, although it has identified some potential companies.
Part of SIG's process of grooming Kautex for sale - and to make its remaining Blowtec business more efficient - is a programme of staffing reduction which has already seen some job losses and involves plans to lay off a further 150 workers by the end of the year. SIG is also to close its New Jersey, USA, assembly operation for Kautex accumulator head machines.
Clear PP colorant to be made in Europe October 17, 2002
Milliken Chemical is to open manufacturing, colour matching, and technical support operations for its ClearTint polypropylene colorants in Gent, Belgium, before the end of the year.
ClearTint is used in conjunction with Millad 3988 clarifying agent to overcome the inherent haziness of PP and the difficulty of achieving clarity and colour together. Dyes maintain transparency but have issues with extraction and migration, whereas pigments inherently impart haze and can cause further problems like inconsistent shrinkage, warpage, abrasion on machinery, and part-to-part variation. Milliken says its ClearTint technology combines the transparency of dyes with the migration resistance of pigments while having no adverse effect on shrinkage or warpage.
New name for Krupp rubber machinery... October 17, 2002
Rubber processing equipment manufacturer Krupp Elastomertechnik has now adopted the name of its parent ThyssenKrupp Group and has become ThyssenKrupp Elastomertechnik.
...and new names for plastics additives October 17, 2002
Atofina has rebranded its MBS impact modifiers and acrylic process aids as a result of its acquisition in April of the balance of Metco North America and Metablen. The former Metablen brands become Clearstrength (MBS) and Plastistrength (acrylic processing aids).
Germans put off recovery until next year October 17, 2002
German machinery manufacturers are less confident about a recovery in sales. After the low at the turn of the year new orders started to increase during the first part of 2002, but the improvement has flagged, and orders for January to August are at a 5 per cent lower level than in the same period last year, with the home market leading the slump (domestic orders down 13 per cent, export orders down 1 per cent).
Now the machinery builders' trade association the VDMA says that recovery has had to be postponed until next year. This year should see production down 12 per cent on last year, with new orders at the same level.
Whatever happened to Clayton Goodfellow? October 17, 2002
A South African reader is trying to find technical/operation manual/info on a Clayton Goodfellow injection moulding machine. Clayton Goodfellow was a steam engine manufacturer in Rochdale or Blackburn which later built a series of vertical insert moulding machines, it is believed for electrical plug manufacture. Did this company become Clayton Plastics Machinery, and what happened to it? Did it cease trading or was it absorbed into another moulding machine manufacturer?
DuPont names Distrupol as exclusive distributor October 15, 2002
The debacle over distribution of DuPont's engineering plastics took another turn today when, despite its announcement that it is to continue to supply Resin Express with material until the end of the year, DuPont announced that it has appointed Distrupol as exclusive UK distributor for its full range of engineering plastics.
The announcement took Resin Express by surprise, coming so soon after DuPont's agreement to continue supplying the company with material for the next couple of months. A DuPont spokesman was unable to clarify how the company was able to have an exclusive distributor, yet to be supplying materials for resale to someone else.
Distrupol has been a DuPont distributor - alongside Resin Express - since DuPont bought ICI's engineering materials business in 1993, and was seen as certain to take over the whole business when DuPont fired Resin Express suddenly on the last day of Interplas. At the time there were stories of DuPont lorries bearing down on Resin Express's warehouse to reclaim materials, and Resin Express immediately threatened legal action over the abruptness of the termination. Since then discussions between the two companies are said to have become more relaxed, with the litigation threat withdrawn and materials supply extended to December 31. But the relaxed relationship seems not have extended to notifying Resin Express in advance of the announcement of Distrupol's appointment.
Ciba gets improved polymerization technology October 15, 2002
Ciba Specialty Chemicals has licensed polymerization technology which will enable it to make block copolymers with more accurate control of molecular weight, which it will use to improve thermoplastic, elastomer and hot-melt adhesive compositions.
