PRA September 2013 Issue

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A S l A ’ S L E A D l N G m aga z l ne f o r t h e p las t l c s and r u b b e r l nd u s t r y

業界 新 聞 柔軟 包 裝 : 迎合消費者的增長需求

In this issue

Volume 28, No 200

publlshed slnce 1985

A S l A’ S L E A D l N G m aga z l ne f o r the plastlcs and rubber lndustry

Features 焦 點 內 容

Publisher Arthur Schavemaker Tel: +31 547 275005 Email: arthur@kenter.nl

20 柔軟包裝:迎合消費者的增長需求 22 Italian Machinery & Technology Latest machines and industrial solutions from Italian firms take centre stage at the upcoming K2013 in October

26 Thermoplastic Elastomers TPE’s versatility upstages plastics and rubber materials in various applications, while the Asia Pacific region is dominating the global market

29 Building & Construction Urbanisation and population growth are propelling the sector industry in Asia

31 Flexible Packaging The industry is picking up innovative cues from consumers seeking convenience, light weight and aesthetics in packaging

Editorial/Production Coordinator Angelica Buan Email: gel@plasticsandrubberasia.com Chinese Editor Koh Bee Ling Circulation Abril Castro Email: abril@taramedia.com.my Admin & Finance Manager Tean Arul Email: tean@taramedia.com.my

Regulars 概 要

Singapore Office Contact: Anthony Chan Tel: +65 63457368 Email: acesap@gmail.com

4 Industry News

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8 Materials News

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10 Machinery News

is published 8 times a year in Mandarin and English by Kenter & Co Publishers’ Representatives BV.

16 業界新聞

Supplements 副 刊 Injection moulding machine makers are rolling up their sleeves to introduce newer technology that is faster and more efficient at the K2013 The Philippines is on the road to honing workers’ skills and adopting planting/tapping techniques to boost output

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Italian firms, like Bandera, WM Wrapping, Macchi and Piovan, are all geared up to showcase their technologies at the upcoming K2013 show in Düsseldorf, Germany, from 16-23 October

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Associate Publisher/Editor Tej Fernandez Tel: +60 3 4260 4575 Email: tej@plasticsandrubberasia.com

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Industry News

M&As/Joint ventures • Swiss speciality chemicals company Clariant and Tasnee, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Saudi Arabia, are entering into an agreement to establish a masterbatches joint venture in Saudi Arabia. Tasnee will acquire a 40% stake in Clariant’s masterbatches operations in the country.

• Clariant is also teaming up with CB&I’s Lummus Novolen Technology business unit to jointly invest about CHF65 million in a new PP catalyst production line at Clariant’s catalyst production hub in the US. The plant is expected to be on stream in 2015. When successful, existing and future Lummus Novolen licensees and other PP producers will be supplied with the new catalyst developed by a new Ziegler-Natta PP catalyst production line. The PP ZieglerNatta catalyst market is expected to continue growing at more than 5% in the next five years.

• UK-headquartered speciality chemicals business Croda International acquisition of a 65% equity interest in Sipo Chemical, a non-listed natural speciality chemicals manufacturer based

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in Mianyang City, China, for £38.2 million has been approved.

Sichuan Forever Holding will retain a 35% equity interest in Sipo.

location was specified it is expected that it will be in Lake Charles, based on Sasol’s plans to build an ethane cracker to produce ethylene on the site.

• US materials firm DuPont says it is looking at selling its Performance Chemicals segment, in line with its transformation to a higher growth. The segment includes Titanium Technologies and Chemicals & Fluoroproducts businesses, which generated total sales of US$7.2 billion in 2012.

This follows DuPont’s sale of its Performance Coatings business earlier this year and the acquisition of Danisco in 2011.

• US-based supplier of rigid packaging Silgan Holdings is purchasing Portola Packaging, a manufacturer of plastic closures, for US$266 million. Portola, with sales of US$200 million in 2012, operates eight facilities in the US and Europe.

• US-based medical parts supplier PhillipsMedisize is acquiring Adval Tech Group’s two manufacturing operations in Suzhou, China, and Queretaro, Mexico. Also, as part of the acquisition, Phillips-Medisize will be expanding its drug delivery development engineering capabilities.

• South African-based energy and chemical company Sasol and UK-headquartered Ineos’s US subsidiary are setting up a joint venture to manufacture 470,000 tonnes/ year of bimodal high density polyethylene (HDPE) using Ineos Technologies’s Innovene S process.

The plant is expected to start up at the end of 2015. Though no

• Dutch distributor of speciality chemicals IMCD Group has acquired Singaporebased Paceco Industrial Supplies, a distributor for engineering and speciality plastics.

