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PAL Group buys Rustin Allen production June 10, 2004
The assets of North London-based extruder Rustin Allen, which was in receivership, have been bought by PAL Group of the West Midlands, effective from May 24. The company will move production from the Edgware site to its own plant at Wednesbury in the West Midlands.
Rustin Allen made stock profiles for use in shop fitting, point of sale, partitioning, furniture and general industrial applications in flexible and rigid materials, including coextrusions.
PAL Group includes PAL Extrusions, which was RA Extrusions before the formation of the PAL Group in 1994, and which operates from the 46,000 sq ft Wednesbury site. PAL Extrusions makes a range of industrial profiles. Other companies in the PAL Group have complementary operations in window frames, window sealing, adhesive tapes and building profiles.
Dow Chemical is to increase European prices for its Questra syndiotactic polystyrene, and also for latex used in the paper, carpet, paint, construction and adhesives industries. Questra goes up by Eur 150/tonne on July 1. Dow says its margins on Questra are at an all-time low.
At the same time the price of all grades of latex will increase by 12 - 18 per cent.
MBO takes over PolyOne rubber compounder in Germany June 10, 2004
A management team has bought the Melos rubber granulate compounder based at Melle in Germany from PolyOne. Melos is primarily involved in EPDM granulates for the artificial surfacing market, which includes running tracks, sports fields, playgrounds and safety flooring systems. The business, which PolyOne acquired in 1998, had 2003 sales of approximately $35 million.
PolyOne is retaining a presence on the Melle site for the manufacture of low-smoke and flame, zero halogen wire and cable insulation compounds. PolyOne invested in the LSFOH production facility following the Melos acquisition and has recently installed new LSFOH equipment there. It has also recently opened an LSFOH compound development laboratory in Assesse, Belgium.
Congleton PP reclaim plant to close June 10, 2004
The Synbra Polymers plant at Congleton is closing at the end of July and its operations are being transferred to AKG Polymers at Vroomshoop in the Netherlands.
Synbra Polymers is owned by the Synbra Group, also based in the Netherlands, which is a vertically integrated company, making expandable polystyrene and converting it for products in construction and packaging. The Congleton plant operates a polypropylene, and to a lesser extent polystyrene, recycling business making compounds for film and injection moulding. Synbra sees the recycling business as no longer related to its core business and so is selling it to AKG Polymers which makes PP compounds for media packaging, horticulture, building and construction, and the automotive industry. AKG is owned by the Aufderhaar Kunststof Groep. The polystyrene activities of Synbra Polymers will be transferred to Synbra Technology in Etten-Leur, The Netherlands.
With this acquisition, AKG Polymers will increase its capacity to 28,000 tonnes making it one of the leading European polypropylene reprocessors.
Dow to expand PO capacity June 10, 2004
The capacity of the Dow Chemical propylene oxide plant at Stade in Germany is to be increased 7 per cent to 590,000 tonnes through greater efficiencies and process improvements. Dow has two other PO plants in the USA and one in Brazil, with the 1·86 million total capacity making it the world's biggest PO producer.
Dow to join hands in Kuwait and shut Canadian plant June 2, 2004
Dow Chemical Company is joining forces with Petrochemical Industries Company of Kuwait in two petrochemical joint ventures. One of these, Equipolymers, will make purified teraphthalic acid and PET, the other, MEGlobal, will make monoethylene glycol and diethylene glycol.
The two companies are already working together to build an ethylene and derivatives complex and an ethylbenzene/styrene unit in Shuaiba, Kuwait. These projects continue the relationship in Equate Petrochemical Company between PIC and Union Carbide Corporation, which is now part of Dow.
The new joint ventures at present do not involve the building of new plants. Instead, to form Equipolymers Dow will sell to PIC a 50 per cent interest in its PET/PTA business which includes assets in Germany and Italy (One of which is to receive substantial European Union funds for expansion) while to form MEGlobal, Dow will sell to PIC a 50 per cent interest in its Canadian ethylene glycol assets. MEGlobal will purchase ethylene from Dow and will also market the excess EG produced in Dow's plants in the United States and Europe, and may also market the EG produced by Dow and PIC affiliates. Dow is to close its epoxy plant in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada where it makes solid epoxy resins and Derakane epoxy vinyl ester resins on August 1. The plant currently supplies customers in North America and Asia Pacific. Due to 'changing global market dynamics', its output of around 3,500 tonnes of solid epoxy resins and 2,000 tonnes of Derakane is below capacity.
Supply of solid epoxy resins to North American customers will be taken up by two other US plants, while the growing demand in Asia Pacific will be met from the year-old converted epoxy resins unit in China.
DuPont starts up Chinese brush filament JV June 2, 2004
DuPont and Wuxi Xingda Nylon Co have started up their brush filament joint venture scheduled for the end of last year.
