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.
We quote monetary figures - company results, materials prices etc - in the currency in which they were originally reported. You can convert them to your own currency at today's exchange rates.
Sidlaw Group has bought Scottish film and paper gravure printer S & R Gravure for £4·3 million. With it comes Broadley Gravure of Accrington, a paper gravure printer which has just been bought by S & R. The two companies will be managed independently as Sidlaw Packaging - S & R and Sidlaw Packaging - Broadley.
Egyptian PE plant to be expanded before it is built August 25, 1998
Scheduled output of the new Egyptian PE plant reported in July is to be doubled. The Sidi Kerir plant near Alexandria was originally to be of 100,000 tonnes, but this is now to be increased to 200,000 tonnes with the use of BP Chemicals' Innovene gas phase technology. A further doubling to 400,000 tonnes is feasible 'at minimal cost'.
Belgian boost in nylon August 25, 1998
Belgian chemical group Domo has increased the caprolactam capacity of its Domo Caproleuna subsidiary to 100,000 tonnes. This is used by Domo Polymers at Ghent and Neuchem to make nylon 6 which is converted by Domo Fibres to nylon yarn, and then made by three more group companies into carpets. The Domo group also has production facilities for nylon 66 granules and polypropylene fibres.
Injection moulding machine on wheels August 25, 1998
An injection moulding machine on wheels has been introduced by Nissei. The HM7-C is a derivative of the company's 7 tonne HM7 'desktop' machine and is self-contained in a castor-mounted cabinet with an oil cooler, chiller, mould temperature controller, and cable reel. It just needs to be wheeled up to an electrical outlet.
Space is provided on the cabinet to store an additional mould. Control is through a touch-panel LCD screen, and the control system uses multiple CPUs for improved response.Injection speed and pressure and back pressure are all set digitally. The machine has a 14 mm reciprocating injection screw and a direct hydraulic four tiebar clamp with 102 × 102 mm spacing.
Window gasket TPE meets RAL demands August 25, 1998
To meet the demands of the new RAL specifications for window gaskets German compounder Gummiwerk Kraiburg has developed a new SEBS sealing material. There are three grades with a hardness range of 50 - 70 Shore A which have been approved by the German RAL committee as suitable for outer seals. They can be coextruded on to uPVC window profiles.
Tel: +49 8638 610
Stadium invests in gas injection August 25, 1998
A Gas Injection gas assisted moulding system has been installed at the Hartlepool plant of Stadium Plastics, and is in use for the handle of a new Black & Decker chainsaw. The system, which cost £100,000, consists of an MP 120-60 high pressure nitrogen generating system, which extracts nitrogen from the air in the moulding shop, and a gas injection control system able to handle two injection moulding machines.
Fire retardant agency for Omya August 25, 1998
Omya UK is now the UK distributor of Borax Europe's Firebrake ZB range of multi-functional zinc borate fire retardant synergists. Firebrake ZB is a flame retardant and smoke suppressant and can be used with both plastics and rubbers.
Victrex to expand to meet PEEK demand August 25, 1998
Victrex is to increase PEEK capacity at its Thornton Cleveleys, UK, plant and is planning to build a second plant at a yet-to-be named site. The initial expansion will cost £7 million and will increase output by 500 tonnes a year by the second half of 1999. In 1996 Victrex expanded capacity by 50 per cent to 1,500 tonnes.
Volume growth in Victrex sales increased 29 per cent in the first half of the company's current year, compared with the same period in the previous year. In its last financial year Victrex had a turnover of almost £45 million, and exported 97 per cent of its PEEK production to Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific region.
New colour lab at Metacol August 20, 1998
Colorant supplier Metacol has completed its two-year £1 million investment programme with the opening of its new colour matching laboratory and visitor centre. The colour lab includes the latest Datacolour match prediction system.
Dorset Technical Mouldings buys its fourth General Plastic machine August 20, 1998
A new design General Plastic 150 tonne injection moulding machine has been installed at Dorset Technical Mouldings in Poole. This is the fourth General Plastic machine to be bought by DTM, and has a new Bosch proportional hydraulic system interfacing with a Barber Colman MC400 controller.
New European chief for Gates August 20, 1998
The new president of European operations at The Gates Rubber Company is John Sharpley, who joins from Pilkington Europe where he was general manager of commercial operations.