Established in 1985, Paceco is active in Singapore, China and Malaysia and offers a wide range of engineering and speciality materials.

With a turnover of EUR1.4 billion, IMCD operates in 39 countries.

• France-headquartered Axson has acquired CASS Polymers of the US, strengthening its position in high performance polymer formulations for the tooling, prototyping, structural adhesive and composite markets.

• US-based release agent supplier ChemTrend has acquired Zyvax, a supplier of release systems for the composites industry.

• Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery

and its Chinese subsidiary Demag Plastics Machinery (DPG) in Ningbo are planning to expand production capacity in China from 650 to 1,000 injection moulding machines/ year, through an investment of EUR7 million. DPG is currently producing the Systec C machine series in Ningbo with a clamping force ranging from 50-1,000 tonnes. In the future, further machine series from the Sumitomo (SHI) Demag product range will be produced in China. In addition, the firm expects to increase its exports of 25%. Besides the local market, DPG also exports the machinery to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

The expansion of production capacity allows the company to meet the increased demand in China and other markets and pave the way for further increase in its market share, according to Stephan Greif, CEO of Demag Ningbo, who has been managing the Ningbo site since 2005. DPG has been manufacturing machines for the Chinese and other Asian markets since 1998. DPG located to a new plant in 2007, after having relocated to a larger factory premises with 11,000 m production area after achieving complete capacity utilisation.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Plant/Office set ups • US-based Eastman Chemical will increase Tritan copolyester capacity at its Kingsport facility in the US from 60,000 tonnes to 76,000 tonnes by mid-2014.

• German chemicals firm BASF is building a 100,000 tonne/ year-Ultramid nylon polymerisation plant in Shanghai, China, to start up in 2015.

BASF operates other polymerisation plants in Germany, Belgium, US and Brazil.

• Ineos Oligomers has doubled the size of its Isoamlyene (IA) unit at the Ineos site in Cologne, Germany.

Isoamylene is used as a raw material in a wide range of speciality markets including polymer antioxidants and hydrocarbon resins.

• Swiss speciality chemicals firm Clariant is expanding by 50% its Azo pigments and pigment preparations plants in Roha, India. Clariant is in the process of doubling its marketing and sales organisation in India, China and Indonesia throughout 2013.

• Germany-based Evonik and South African extruded plastics maker Ampaglas Plastics’s joint venture company Evonik Acrylics Africa (EAA) has opened an extrusion plant in South Africa to produce Plexiglas sheets.

• Lubrizol Additives has opened a 400,000 sq m world-class additives facility in Zhuhai, China. The plant will offer select additive component manufacturing as well as additive package blending. It also includes R&D for field testing in local vehicles under local conditions in China.

• Japanese firm Toho Tenax, a part of the Teijin Group’s carbon fibres and composites business, has set up a subsidiary in Singapore to strengthen the group’s business operations in India and the ASEAN region, where the demand for carbon fibre is expected to increase rapidly.

Having absorbed the existing local office that was established in 2010 to conduct research to identify demand and provide customer services in India, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Oceania, the new company will serve as Toho Tenax’s base in the region.

• US-headquartered DuPont has set up an application development centre, at the DuPont Knowledge Centre, in Hyderabad, India.

It will focus on integrating advanced material science with other scientific disciplines for the automotive industry, enabling solutions for light-weighting and engine performance. The centre houses thermoplastic and elastomer processing and testing equipment and leverages existing analytic equipment shared with several DuPont science disciplines.

• Japanese injection moulding machine maker Nissei Plastic Industrial has established a Dongguan branch in Guangdong, China, to expand its sales in the country. The Dongguan branch is the second branch opened

by Nissei’s overseas-affiliated company that is headquartered in Shanghai. The branch will be the fifth (second as a branch office after opening the Taicang branch) operated by Nissei Plastic.

Industry News 6

Increased life expectancy factors in medical polymers growth Home healthcare for an increasing ageing population will see sales of medical disposables, mostly made from polymers, growing owing, according to Transparency Market Research’s latest released report on medical plastics.

Global demand for medical plastics will expand by 5.6%/ year from 2012-2018 with revenue to grow even faster, expanding by 8.4%/year over the same time frame, driven mainly by an ageing population. The report says that life expectancy is expected to increase and by 2050, over 16% of the global population will be over 65 years of age.

While in 2011, the market was valued at US$8.4 billion, with 4,391 kilotonnes of demand, it is forecast to hit 6,411.7 kilotonnes in 2018. A majority of the plastics used will be for disposable devices, which will see their market expand in correlation with the ageing population.