The technology is licensed from Xerox, which has patents on the combined use of a stable free radical and a radical initiator in conducting Controlled Free Radical Polymerization (CFRP). The licence permits Ciba and its customers to use CFRP for processes in which polymerization is initiated by a radical generator and controlled by a nitroxyl radical from Ciba. The technology allows the manufacture of new or improved plastic materials. Xerox retains the right to use the technology in electronic printing and water-based processes.
CFRP is an emerging technology that allows controlled architecture of polymers using a variety of processes that demonstrate favorable economics. Polymers made using CFRP exhibit improvements in properties such as melt flow, impact strength, transparency and adhesion. According to Rolf Drewes, Head of Innovation and Technology in Ciba Specialty Chemicals' Plastic Additives Segment, 'a long-standing dream is now about to become reality.'
Over the years, Ciba has developed proprietary nitroxyl-based chemistry with products able to achieve key effects such as light stability, flame retardancy and monomer stabilization. For polymer design by CFRP, the company offers Irgatec PR 5415 and Irgatec PR 5198 as well as recently developed, high-performance Irgatec PR polymerization regulators which give smooth formation of a variety of tailor-made block and graft polymers with benefits of accelerated polymerization and higher conversion.
An improved acrylic copolymer with a better balance of clarity and toughness and enhanced chemical resistance has been commercialised by Nova Chemicals. The new Zylar 390 grade is seen as having potential in medical devices, appliance parts, personal care products and consumer electronics. One of the first applications is a surgical blood filter canister manufactured by Geneva Medical. The company was using an impact acrylic that caused discoloration during gamma radiation sterilization. With Zylar there is less discoloration and also processing improvements over other available materials.
Resin Express keeps DuPont business while talks continue October 14, 2002
DuPont's decision to sack its engineering materials distributor Resin Express with immediate effect last week has now been tempered with time for negotiation. The two companies have reached an agreement under which DuPont will continue to supply materials to Resin Express until the end of the year. What happens then is still under discussion.
EC raids rubber chemicals companies October 14, 2002
The European Commission is investigating price fixing in the rubber chemicals business. On October 10 it announced that it carried out 'surprise inspections' at the premises of a number of rubber chemicals producers in several European countries on September 26.
The announcement went on 'The purpose of these inspections is to ascertain whether there is evidence of a cartel agreement and related illegal practices concerning price fixing for rubber chemicals.'
Surprise inspections are a preliminary step in investigations into suspected cartels. There is no strict deadline to complete cartel inquiries, their duration is determined largely by the complexity of each case.
Bags not banned but to be made fit for recycling October 14, 2002
While countries in the European Union attempt to restrict the use of disposable plastic carrier bags through punitive taxation, the government in South Africa has taken a different tack by legislating that bags are made suitable for recycling, and setting up a company to recycle them.
The latest addition to the country's waste management and environmental protection programme has been in debate for a couple of years, starting with a plan to ban the production of bags of less than 80 microns on the grounds that thinner bags cannot easily be recycled, and that the high ink to plastic ratio of thin printed bags also impaired recycling. There was also consideration given to a tax on bags.
Earlier this year amended regulations were brought in banning bags under 30 microns - although bag producers complained that their equipment could only produce bags of a maximum of 25 microns - and limiting printing to bags of 80 microns.
Now the regulations have been amended so that from May next year the minimum thickness for bags will be 30 microns, but there will be a five year stay of execution for manufacturers who say their equipment will only produce bags up to 24 microns thick. Printing is only to be allowed on up to 50 per cent of the surface where the type of ink used has no detrimental effect on the recycling potential of the bag, and of up to 25 per cent where other inks are used.
While no tax is to be levied, manufacturers are obliged to reveal the cost of the bags, and this is to be shown separately in supermarket purchases - so removing it from the all-in cost of shopping and effectively making the carrier bag an additional purchase.
Bag manufacturers are to be levied to fund a company set up to promote efficiency in the use, re-use, collection, recycling and disposal of plastic bags and investigate and make recommendations to the government regarding new markets for recycled material. This is expected to create up to 4,000 jobs.
