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Bayer has bought the 45·5 per cent in the Makroform joint venture held by Röhm. The two companies extended their joint venture operation to a full merger of the businesses in 2000. Taking over the whole business gives Bayer a stronger position in the polycarbonate sheet market.
The Makroform group also includes former Bayer affiliates Axxis of Belgium and Carbolux of Italy, which have been trading under the Makroform name. The three production sites in Belgium, Italy and Germany were realigned last year to focus product ranges during a programme of plant investment.
Tooling specialists combine to offer design-to-commissioning service July 25, 2003
Two Kent-based tooling specialists have merged to form a company offering all services from product design to final production tooling manufacture and commissioning. Millaber of Maidstone and Folkestone Precision Engineering have co-operated on projects for the past five years or more, and had set up a joint venture low volume moulding shop for tooling development. Their merging to form Advanced Tooling Systems UK (ATS-UK) also brings in a connection with the European ATS Group, which has a strong position in manufacturing big moulds. ATS-UK has a limit of 6 tonnes, but European ATS has built moulds up to 185 tonnes, and would be used to finish off projects started at ATS-UK but exceeding final tooling capacity.
Millaber has its roots in rapid prototyping and fixture manufacture, while FPE operates a production toolroom. Services span design, prototype manufacture, high speed machining, project management, fixture production, CMM inspection and production tooling manufacture. The company will continue to work from both its Maidstone and Folkestone sites.
The emphasis of the new company is currently on the automotive sector - its customers include Visteon Interior Systems, Jaguar and Bentley Motors - but new business is also coming in from the aerospace and medical sectors. The company's first aerospace tooling contract is for forming fixtures for wings for the new Airbus A380.
The new company employs around 50 people and expects to turn over more than Eur 7·5 million this year.
Following its announcement a fortnight ago that it is to increase European pricing of its polystyrene resins by Eur 50/tonne to restore acceptable margins, Dow Europe has now announced a two-stage increase of Eur 150/tonne across its polypropylene and polyethylene products.
A Eur 50/tonne increase will be applied from August 1, with a further Eur 100/tonne on September 1. The materials affected are all polypropylenes, Inspire performance polymers, LDPEs, HDPEs, Dowlex polyethylenes, Attane ultra low density polyethylene copolymers, Elite enhanced polyethylenes and Aspun fibre grades. Globally Dow increased its earnings by 65 per cent in the second quarter of this year on sales up 14 per cent on the second quarter 2002 at $8·2 billion. The increase in sales revenue was after a 2 per cent fall in volume, and the earnings improvement was despite a $700 million increase in feedstock and energy costs over the year - and the result of 'substantial cost reductions and improved prices'.
PVC pricing and chlorine supply problems hit EVC July 24, 2003
The downward pressure on prices in the PVC market hit EVC's profits such that in the first half of this year it turned a previous first half operating profit of Eur 4·4 million to a loss of Eur 8·6 million with net loss for the half year increasing from Eur 4·8 million in 2002 to Eur 8·0 million. Turnover was up slightly from Eur 546·6 million to Eur 550·3 million.
EVC said that PVC prices were forced down by reduced demand by Eur 90/tonne at the end of the second quarter compared with the start of the year. They were still some 7 per cent higher on average than during the first half of 2002, but this improvement was eroded by the higher prices of ethylene and chlorine. A major effect on its profits was being forced to buy on the spot market because of supply difficulties at a key chlorine supplier in southern Europe which EVC reckons cost it around Eur 15 million in the first half, for which the company is 'considering seeking redress'.
Things are looking up in the injection moulding machinery business - at least for Krauss-Maffei which is reporting a rise in orders from the automotive and construction industries as well as for PET and DVD systems. Demand from the packaging and medical technology segments is also recovering to some extent, although the electrical and electronics industry has cut back sharply on new investment because of a levelling off in consumer spending.