Another trend in the market will be the growth of biodegradable plastics, which are also expected to be a key feature responsible for the development of medical plastics. In light of this, and due to the relatively weak penetration today, biodegradable plastics are expected to witness exponential growth SEPTEMBER 2013

over the forecast period, according to the report.

Medical polymers are used in applications such as medical devices and equipment, packaging, cardiology stents and tissue engineering. Medical devices and equipment was the most dominant application segment in 2011, accounting for nearly 50% of the global volume.

Medical packaging was the second largest application segment and is expected to witness the fastest growth over the forecast period owing to substitution of conventional materials such as glass by PVC, PP and engineering thermoplastics.

The report also said that fibres and resins dominated the medical polymers market, accounting for more than 85% of global consumption in 2011. PVC and PP were the highest consumed resins, accounting for more than 55% of sales in 2011.

However, engineering thermoplastics, including PC and ABS, are expected to have the fastest growth, expanding at a CAGR of more than 8% from 2012-2018. Elastomers including SBC, TPU, TPO, liquid silicone rubber, and TPV, were the second largest consumed product segment for the market, with consumption over 550 kilotonnes in 2011.

German machine orders up According to the German VDMA plastics and rubber machinery association, orders for German machinery rose by 14% in the second quarter of 2013. “Although the first half year as a whole still shows a 6% decline,” said Ulrich Reifenhäuser, the Association’s Chairman, “the industry is pleased to report that in the last three months incoming orders have picked up again after a year of negative growth.” The industry’s sales in the first half of 2013 matched the previous year’s level of 6%.

“The period from January to May 2013 also saw the industry’s

foreign deliveries return to the previous year’s level. The negative rates eased steadily as the year progressed. From March to May foreign deliveries rose by 9.7%,” explained Thorsten Kühmann, the Association’s Managing Director. “The welcome upward trend in exports to Russia and the US continued, with China, India and Turkey also showing substantial rates of growth in the same period,” he added.

However, based on the figures up to and including April, the Association’s recent prediction still pointed to a slight decline in sales of 1% for 2013.

Europe recycled more PET bottles in 2012 The European PET Container Recycling association Petcore says that PET was the largest plastic material recycled in Europe last year, with the equivalent of more than 60 million bottles recycled. According to its Chairman Roberto Bertaggia, “Despite the poor economic situation in the European region, the consumption of PET bottles is still showing clear trends of penetration into new market segments through innovative packaging and the recognised capability of PET to be recycled.

From a sustainability perspective, our industry is thrilled to have achieved an overall collection

rate in 2012 of more than 52% of all postconsumer PET bottles available in the region.”

The association pointed out that with the exception of two members, all EU member states managed to achieve PET recycling rates above the Packaging & Packaging Waste Directive target of 22.5% for plastics.

The overall European collection of PET bottles increased to 1.68 million tonnes, up by 5.6% compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, the fibres market was still the single largest endmarket for recycled PET in 2012, but the sheet and bottle market is expected to show strong growth in the future.

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GREEN Materials News

“Green” Moments More applications are coming up in the market utilising biobased materials. Meanwhile, Cereplast believes that market growth over the next 25 years will push the bioplastics sector further.

Positive influences affecting market growth Cereplast, a US manufacturer of proprietary biobased, compostable and sustainable bioplastics, says that in 2012, the total addressable market for conventional plastics was US$1 trillion. Cereplast believes that the bioplastics market will represent 30% of the overall plastics industry within the next 25 years as a result of the need to find alternative feedstock to replace limited and cost-increasing fossil resources. Of this US$1 trillion, the bioplastics industry is expected to represent US$10 billion by the year 2020. Although a significant percentage of that market will likely be controlled by the large chemical companies, as a pioneer in the bioplastics space with a strong intellectual property portfolio, Cereplast says its goal is to capture around US$300 million of the marketplace by 2020.

Cereplast is focused on two key bioplastic market segments: compostable bioplastics and biobased bioplastics. Its compostable resins are biodegradable by industrial composting, meeting the US and European standards for compostability; They will biodegrade within 180 days when disposed of in an industrial composting facility. The main market driver for compostable grades globally is legislation that bans the use of conventional plastics for single-use disposable items such as plastic bags. It is anticipated that this type of legislation will continue to increase around the world in the coming years as countries and local municipalities alike try to tackle the inherent problems associated with the use of conventional plastics in respective areas.

Meanwhile, Cereplast says the market drivers for biobased grades are a desire to reduce dependence on fossil resources such as petroleum, as evidenced by the USDA Biobased Preferred programme in the US, as well as effort by companies to produce more sustainable products that provide lower carbon footprint compared to products made with conventional plastics.