Physical blowing process extended to engineering materials October 14, 2002
The non-chemical blowing process developed by Zotefoams to make foamed PE and PP sheet has been applied to engineering plastics, and the company is now looking for industrial partners to develop applications.
In the Zotefoams process nitrogen is impregnated into the extruded sheet under high pressure, and then the sheet is relaxed in a lower pressure autoclave to enable the nitrogen to expand. Density can be as low as 15 per cent of that of the solid material.
Now, in addition to the polyolefins, Zotefoams has applied the process to PSU, PPSU, PES and PVDF. This adds enhanced insulation properties and a higher strength to weight ratio to the already high performance of the base polymers.
Sheets produced this way have been used in the production of foam cored composite panels, where their adhesion properties have been shown to offer a bond strength of up to three times that achieved using some of the most widely used foam core materials. It is also possible to thermoform them.
Applications for the new materials are expected in the automotive, aerospace, aviation, railway, marine, offshore, electronics, wind energy and military fields. Being only a fraction of the density of the original polymers also gives the new foams an economic advantage over the solid polymers, so some applications for the base materials that had previously been ruled out on a cost basis can now be reconsidered.
Expansion in fluorosilicone intermediates October 14, 2002
Dow Corning has increased its fluorosilicone rubber capacity with the start up of a specialty silicone intermediates plant in Midland, Michigan, USA. The $16 million capacity expansion reflects increased demand for Silastic fluorosilicone rubber.
Intermediates produced at the plant are intended to achieve increased purity resulting in higher strength of finished fluorosilicone rubber products.
The multi-zone circulating reactor technology for polypropylene manufacture introduced last year by Basell has been dubbed Spherizone. The process is described as 'a significant step forward in polymerization technology that generates properties beyond those produced in any other PP manufacturing process'. It has been commercialised in a 160,000 tonnes unit at Brindisi, Italy that came on-stream in August.
DuPont today terminated its engineering materials agreement with Resin Express. No official reason has been given, but the timing follows closely on Resin Express's appointment earlier this week as an official distributor for GE engineering materials.
Resin Express has, in fact, continued to sell GE materials alongside DuPont materials - with PBT being the most notable conflict - since it ceased to be an official distributor several years ago when GE built up its Polymerland distributor. The 'rubber stamp' as an official distributor again is seen in some quarters as the straw breaking the DuPont camel's back following last week's takeover by Resin Express's parent Ravago of the BASF engineering polymers business. This brought DuPont and BASF variants of acetal, nylon and PBT into conflict within Ravago - although Ravago has attempted to distance the business by making its new Ultrapolymers subsidiary a separate company.
More announcements are expected next week - the DuPont business is seen as certain to move to Distrupol, which already sells all the same grades as were sold by Resin Express. The fluoropolymers business, currently only handled by Resin Express, has not yet been mentioned by DuPont so it has not been established whether this goes or stays. And there is now a similar apparent conflict between Dow's polyethylene, polypropylene, ABS and SAN handled by Resin Express and materials from Basell and BASF handled by Ultrapolymers. UPDATE Following publication of this story Resin Express issued a statement which said:
'Resin Express state that DuPont's actions do not comply with the distribution contract between the two companies and are in discussions with DuPont about the most sensible resolution to this situation. Resin Express have emphasised that whatever the outcome customers can expect continued supply of DuPont products'.
Bayer disposes of Rhein Chemie Rheinau October 4, 2002
Bayer is to sell its rubber chemicals subsidiary Rhein Chemie Rheinau of, Mannheim, Germany, to a group of financial investors advised by Advent International Corporation of Boston, USA for Eur 215 million. The sale will include the wholly owned subsidiary iSL-Chemie of Kürten, Germany, affiliate companies in the USA and Japan, and a Chinese joint venture in which Rhein Chemie owns a 90 per cent interest. The deal is expected to be concluded in November.
The sale is part of Bayer's strategy, announced in December 2001, to divest Rhein Chemie and other subsidiaries to focus more closely on its core businesses.
Rhein Chemie has 1,100 employees and generated global sales in 2001 of approximately Eur 320 million.