Czech expansion in HDPE August 19, 1998
A second HDPE plant using the Innovation Unipol process is to be built in the Czech Republic. The 200,000 tonnes plant for Chemopetrol will be located at Litvinov and will start up by the end of 2001. The first plant, built in 1976, has so far produced more than a million tonnes of PE.
Pipe lining takeover August 19, 1998
Fluorocarbon has taken over the Fluoroline business of Silvertown UK. Both companies supply corrosion resistant plastic lined piping systems to the chemical industry. The Fluoroline operation will continue at Silvertown's Burton-on-Trent site in the short term, but will be transferred progressively to Flurocarbon's Linings Division at Irlam near Manchester where expansion to fill the 5·5 acre site will create the largest purpose-built plant in the UK for corrosion resistant piping systems.
Moulders cooperate with single project management service August 19, 1998
Three British companies offering different moulding services have joined forces under the umbrella of a single 'solutions' company to provide project design support and project management.
The umbrella is Rexam Harcostar's Technical Products Centre in Huntingdon, and the three moulders are blow moulder Rexam Harcostar, injection moulder C & H Plastics of St Ives, Cambridgeshire, and rotational moulder Clarehill Plastics in Northern Ireland.
The concept is for product designers to employ the Technical Products Centre to establish the most appropriate path to production, and for it to manage the project through to production by any of the three companies in the alliance.
Cutting the cost of sealing August 18, 1998
A device for applying transferable adhesive tapes which can be attached to a polybag making machine has been developed by System Devpak. It replaces conventional techniques which involve buying adhesive rolls.
The system incorporates a Devmelt 9 glue applicator and slot die head, which applies hot melt adhesive to siliconised LDPE or HDPE film supplied in 3,000 metre reels. Savings of around 50 per cent of the cost of using adhesive tape reels are claimed.
Elenac plans to become the European market leader in LDPE with the construction of a new facility at the Shell site at Berre in southern France. It plans to build a 320,000 tonnes plant using its high pressure tubular reactor process, and then to shut down the 110,000 tonnes Cochimé plant. Start-up date is scheduled in the second quarter of 2000.
MD at Plastic Mouldings August 18, 1998
Steven Holwell has joined Plastic Mouldings (formerly known as Plastic Dip Mouldings) as group managing director.
Operations appointment at Kestrel August 18, 1998
Kestrel Injection Moulders has created the position of operations director, and has appointed Steve Dinsdale, who joins the company from AE Goetze, a member of the Federal Mogul group.
New name for Unidare August 18, 1998
Portadown-based pipe extruder Unidare Plastics has changed its name to Uniplas. The company has a turnover of £16 million and employs around 120 people. It plans to expand this to 140 people and a £21 million turnover in the next three to four years.
New Hunkar outlet August 18, 1998
Hunkar Laboratories has moved its UK representation to HE Controls.
The first polypropylene plant to be built in Greece will come on stream in the third quarter of 2000. The 130,000 tonnes plant is to be built at Saloniki by Hellenic Petroleum using Tecnimont's Spheripol process.
Kalle signs up to make Topas film August 18, 1998
Kalle Pentaplast is planning to make rigid films based on Ticona's Topas COC. One application will be in medical packaging.
COC offers high optical clarity, very good barrier properties and temperature resistance. Ticona recently announced plans for a 30,000 tonnes Topas plant in Germany, coming on-line in 2000.
Profits up at DSM August 18, 1998
DSM's two polymer-related operating divisions - Performance Materials and Polymers & Industrial Chemicals - both increased sales and profits in the first half of this year, but performance was slowed by depressed polymer prices in the second quarter. Performance Materials sales increased 8 per cent and Polymer & Industrial Chemicals increased 21 per cent, yielding profits of NLG 117 million (1997 108 million) and NLG 427 million (1997 353 million) respectively.
Laboratory equipment companies merge August 18, 1998
Laboratory equipment manufacturers Heraeus Instruments of Germany and Sorvall Products of the USA have merged to form Kendro Laboratory Products. The Heraeus and Sorvall brand names will be retained.
Heraeus makes equipment such as incubators, centrifuges, clean air equipment, ovens and freezers, while Sorvall specialises in centrifuges and cell separation equipment.