Biodegradable/biobased products on the rise Italian firms API (supplier of thermoplastics) and Sacmi (compression machine maker for caps) have produced a 100% biodegradable mineral water bottle cap from API’s Apinat Bio compound. Apinat has also been used in industries as varied as footwear, agriculture and packaging. API says the unique rheology and behaviour of Apinat has been able to take full advantage of the cap making compression technology provided by Sacmi.

In the August issue of PRA, it was mentioned that Tetra Pak also launched a biobased version of its LightCap 30, which uses HDPE made from sugar cane. Norwegian dairy

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API/Sacmi have introduced biobased caps

producer TINE is the first brand in Europe to use these biobased caps.

Meanwhile, France-based Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics has become the first manufacturer to introduce a biobased, phthalate-free product for use in laboratory applications. The next-generation Tygon S3 tubing is DEHP and phthalate-free. Made from a biobased plasticiser, the product’s new sustainable formulations are biodegradable and deliver improved pump life than the original formulations. The product is manufactured in the US, France and China.

Saint-Gobain has also launched Tygon S3 nonDEHP, phthalate-free micro-bore AutoAnalysis Tubing for dispensing and life-science applications. Tygon S3 formulations are compliant with global regulations and are manufactured in Saint-Gobain’s ISO certified facilities.

In the Netherlands, DSM says that producers of aluminium window systems can make more sustainable products by using insulating profiles made from its EcoPaXX polyamide 410, a polymer with a biobased content of 70%, derived from the castor plant (Ricinus Communis).

Aluminium frames incorporate insulating profiles to provide a thermal break between the profiles that eventually become part of the inside and outside of a building respectively. The thermal breaks also contribute to the mechanical integrity of the windows, and so need to be made in high performance materials, currently still mainly PA66. These highly engineered thermal breaks make an important contribution to the energy efficiency of the building, since buildings now account for over

Green Materials News 40% of the world's energy consumption and are also responsible for the majority of CO2 emissions, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The Dutch firm says that EcoPaXX has numerous advantages over other engineering plastics in insulating profiles, such as its high melting point of 250°C that enables it to pass through the powder coating process in a fully assembled aluminum frame, facilitating the assembly process. It also offers hydrolysis and chemical resistance and a lower moisture absorption than PA66. Window profiles incorporating EcoPaXX can be designed to conform to requirements laid down in EN14024 standard, which sets requirements for mechanical performance of metal profiles with thermal barrier.

DSM says that producers of aluminium window systems can make more sustainable products by using insulating profiles made from its EcoPaXX polyamide

Ford expands rice hull and recycled material use Elsewhere, in the US, rice hulls are the latest sustainable material used in vehicle maker Ford’s F-150 pick-up truck, with the hulls reinforcing plastic used in an electrical harness in 2014 F-150. The firm says it will need 204 tonnes of hulls in the first year and will be sourced from farms in Arkansas and will replace a talc-based reinforcement in a PP composite made by automotive supplier RheTech.

Other eco-friendly materials in F-Series trucks, which rack up sales of 650,000/year, are soybeans (for seat cushions, seat back and head restraints) and postindustrial recycled cotton – one 2014 Ford F-150 truck uses the equivalent of about ten pairs of jeans, 26 bath towels or 31 T-shirts as carpet insulation or sound absorber.

Some F-150 trucks have cylinder head covers made with EcoLon, a nylon resin produced from 100% post-consumer recycled carpet.

A thermoplastic material made from recycled tyres and post-consumer recycled PP is used to make shields and

Ford’s best selling pick-up truck is incorporating more sustainable materials

some underbody covers on F-150, while recycled plastic soda pop and water bottles are turned into a lightweight fibre to construct F-150 wheel liners and shields. The parts are significantly lighter than traditional injection moulded parts and lead to a quieter ride.

Eco-friendly materials also complement the fuel efficient F-Series powertrains, including an available 3.5-l EcoBoost engine, which improves fuel economy up to 20% and reduces CO2 emissions up to 15% compared to similarly capable V8 engines.

New technologies drive the sector Meanwhile, also in the US, researchers are using UV light to convert animal fats, such as lard, and vegetable oils, including waste oil, into olefins for use in the production of plastics. Maria Muro-Small and Douglas Neckers say that fats undergo transesterification with primary alcohols rendering the corresponding esters and following irradiation, produce the olefins. The process creates a series of byproducts including glycerol that can be transformed via catalytic processes into acrylic acids and other raw materials for the plastics industry. The researchers say that the additional experiments are in progress (the study was published in the ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering journal).

US chemical firm Invista and Portugal-based computational biology company SilicoLife are collaborating to develop new technologies to enable bio-derived processes for the production of industrial chemicals like butadiene.