Reporting its mid-year results K-M says that sales of standard injection moulding machinery have been bolstered by substantial orders from the automotive industry in Europe and the USA, especially for the high-tonnage machines in its MC Series. Car manufacturers and components suppliers are also directing a lot of new investment towards Eastern Europe.
However, demand for the company's smaller and medium-sized machines has not yet recovered satisfactorily.
Automotive demand has also increased business in K-M's Reaction Technology division, along with new orders from the white goods sector. Substantial orders from China and Russia have boosted sales of the company's extrusion equipment.
In the first half of this year K-M is reporting sales growth of 17 per cent at Eur 237 million, although this figure is mainly due to the addition of the Neureder robotics and ex-Elastogran EMB reaction equipment businesses.
The company expects sales for 2003 to rise by 12 per cent to a total of Eur 450 million. Neureder and EMB each account for roughly 3 per cent of consolidated orders, which means that sales for the established businesses should be up by more than 6 per cent. Overall K-M is forecasting a year-end result up by around 35 per cent compared with 2002.
Ireland's Barlo Group, which includes sheet distributor Barlo Plastics, is in discussion with its chief executive Dr Anthony Mullins over a possible management buy out. Chairman Niall Carroll and senior independent director John Farrell are considering the approach on behalf of the company.
In the year to March 31 the group increased its pre-tax operating profit by 29 per cent to Eur 35·1 million on a turnover up 3·4 per cent at Eur 306 million. The net loss after taxes in 2002 of Eur 10·6 million turned to a profit of Eur 7·3 million.
The group's share price has more than doubled in the past three months from a low of Eur 0·14 to a one-year high of Eur 0·30.
The Health and Safety Executive has issued a warning on the use of Erlenbach Vollaumat EPS moulding machines following an accident at a Glasgow moulding company.
An employee was crushed and seriously injured by a falling tool while attempting a tool change. The handling gear and all other mechanical equipment appeared to be in good working order and the exact cause is still under investigation.
The HSE says that the tool could move in and out from the machine horizontally while the tool itself sits in a vertical position. The tool runs on rollers on two guide runners, the ends of which should be fitted with backstop pins to prevent the tool coming all the way out of the machine.
It advises all personnel to ensure that these backstops are in place before attempting to move/remove a tool.
PE, PP and PS prices from Basell and Dow are going up as demand increases and the companies are able to restore some of their previous lost margins. Basell is increasing the European prices for all its polyethylene and polypropylene grades by Eur 100/tonne, effective at the latest by September 1. The company says margins were cut when the prices of polyolefin products fell abruptly during May and June following a sharp fall in demand.
Dow Europe is increasing the price of its Styron GPPS, HIPS and A-Tech advanced technology PS by Eur 50/tonne from August 1. Following disappointing levels of business through much of the second quarter, demand strengthened through late June and into July as converters replenished depleted stocks to meet increases in product demand, so the company is taking the opportunity to restore margins.
Injection moulded bath manufacturer to quit Taiwan in favour of Merseyside July 10, 2003
The British-based manufacturer of 'the first-ever injection moulded bath' is planning to bring manufacture back from Taiwan and set up a plant on Merseyside in a £2·5 - 3 million investment.
Rhinobath started trading in earnest in 2000. Its main business is with the contract bath market - baths installed by councils, housing associations and sold in DIY outlets - which gives it the volume for a single product that makes injection moulding a viable option over thermoforming. In turn, injection moulding the bath in ABS enables it to make a 7 mm thick (instead of 4 mm) product which is strong, but still light in weight, and has advantages in terms of stacking/storage space for builders merchants, and damage resistance in transit and installation.
At present the baths are moulded by a contract moulder in southern Taiwan, using tooling also made in Taiwan. But the costs/logistics of importing from the Far East, together with what the company sees as limited input in product development in Taiwan, has brought about the decision to switch production to the UK. Manufacture is heavily automated, so the benefits of low Taiwanese labour costs have little effect. ABS supplies, however, are likely to be imported from the Far East because the material is cheaper there.