Blackfriars names Labotek as distributor August 18, 1998
Granulator manufacturer Blackfriars has appointed Labotek UK to distribute its equipment to the plastics moulding business in the UK. The company plans to introduce two new models later this year - a 320 × 180 mm throat size beside the press machine with minimal floor space requirement, and a 600 × 400 mm machine with a full width sheet and profile feed as a standard option.
Borealis ownership structure confirmed August 18, 1998
The acquisition by Borealis of Austrian polypropylene producer PCD has been finalised and Borealis now lays claim to being Europe's leading producer of polyolefins and the fourth largest worldwide. With the takeover ratification comes confirmation of the new ownership structure of Borealis which is:
Statoil of Norway, 50 per cent;
International Petroleum Investment Company of Abu Dhabi, 25 per cent;
OMV of Austria, 25 per cent.
Half year results published by the company showed a slight increase in pre-tax profit over the first half 1997 figures at DKK 833 million (1997 DK 822 million). However, all the gains were made in the first quarter, as the second quarter figure was well down at DKK 292 million (1997 DKK 403 million).
European pipe materials analysed August 18, 1998
Differences in the plastics materials used across Europe for pipe extrusion are highlighted in a new study Thermoplastic pipe in Europe - 1998 from Phillip Townsend Associates.
While PVC remains the dominant material at 65 per cent of the market (1·9 billion tonnes) alternative routes are being followed in Western Europe for pressure pipe where PVC cannot meet specifications, and in regions, particularly Scandinavia, where there are concerns about PVC's environmental impact. In Eastern and Central Europe, however, the growth rate for PVC pipe is projected at twice that of Western Europe as sewage networks in traditional materials are replaced with PVC, and there are fewer concerns about the use of PVC. In these countries, says the report, polyethylene has only a 2 per cent growth rate, largely in gas pipes, while in Western Europe PE pipe growth is forecast at 6 per cent per annum to 2002 in pressurised water, and 8 per cent in gas. The eventual commercialisation of the fourth generation pipe grade PE 125 should bring greater gas transport opportunities with its ability to withstand higher pressures with thinner walls. Of other materials used in pipe manufacture, Townsend predicts a growth rate of 7 per cent for polypropylene, almost entirely in the West, and a virtually static 2 per cent growth for ABS, a material it says has yet to enter the market at all in Eastern and Central Europe.
Polybutylene is forecast to grow at 13 per cent per annum over the next four years, but this on a very small base quantity for hot water applications.
Insite-driven EPDM plant planned for Europe by DuPont Dow August 18, 1998
DuPont Dow Elastomers is to increase EPDM capacity with a new 90,000 tonnes Nordel IP plant at Dow Chemical's Terneuzen site in the Netherlands, due on stream in the second half of 2001. The plant will use Dow's Insite process and catalyst technology to make Nordel grades which have been market tested during the past year with production from the Plaquemine plant in Louisiana, USA.
Coex rubber cooperation between Krupp and DSM August 18, 1998
Krupp Elastomertechnik and DSM Elastomers have joined forces to develop processes and equipment for coextrusion using synthetic rubbers, thermoplastic elastomers, or thermoplastic vulcanisates, and have filed patents. A typical product would be a sealing profile of EPDM with a coloured TPE surface.
Uponor to control Unicor August 18, 1998
Uponor Group is extending its share holding in Unicor to a majority. The Finnish-based plastic pipe systems company previously owned 40 per cent of Unicor Holding, a German-based manufacturer of plastic/aluminium composite pipe and fittings. From January 1 it will increase this holding to 50·1 per cent.
Top changes at Merit August 17, 1998
Managing director of Merit Plastic Mouldings, Elizabeth Denny, has become chairman and general manager Tom Palmer has been appointed managing director.
Lyondell hedges on Dutch PO/BDO plants August 17, 1998
The ARCO Chemical propylene oxide plant to be built in Rotterdam is to be delayed, following ARCO's takeover by Lyondell. And the company is re-evaluating its plan to build a BDO plant on the same site see archived story.