The two companies are collaborating in order to further co-develop their technology platforms. The agreement will leverage Invista’s capabilities in biotechnology and catalysis, and knowledge of the chemicals industry, and SilicoLife’s in silico (performed on computer or via computer simulation) metabolic engineering and rational synthetic biology capabilities for the development of new biobased routes to industrial chemicals.

SilicoLife offers metabolic engineering solutions, builds computational models of microbial cells and develops proprietary algorithms to find the most efficient pathways between the raw material and the end-product.

SEPTEMBER 2013

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Machinery News

Extrusion machines to set high standards at the K2013 While some extrusion machinery makers are keeping their new technology under wraps, waiting to showcase at the K2013, others are keen to share their new developments, which focus on efficiency and materials savings.

Film, cast and sheet lines Following its launch of a low cost highly standardised dsX flex-pack extrusion coating line for the Eastern Europe and Asian markets at Chinaplas, US-based Davis Standard will show a compact in-line pre-stretch cast film line. The 2-m wide dsX stretch line enables the processing of thinner films of 6 microns, at higher speeds of 1,000 m/minute. It has a lead time of six months and is available in both five and seven-layer options.

Amongst the equipment Brückner will introduce is the new generation LISIM stretching line for thinner films of between 0.5-75 microns, including polyamide packaging films or ultrathin BOPP and BOPET capacitor films Davis-Standard's new dsX flex-pack extrusion coating line provides converters and printers with a pre-engineered system and is, available in two layouts

Meanwhile, Austria’s SML will showcase its modular SmartCast sheet line. The 3-m wide line in a 6-up configuration offers a choice of four preconfigured extrusion units, with outputs ranging from 1,700-2,400 kg/ hour, and in five or seven layers. SML has also upgraded the chill-roll unit by adding more functions, minimising vibration and making it easier to operate. Rounding up is the newly developed W4000-4S winder that makes machine and jumbo rolls on 3-in. cores and hand rolls on 2-in. cores.

It offers both coreless and thin-core technology and has an optional edge-encapsulation system with speeds of up to 750 m/minute.

US firm Welex will display its new Converge CTS Sheet Line, which uses conical twin-screw extrusion technology as opposed to the more typical parallel designs offered by other suppliers. The line is for undried PET and PLA sheet.

German firm KraussMaffei Berstorff has developed a pilot/laboratory line for foamed sheet, to provide an economical line for testing new processes. It comprises a modular twin-screw ZE 40 UTXi Modular for material melting and mixing and a KE 90 single-screw extruder for melt cooling.

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SEPTEMBER 2013

In BOPP processing, Germany-based Brückner Maschinenbau will introduce faster lines, with upgraded machine and transverse-direction orientation (MDO/ TDO). A new MDO has automatically adjustable contact rolls for more stable production at high speeds while the TDO features a new geometry for more efficient power transmission.

In BOPET film production, Brückner is also upping the ante by boosting line speeds. Web-pinning to the chill roll is optimised by a new automatic control system that allows the PET film to run at high speeds without pinningagent additives. The MDO has what is said to be a “twogap stretching”, fitted with adjustments for a closed power flow. In the TDO, a new low-vibration transport system ensures optimal stability at high speed and longer life span.

Vienna-based Battenfeld-Cincinnati will display its Multi-Touch sheet roll stack. While conventional film and sheet cooling units consist of three-roll stacks, the Multi-Touch has a larger number of roll nips and achieves reliable cooling of the film on both sides. The new roll stack is equipped with a two-roll roll stack for preliminary calibration and three, five or seven rolls for final calibration.

The first rolls come with a larger diameter to minimise deflection, followed by smaller rolls, thus producing film with low tension and perfect flatness, says the firm.

TRENDSETTERS 5 layer polyolefin-dedicated (POD) technology was introduced

by Macchi in 2001 to foster film production economies and quality enhancement by expanding the product design option.

Today that break-through concept is still well alive. Together with the synergistic developments made possible by the new resins offering unprecedented possibilities of downgauging, output rates and product performances for new business opportunities across the flexible packaging value chain.

17C20 Hall 17

MACCHI SPA Via Papa Paolo VI, 5 - Venegono Inferiore - Va - Italy Tel +39 0331 827717 - macchi@macchi.it www.macchi.it

Machinery News Battenfeld's Multi-Touch roll stack is said to offer both energy and material savings

Reifenh채user-Kiefel's Evolution Ultra Flat is touted to yield flatter blown film

German firm Reifenh채user will introduce the patentpending Mirex MT polishing stack that allows for automatic digital nip adjustment, even during production runs, without the need for manual, trial-and-error nip adjustments that require the line to be stopped. With no hydraulics, the Mirex MT is suited for clean rooms. It is available in three designs: Smart (for PS/PP processing with an output of up to 1,200 kg), Standard (output of up to 3,000 kg) and High Quality.