Rhinobath expects to start UK production in about a year from now and is currently discussing machine purchase with several major manufacturers of big machines. The baths are currently moulded on a 4,000 tonne press, but Rhinobath expects to be able to use a smaller machine, particularly with the next generation which will go into production a few months after the UK start-up. This will be two-component bath with a high gloss skin and a partly-foamed core containing reclaim, wood flour, chalk, and other fillers - the development of which Rhinobath found to be less easy in Taiwan. Research is continuing into suitable material combinations. The company is also looking to source the new tooling for its baths in the UK.
At present Rhinobath sells in the UK and Ireland, but with a capacity at the new plant of 150,000 units a year, the company is also planning to distribute in Europe.
BASF signs up to biopolymer research July 10, 2003
BASF has joined a one-year research programme with an American biotechnology company to develop plastics made from renewable resources. Metabolix of Cambridge, Massachusetts, will produce polyester plastics from fermented sugar and supply BASF with pilot-scale sample quantities. BASF's polymer research division will investigate the materials technology and processing properties of the products.
The materials under development, polyhydroxyalkanoate polyesters (PHAs) have a broad range of applications and may be used for the manufacture of plastic films, fibres, thermoplastic materials, and dispersions for adhesive raw materials or coatings.
Metabolix is currently working on PHAs for applications in paper coating, nonwovens, adhesives, disposable food ware, and performance additives for other polymers.
Cyclo-olefin used to make optical discs July 9, 2003
Cyclo-olefin polymer (COP) is being used in commercial production in Europe, the USA and Hong Kong to make a new generation of optical discs developed by Philips and Sony. The SACD - super audio compact disc - is a hybrid disc with a conventional 650 MB CD bonded to a second disc with a data density of 4·7 GB. It can be played on a conventional CD player (it is a 12 cm disc and its two layers total 1·2 mm thick), but when played on a dedicated SACD player - and there are now more than 40 makes of these on the market - the high density layer gives high quality surround sound.
The COP used to make SACDs is Zeon Corporation's Zeonor, which has been on the market since 1998, and is a general purpose COP used for light-guide plates for LCDs, optical films, automobile headlamp parts, food containers such as tableware and milk bottles, and containers and packaging material for medical products. It is a higher impact and heat resistant version of the company's Zeonex, which has been in use since 1990, mainly for optical components such as camera lenses and prisms, lenses on mobile phones, and the pick-up lenses of optical storage media equipment.
The properties COP brings to optical discs include low water absorbency to prevent disc warping and its specific optical properties such as low double refraction and high light transmission. It has a lower specific gravity than polycarbonate or acrylic.
The other cyclo-olefin on the market, Ticona's Topas cyclo-olefin copolymer (COC) is also promoted as an optical disc material, but the company does not yet list any applications - Topas is mainly used in medical, optical and packaging products.
Higher output planned for multi-layer PET preforms July 9, 2003
The proprietary multi-layer moulding process for PET preforms developed by Owens-Illinois is to be made more productive through a development agreement with Husky. The SurShot process gives fine control of the layer thickness and has always been done on Husky machines. Now the two companies are to develop it to handle 144 cavities, and anticipate installing the first line next year.
SurShot is typically used to sandwich up to 35 per cent post consumer reclaim between two barrier layers and two layers of virgin PET, and O-I claims to control barrier layer content down to 1.5 per cent of the preform weight.
Higher performance materials for cure in place sealing July 9, 2003
A new seal production technology from DuPont Dow Elastomers extends the range of materials that can be used in a cure in place process to more than just silicone or polyurethane and brings to the technique materials capable of operating in high temperature environments and in the presence of aggressive fluids.
The new Vertex process uses equipment similar to that for hot melt application, and is operated by a robot - so eliminating manual fitting. DuPont Dow also says that the process creates less scrap than conventional seal manufacture. Curing is by ultraviolet light.