The company has three global operations, DuPont Xingda Filaments in China; DuPont Filaments- Europe in The Netherlands; and DuPont Filaments-Americas in the USA
First-half June price rises will affect engineering plastics and TPE compounds from PolyOne and thermoplastic polyurethanes from Dow.
PolyOne will raise prices for Bergamid PA6 and PA66, Bergadur PBT, Petal PET and OnFlex-S and Bergaflex TPE-S compounds by between Eur 100 and Eur 200/tonne depending on the product type on June 15.
Dow will raise the prices of its Pellethane TPU elastomers by Eur 300/tonne and Isoplast engineering TPUs by Eur 400/tonne on June 10.
Perlos makes Hungarian plant its biggest June 2, 2004
Finnish telecoms, electronics and pharmaceutical injection moulder Perlos is investing around Eur 15 million to expand its Komárom plant in Hungary. A 9,000 m² extension will bring the plant up to 21,500 m², making it the company's largest plant. The investment also includes the construction of a new painting line.
Perlos has bought 50,000 m² of land at the site. Construction starts in the summer, and the new capacity is expected to go into production during the first quarter of 2005.
Hungary is an important area for Perlos, because it delivers mechanical modules from there to many of its global customers, both in the telecommunications and automotive industries. Hungary is also important for new business - the electronics industry, for example, has a strong presence in Central Europe.
Perlos has operations in Brazil, China, Finland, Hungary, Singapore, Sweden, the UK and the USA. Its net sales in 2003 were Eur 452·3 million and the company employed 4,657 people.
Chief exec changes at PIFA June 2, 2004
New chief executive of the Packaging and Industrial Films Association is David Tyson, who takes over from Jim Pugh when he retires on October 1. He has worked in the flexible packaging industry for 40 years and has been chairman of PIFA and sectoral president of PlastEurofilm. He will be taking early retirement from his position of market director at Amcor.
Eastman sells off part of its CASPI business June 2, 2004
Threats last year by Eastman to get rid of non-performing businesses in its coatings, adhesives, specialty polymers and inks (CASPI) operations have brought the sale of some operations to private investment firm Apollo Management.
The businesses and product lines included in the divestiture are: acrylate ester monomers, composites (unsaturated polyester resins), inks and graphics arts raw materials, liquid resins, powder resins and textile chemicals, employing 2,100 people at sites in the USA, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Czech Republic and China.
The deal is worth $215 million and should be complete by the end of July 2004.
Engel plans Chinese factory June 2, 2004
Engel is planning to build an injection moulding machine factory in China to pair with its Korean plant to build its full range of machines.
The Austrian manufacturer - the biggest single brand manufacturer in the world - aims to cover its production in a region with three factories - one making small to medium sized machines, one making big machines, and the third making automation systems. In Europe it has four plants in Austria and one in Germany; in North America it has two plants in Canada and one in the USA; but in Asia so far it only has one, at Pyontaek in Korea where it makes machines up to 220 tonnes. The next step will be to build a big machine factory in Asia, and China offers the greatest potential for growth in the region.
Asian growth has been one of the highlights of Engel's past year. The Korean factory built 346 machines, 60 per cent more than in the previous year. This year's budget is for 440 machines and the plant should reach its capacity of 550 machines next year.
The North American market, by contrast, has 'little to offer the manufacturer and/or supplier of injection moulding machines' according to Engel Holding chairman Dr Peter Neumann. Figures from the Society of the Plastics Industry show that new machine sales in 2003 fell further to 3,290 from 3,536 in 2002. The bottom fell out of the market in 2001 when only 3,585 machines were sold compared to the 6,420 in the previous year. Against this background Engel increased its sales last year from 312 to 359 machines, but at lower turnover, down from $119·7 million to $109·5 million. Despite predicting that business in new machines 'will remain stagnant for some time to come' Engel 'plans to stay put in North America and steadily hold the ground there'.
In Europe Engel increased sales by around 16 per cent last year to Eur 454·1 million, mostly through sales of machines up to 400 tonnes. Total output of machines in 2003/2004 reached 2,067.
Turnover in 2004/2005 is expected to increase around 4·5 per cent to Eur 475 million, and the company says that orders in the year to date back this forecast.
Consolidated across the group, Engel's 2003/2004 turnover rose 13 per cent on the previous year to Eur 538·2 million from sales of 300 more machines at 2,700.
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Dow is to close its epoxy plant in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada where it makes solid epoxy resins and Derakane epoxy vinyl ester resins on August 1. The plant currently supplies customers in North America and Asia Pacific. Due to 'changing global market dynamics', its output of around 3,500 tonnes of solid epoxy resins and 2,000 tonnes of Derakane is below capacity.