Reifenh채user will introduce its patent-pending Mirex MT polishing stack for automatic digital nip adjustment

In blown film, Reifenh채user-Kiefel Extrusion will display the Evolution Ultra Flat unit, a new film-flattening device that is installed between the haul-off nip-roll assembly and turner-bar system, where stretching and flattening can take place easily because the film is still warm. The amount of stretch can be adjusted by the heating and cooling rolls. Thus, producers are able to adapt the process to the individual requirements of the different end products and counteract sagging of the web. The result is faster and easier conversion at high speed and less waste.

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SEPTEMBER 2013

New dies for barrier lines Canadian supplier Macro Engineering & Technology will introduce a coextrusion die for up to 11-layer barrier films, to produce structures using PA (Nylon), EVOH, PETG and PVdC. The FlatPack die features round flow channels throughout, streamlines the flow of polymer to optimise residence time distribution and shorten residence time, compared to previous Macro dies. This reduced residence time is said to eliminate interfacial instability making the die more versatile for a wider range of film structures. The die also features shortened purging times, allowing processors to perform faster product changeovers with reduced scrap produced.

The FlatPack also gives processors the added flexibility to allow major film structure adjustments by swapping layers, such as reconfiguring a A/B/C/D/E structure to A/C/D/B/E. Other features are a short height and up to 760 mm die diameter.

Having revamped its extrusion die department, Macro has refocused its blown film die offering and will launch the new FlatPack die. Shown here is a threelayer version

Machinery News Also shown at Macro’s booth will be a nine-layer CenterPack coextrusion die, which Macro recently upgraded to improve processing versatility and reduce residence time.

US firm Cloeren will show its patent-pending moebius-manifold die for flat film and sheet. It is available in three versions: single-layer, coextrusion and with Cloeren’s patented IDS (Internal Deckle System).

A varying aspect ratio is used, with the initial larger teardrop cross-section, which is located at the centreline, transitioning to a smaller cross-section along the width to the manifold end. It is, thus, able to maintain a constant manifold length by varying the transition angle of the manifold and in turn minimises chamshell deflection.

Faster speed for extruders For packaging applications, Battenfeld-Cincinnati’s latest high-speed extruder is capable of a speed up to 1,500 rpm. With a screw diameter of 75 mm and a 40 D processing length, it requires up to 25% less energy compared to a conventional extruder. It also ensures optimal melt for PS, PET, PP and EVA and reaches outputs of up to 2,000 kg/hour.

Battenfeld-Cincinnati has also developed a new antiwear concept for planetary roller extruders, which are being used for applications such as calender feeding and pelletising. With the new L+ planetary spindles, uptime can be increased by up to 50%, which also leads to a reduction in steel consumption and workloads.

For PET applications, Battenfeld-Cincinnati will showcase its specialised single-screw extruder with an integrated compounding section for outputs between 500-1,000 kg/hour. The firm says up to 16% of energy costs can be saved by processing un-dried PET. Meanwhile, Reifenhäuser will unveil a novel extruder line dubbed Evolution. It will feature an innovative plasticisation concept called Energizer that minimises energy and runs without barrel cooling. Melt temperature is reduced by as much as 20°C. The extruders will be available in diameters from 30-150 mm with 30:1 L/D and a new drive technology that will allow processors more flexibility to select the motor type and motor-cooling method.

Pipe/profile lines For pipes, Battenfeld-Cincinnati will launch the GL (gearless) version of its solEX single-screw extruders that debuted at K2010. It features a smaller footprint (because there is no gear box) and has a new hightorque motor, said to be more energy-efficient than conventional motors. Available from 45-90 mm sizes, it also offers lower noise and vibration levels and requires virtually no maintenance.

For PVC window profiles, Battenfeld-Cincinnati will show a conEX 63 P conical twin piggybacking on a twinEX 78-34P extruder that is able to run regrind. The energy-saving counter-rotating twin-screw extruders share a common control cabinet. When up to 40% recycled materials are used to process, the line can achieve an output of about 500 kg/hour.

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SEPTEMBER 2013

Battenfeld-Cincinnati's new piggyback solution

KraussMaffei Berstorff will display an enhanced version of QuickSwitch, which allows the ability to switch from one pipe size to another. It now includes the 250-450 mm diameter range and can be equipped with the company’s cost-saving internal pipe cooling (IPC) technology, where the pipe is cooled from the inside using ambient air, which is suctioned with help of a side-channel compressor. As well as reducing space and investment costs, it reduces the need for cooling water.