Several material compositions are available so far for use with Vertex including compounds based on Vamac ethylene acrylic elastomers and Viton fluoroelastomers - two materials already established in under-bonnet applications. Several patents have been granted to DuPont Dow for the process.
Plans to introduce biodegradable packaging additive July 9, 2003
A development project has been started by chemicals manufacturer Robinson Brothers of West Bromwich in association with Aston University, GlaxoSmithKline, Euro Packaging and ThermoPrism, to commercialise a biodegradable additive for packaging.
Robinson had previously led a pan-European project which developed additives to produce a biodegradable polymer with physical properties equivalent to those of 'conventional plastics packaging materials' and which could be processed on standard equipment. The new project will aim to develop and commercialise these materials.
Robinson has scaled up the additive system in its pilot plant and anticipates a full production run before the end of the year, and then addition of the materials to its ROBAC product range.
The click-to-give fundraising site www.aquaplastics.org reached its target of 1·5 million clicks in less than three months, raising a donation of Eur 150,000 for water projects in Africa.
The money from the site, which has been donated by the European plastics industry, will be put towards several projects, including the supply of clean water, sanitation and hygiene in the Plateau and Bauchi states of Nigeria. The majority of Nigeria's 111 million people live in extreme poverty, with only 57 per cent of the population having access to safe drinking supplies.
The website was launched in March 2003 with the Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe donating 10 cents for every click achieved. The link with APME was because of the vital role played by plastics in preserving and distributing water.
APME has a 'Water for Life' card in its classroom activity programme, downloadable from www.apme.org.
Thermo Electron Corporation has bought the Process Control Rheometers (PCR) product line, formerly made by Rheometric Scientific Instruments, from TA Instruments. The PCR line gives Thermo Electron a complete line of viscometers and rheometers from laboratory to pilot plant through on-line process applications.
In addition to selling new equipment, Thermo's Control Technologies division will support for PCR and ACER products already in the field.
Following its full acquisition of the StaMax P long glass fibre polypropylene business earlier this year SABIC is planning to build a second production line and expand capacity to 35,000 tonnes.
Work has started at the Genk, Belgium, site and should be completed early next year. The spur to expansion has been the adoption of long glass PP in the automotive industry and StaMax says that market growth for StaMax P is substantially higher than that for other automotive polymers.
American specialist materials compounder PolyChemAlloy has set up a European sales operation at 27 Chevening Road, Chipstead, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 2RZ (telephone 01732 463866). The company supplies speciality polyolefin and engineering compounds across a range of industries where material specification is exacting. As well as compounds it also produces concentrates and masterbatches.
Among its products are an impact modifier for engineering plastics; a TPE with a Shore A hardness range of 0 - 70; TPE foams; reactive compound for EMI/RFI shielding; flame retardants; hydrocarbon blowing agents; and antimicrobial concentrates.
PCA has recently added a Coperion Megacompounder, increasing capacity for TPEs and impact modifiers by around 9,000 tonnes.
DuPont has set up a business unit to supply custom formulated liquid colorants and fine particle dispersions from initial development to continuing manufacture. Prior to this the company made liquid colorants and dispersion for internal use for products supplied to the automotive and industrial paint, digital ink, fibres and polymers markets.
The trigger for the setting up of DuPont Specialty Colorants & Additives - which operates as part of DuPont Coatings & Color Technologies - was the acquisition of the Herberts coatings business which brought additional capabilities in research and development, engineering and manufacturing.
Energy tax: new relief or just political posturing? July 9, 2003
The British Plastics Federation and a number of other like-minded organisations are in consultation with the Customs & Excise to seek a reduction in the Climate Change Levy. The discussions are the result of an approach by Customs & Excise to see whether there is a way of widening the criteria which limit the eligibility of industries for a rebate because they are heavy energy users and so would pay a particularly high level of tax.