Advent International Corporation is one of the world's largest private equity firms and its investments in European companies include Vinnolit in Germany, Materis in France and Pemco in Belgium.
Change of owner gives US die maker funds for expansion October 3, 2002
US flat die specialist Extrusion Dies has been bought from Butler Capital by US Bank, and is to be renamed Extrusion Dies Industries. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but US Bank has restructured the company's debt from a 1998 recapitalization, freeing up cash to enable EDI to accelerate its programme of establishing regional service centres to provide international customers with sales, technical, and die-remanufacturing support. EDI already has such centres in the UK (Extrusion Dies UK), central Europe, and Japan.
Recent years and even more recent months have seen manufacturers of traditional injection moulding beam robots forming systems partnerships with manufacturers of six-axis robots to achieve combinations of simplicity and low cost from the beam robots with the dexterity of the six-axis machines.
The latest pairing is of two Swiss-based companies, Stäubli Unimation, which not only makes six-axis machines, but has produced a model intended specifically for plastics injection moulding, and beam robot and sprue picker manufacturer Geiger Handling.
What has become a regular series of flame retardant price increases because of the steady increase in the price of antimony has brought
another increase in the price of Great Lakes Chemical's TMS, Timonox, Trutint and Microfine, this time of $0·50/lb in the Americas and by $1,100/tonne in Europe and the Asia Pacific region.
Alongside this increase the company is raising its price for its pentabromodiphenyl oxide-based flame retardants (DE-71, DE-60F Special, DE-61 and DE-62) used in flexible polyurethane foam by $0·10/lb in the Americas and by $220/tonne in Europe and Asia Pacific.
PolyOne to expand in China October 3, 2002
PolyOne Corporation is to invest further in Asia next year. It is nearing completion of its current expansion programme, which has involved the opening of a customer support laboratory and sales office and the start of a compounding expansion in southern China. Further equipment is to be added in programmes stretching into 2003. The company is also evaluating construction of new manufacturing facilities.
PolyOne is expecting to invest around $6 million in Asia this year, and to see its business in the region for the year expand by more than 30 per cent. Its Asian business totalled approximately $50 million in 2001.
Basell adds to its PP capacity with Polish and US deals October 1, 2002
Basell has entered a 50:50 joint venture in Poland to make and sell polyolefins, and is to buy and resell all the product from a new ConocoPhilips plant in the USA.
The Polish deal is with PKN Orlen and will involve building a facility in Plock, Poland to produce polypropylene and polyethylene for sale in Europe. This will be a 400,000 tonnes Spheripol process PP plant and a 320,000 tonnes Hostalen process high density PE plant, replacing older existing capacity.
At start-up, the yet-to-be-named joint venture will operate the 150,000 tonnes PE and 140,000 tonnes PP plants that PKN Orlen is contributing. Feedstock will be supplied from PKN's ethylene cracker - the cracker is not part of the joint venture but will be expanded to ensure sufficient ethylene and propylene when the two new plants start commercial production in early 2005.
The new company is expected to be established no later than January 2003 and will initially be financed equally by the two partners, with the rest of the funding on a project finance basis without calling on further funds from the two principals. The deal with ConocoPhillips is for Basell USA to be the exclusive purchaser and marketer of the polypropylene produced at ConocoPhillips' new Bayway plant in Linden, New Jersey. The 345,000 tonnes plant is scheduled to start up early next year.
Basell is already the world's largest producer of polypropylene and the addition of the Bayway plant capacity will increase its US sales to more than 1,775,000 tonnes.
Takeover in motor industry film products October 1, 2002
British Polythene has sold its division making protective film products for the motor industry to TVIP (Corby). The division, known as bpi.packaging service (Automotive), will now be known as Automotive Packaging Services. Its principal products are protective seat covers and rust protection brake disc liners used during vehicle manufacture.
TVIP has been making products for the motor trade since 1968, including elasticated seat covers, and has been active in the development of non-oil anti-rust products including a corrosion inhibiting polyethylene.
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