Austrian firm Theysohn Extrusionstechnik will display its new CON 68 conical twin-screw extruder, developed specifically for duct, pressure and sewage pipes of up to 110 mm and outputs of 350 kg/hour.

Theysohn will also show a three-layer PVC pipe system with a foam or regrind material core and a dual-strand line for PVC pipes of up to 3 in.

Italian firm Sica will present its TRS 160 W cutting machine for PVC, PE and PP pipes, which it says can cut and chamfer without removing material, thus saving on raw material and avoiding scrap suctioning and recycling. Also, the new equipment removes chips and dust that end up partially between the saw mechanisms.

Other new products are the Multibell 200M belling machine for PVC sewage pipe, enhanced to reach an output of 900 sockets/hour, and the Everbell socketing machine for processing PP pipes.

In profiles, Reifenhäuser will debut the Reiwood wood-polymer composite (WPC) system, combining new profile and die-head designs, with processing costs 50% below the market. Cost reductions are achieved through a new geometry that allows 20% lower material usage. The new die-head design is also said to enable significantly higher production speeds.

Meanwhile, Davis-Standard will display its compact dsX med-tube medical tubing line. Designed for clean rooms, it features language-specific control systems and faster delivery. A unique eco-extruder arrangement allows for processing materials ranging from PP to FEP by changing feedscrews. The line includes a melt pump on each extruder for processing thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), nylons, and other medical grade material.

新聞 業 界

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業界新聞

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Italian Machinery and Technology

Italian force at the K Italians will again form a large contingent at the upcoming K2013 show in Düsseldorf, Germany, taking up 26,000 sq m of space at the exhibition, which will be held from 16-23 October.

Macchi’s five-layer POD line

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Macchi’s COEX5 POD 2600 In the current times though certain industry segments are down, but the flexible packaging sector is carrying on with its regular business.

What’s changing is that, over the past years, many improvements have been made to the traditional monolayer and simple coextruded film machinery market. Moving to coextruded structures allow to combine significantly improved shelf appearance with good mechanical resistance while maintaining optimal performances. Additionally, coextrusion allows downgauging since it can provide stiffness and film strength combined with excellent holding force. End users and brand owners know that they can do more with less, at improved production efficiency, and they may expect a tendency change from their traditional suppliers.

Extrusion machinery maker Macchi’s COEXflex 2600 five-layer line on display can be described as a five-layer coextrusion of the “POD concept” (POD= Poly-Olefin Dedicated), designed to be a sustainable system to produce at high output rates, thinner and better films.

The details of a machine concept that covers so many aspects of the film coextrusion technology do not exclusively address shrink films but flexible packaging and web converting as well, as all may benefit of the very same advantages, says Macchi.

This is why the coextrusion platform is engineered to coextrude a 1-2-4-2-1 structure through a 500-mm die achieving – depending on selected formulations - output values in the range of 900-1100 kg/hour, according to the firm.

New design and concept features will be presented at the show, some of them being an “absolute” first, such as a new cooling ring and IBC anti-block arrangement, which is being under tight wraps.

On the hardware side, the five-layer coextrusion line that Macchi will present is not a “revised and adapted” barrier line. Since inception, these lines have been designed to process polyolefin, meaning that from screw design and die geometries these are “mission-specific projects”, says Macchi. The key advantage of a five extruders system is in the possibility to re-design a film structure without the limits and the burdens of a traditional approach.

“The new output and production control enable customers to get the most throughputs from the capacity of its equipment, tools, and employees. Reducing downtime, make-ready and increasing yields can result in an effective gain in plant capacity.”

Macchi will have a number of distributed electronic features, enclosed in the recently unveiled Easy Control 4 Profinet man-machine computerised interface to achieve a perfect control of all the parameters.

“When running a coextruder in the capacity range of 1 tonne/hour, the key is to control and reduce energy consumption per unit of production, determine the primary factors that impact energy efficiency of machinery and capture and manage critical quality-related events. Better understand of the energy requirements of your complete production process increase traceability, data accessibility, transparency, and reporting accuracy.”

Italian Machinery and Technology (with or without gap control), combined winding as well as counter-rotation winding. Film tension control is realised through highly sensitive loading cells.

- Siemens electronics, with extruders and die head thermoregulation directly managed through PLC, together with Profinet network. The wiring is noticeably reduced, with the result to ease the electric and electronic maintenance. The extrusion line is controlled by one computerised system that allows a centralised management of all the production and operation parameters.