The levy has been strongly criticised since before its inception because it places an unfair burden on manufacturing companies. This is particularly so because the way it is implemented in the UK favours some industries over other competing industries, and in the UK overall industry is unfairly treated in comparison with the taxation in other countries.
The letter from the Customs & Excise referred to finding alternative criteria 'which would enable agreements to be extended to other energy-intensive sectors subject to international competition' - in other words extending the rebate system to industries which are being put at a disadvantage when competing with foreign manufacturers who do not carry the same tax burden. But the BPF is playing down any suggestion of a breakthrough. Director general Peter Davis commented: 'I do not wish to get hopes up in our industry. This exercise is happening because ministers and MPs continue to receive many complaints about the CCL'.
The letter refers three times to effects on 'international competitiveness', a factor which the BPF and the other organisations have submitted a number of times should be a key test for application of the CCL - and has in theory been a consideration in the terms of the CCL from the start.
The convoluted targeting of the CCL in the UK is partly because of the use of the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations under which some energy-intensive industries are legally committed to implementing energy-saving measures, and so get relief on the CCL, while other energy-intensive industries which may also be implementing energy-saving measures but have not entered a legally binding commitment, do not. So, for instance, plastics packaging processors do not get a CCL rebate while glass and metal packaging producers have their levy cut by 80 per cent.
Europe-wide, no other country uses the PPC regulations as a criterion, and comparable energy-related taxes are applied more leniently, and do not differentiate between different categories of manufacturing and industry.
As an example of the severity of the CCL, the BPF quotes: a major plastics packaging and moulding firm paying £1·1 million a year; a pipe extruder paying £123,000; an EPS packager paying £74,000; and a small moulder paying £65,000.
Bimodal PE/PP process gets investment backing July 9, 2003
Borealis is backing its Borstar bimodal polyethylene and polypropylene technology with a Eur 200 million investment in 440,000 tonnes of production capacity. The money will be spent at Schwechat in Austria, where a 350,000 tonnes PE plant will be built and the existing PP plant will be expanded by 90,000 tonnes, bringing total polyolefin capacity at the site to around 1 million tonnes. World-wide Borstar capacity will reach 1·75 million tonnes.
The new plants will come on stream in 2005, when two old LDPE lines and a HDPE line will be phased out, giving an overall capacity increase of around 150,000 tonnes of polyethylene.
The expansion of the Schwechat site, near Vienna, is closely linked to the expansion of the nearby cracker run by OMV, a 25 per cent shareholder in Borealis and the major supplier of olefins to Borealis' polyolefins plants in Austria and Germany.
New distribution arrangements for engineering plastics July 9, 2003
Rhodia has appointed Ashland to distribute its Technyl nylons across Europe, while PolyOne is aiming to improve its Irish penetration by appointing Total Polymer Solutions to handle some of its products.
The Rhodia/Ashland tie up ends the agreement with GE Polymerland set up three years ago - at least in Europe. Elsewhere GE Polymerland remains Rhodia's distributor.
PolyOne's appointment of Total Polymer Solutions is for the distribution of its engineered materials, PVC and colour and additive masterbatches.
Antimony-based fire retardants from Produits Chimique de Lucette are now available exclusively in the UK and Ireland from Chance & Hunt of Runcorn. The range includes powder and masterbatch products under the Triox and Polytriox brand names.
Following the transfer of Vantico into the control of Huntsman, the company has been renamed Huntsman Advanced Materials and is being managed as part of Huntsman's Polyurethanes and Specialities Division.
Boddington bought by private equity company July 9, 2003
Tonbridge-based injection moulder W H Boddington has been sold by its parent Helix Industries as part of a group of companies being disposed of as non-core businesses. The five companies, with activities in curtain and blind accessories; pneumatic products; industrial sacks; hydraulic and transmission components; and Boddington's speciality of PVC mouldings for the roofing market, have been bought by private equity management company Rubicon Partners.
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