Worldwide chemical supply/demand, particularly for styrene monomer, the current Asian situation, and its own desire to use cash resources to reduce debt were all factors in delaying start-up to late 2002 or early 2003. The BDO plant, which was to have come on stream in late 2001, may not now be built at the site, as the company reviews alternative locations that would allow the project to proceed independent of the PO plant.
Another expansion for Fanning Rotoform August 17, 1998
Rotational moulder Fanning Polyform has expanded its site on the Whitebridge Industrial Estate at Stone in Staffordshire, giving it now 31,000 sq ft of production space, and brought staff and equipment in from a nearby site. Earlier this year the company created 40 new jobs and installed two new machines in a £600,000 investment.
DSM cuts corrosion from high temperature nylon August 17, 1998
A new series of flame retardant nylon 46 compounded to reduce corrosion in production machinery by as much as a factor of seven has been introduced by DSM. The new Stanyl NT materials are V-0 rated but because of improved compounding techniques the flame retardants are less likely to degrade, says DSM. Tests both at DSM and at the Deutsches Kunststoff Institut in Darmstadt are said to have shown that Stanyl NT recorded the lowest corrosion level for any high temperature resistant polyamide.
K-M ties lifeboat to torpedo as Fahr-Bucher bows out August 17, 1998
Fahr Bucher is quitting the manufacture of injection moulding machines and bequeathing its technology to Krauss-Maffei. The Swiss-based Bucher Group has sold the independent support company Fahr-Bucher Service of Gottmadingen in Germany to Krauss-Maffei and is phasing out the manufacture of new machines. It expects to have fulfilled existing orders by the end of this year. The hard pricing of international competition and small sales volumes for its specialist machines are blamed for the move.
Fahr-Bucher was building two platen machines long before the C-series was even a gleam in the eye of K-M's design department, and also has a substantial background in thermoset/DMC technology through the Bucher-Guyer arm of the company - an area in which Krauss-Maffei is particularly interested. A gradual transfer of expertise from Gottmadingen to Munich looks likely as the commitment to existing Fahr-Bucher customers dwindles. It could be said that this transfer has already started - K-M's injection moulding production director Hans Wobbe was, around 18 months ago, managing director of Fahr-Bucher.
Fahr-Bucher Service will operate as an independent company within Krauss-Maffei. Consequently existing franchised servicing agreements outside Germany look like continuing. In the UK, Zenith European, formed when Fahr-Bucher's own UK subsidiary stopped operating, continues as the spares/service organisation for Fahr-Bucher, and also has a few new machines for sale. Zenith has more latterly also taken on representation for Remu of Italy, and is on the brink of a new agreement described as doing for the injection moulding business 'what the microwave oven did for the kitchen'.
Colloids gets bright film colours from organic pigments August 17, 1998
Thirty five new colour masterbatches for film in red, yellow, green and blue have been introduced by Colloids following the EC directive on waste packaging (94/62/EC Article 11) restricting the heavy metal-based pigment content in packaging. The company is claiming 'uncompromised brilliance and clarity of colour as well as heightened opacity' from the organic pigments used. Target materials are low and linear low density polyethylene, but the new masterbatches can also be used with HDPE and PP. They can also be formulated to include other film additives such as UV stabilisers, anti-block and slip agents, antioxidants, antimicrobials, anti-fogs and process aids.
Chemson extends UK stabiliser production August 17, 1998
A new PVC stabiliser plant is being built at its Wallsend, Tyne & Wear, site by Chemson. The first production line, due on stream in April 1999, will make the existing range of Chemson Naftomix one-pack compounds, and a further line will extend production to the full range of solid one-pack stabilisers including Naftosafe CA Zn products. The Chemson Group is part of Chemetall of Germany, itself a subsidiary of Dynamit Nobel.
Compostable plastic commercialised by Bayer August 17, 1998
A compostable material which starts to break down on contact with humus is being pitched by Bayer at producers of horticultural products. The new BAK material is a polyester amide which can be processed on conventional equipment in a variety of ways - it can be injection moulded, extruded as a semi-transparent film or thermoforming sheet, applied as a coating, or spun into fibres and filaments.
High toughness and elongation at break are claimed, and BAK can be modified with a range of inorganic or organic fillers. Bayer sees its application in products such as refuse sacks, plant pots, clips and binders for flowers, food packaging and disposable utensils.
ON-LINE
ON-LINE Home