Edilteco intends to expand its production to ready mix mortars (Politerm Blu + cement in one bag)

EPS insulating boards Started up in 1981 by Paolo Stabellini, Modena-based Edilteco supplies technologies for EPS thermal insulation.

"Years marked by an endless research on concrete and polystyrene led us to develop technologies that did not exist, targeted at sustainable and energy saving buildings,” said Stabellini. He added, “Companies can therefore buy turnkey production lines of materials for the thermal insulation of buildings.”

The firm counts Algeria, India, Romania, South Africa, Tunisia, Sweden and Turkey as some of its markets. It has also set up offices in Belgium, France, Spain and Argentina.

It will showcase Politerm Blu, said to be a superlight material made up of EPS and an additive (Edilteco Insulating Additive). The firm says it has “conquered the China market, where we will soon be expanding production to ready mix mortars (Politerm Blu + cement in one bag).”

In black and white from Bandera Extrusion machinery maker Bandera will showcase a fivelayer coextrusion line for the extrusion of white and black (PE or barrier) film with symmetrical structure and with coPA or EVOH barrier in the middle layer, and also for lamination and flexible packaging.

The line being shown will feature: - dosing unit with loss in weight continuous metering system, with the possibility to work with 20 components - TR50 single-screw extruder, TR65 four-side single screw extruder, with AC motors for low energy consumption; bimetallic barrel, thermoregulated feeding zone - spiral die head with side feeding, with 400 mm diameter die featuring inside flow distributors that allow for optimal results in output at low pressure and fast material change (blend or with masterbatch) - IBC equipped with eight different sensors, which analyse all the parameters, also including atmospheric conditions, thus allowing to manage the proportional IBC control valve through the software (integrated in the Bandera line supervisor), for a total bubble stability - double station winding centre: with back-to-back configuration and operational method according to the film size to be produced: surface winding, axial winding

Energy saving thermoformers Swiss thermoforming machinery maker WM Wrapping Machinery, which is part of the Meico Group, will display a vacuum FC 780 E IM2 thermoformer, from the Speedmaster Plus series. It forms and cuts, using a steel rule die, all in the same forming station. It is equipped with a second cutting press for equipment that requires a second cutting step. In addition, the machine is equipped with a three-axes robot for counting, stacking (with A-B or A-B-C sequences) and removing stacked products.

The thermoformer can carry moulds up to 780 x 570 mm, with the forming unit generating a closing force of 75 tonnes. The standard versions come equipped with motorised height adjustments for both the lower and upper fixed platen. Thus, it can carry moulds with different heights, without the need for adapter plates.

The platen movements, guided on four columns, of the first forming/cutting press and of the second cutting station, are achieved with servomotors that independently drive a double toggle system.

The Stabio-based firm says that motors and drives that are rationally designed, together with an accurate management of the acceleration and deceleration ramps, result in a significant reduction in energy consumption during the production cycle. Also, the use of regenerative modules, during the braking phase of the surface movement, transforms kinetic energy into electrical energy. This energy is returned to the machine's power supply and is used in the thermoforming machine for other applications, instead of being dissipated as heat.

Again, with regard to energy savings, a multi-stage Venturi system is used to create a vacuum, instead of the traditional vacuum pump. It consumes energy only when the vacuum is used during the cycle, in contrast to a pump that operates during the entire production cycle. The heating ovens, with independent longitudinal row adjustments, allow also the individual adjustment resistors, as well as a series of possible partialisations, that can vary depending on the pitch and the type of material to be processed.

An infra-red pyrometer, for reading sheet temperature, is housed in the lower heating oven. With a closed loop circuit, it helps adjust/correct the set temperatures while taking into account environmental variations. This maintains constant the temperature of the sheet.

The forming station is also equipped with a servomotor unit to drive the deep-drawing, which pre-stretches the sheet.

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Italian Machinery and Technology

The machine will be displayed with a mould for an APET double eggs container.

The second display from the Desmoformer series is the FT 500 simultaneous form-cut machine with lower tilting platen for moulds up to 570 x 375 mm and a 30 tonne cutting force. It is also equipped with a servomotorplugging system, stacking system with rotating plate used for the removal, count and single row stacking of the thermoformed products.

Especially interesting is the tilting unit of the lower platen, which can rotate 75 degrees. The system uses a combination of servomotor-driven cams and levers and based on an innovative double desmodromic system. This ensures maximum precision and repetition of movements, as well as power calibration during both the movement and cutting phases.

The thermoforming machine will show a 22-cavity mould for a PP conical container with flat edge.

System for removing bottle sleeves for full recycling Machine maker Amut will promote its de-labelling (DLB) system for post-consumer PET bottle recycling that allows the recovery of PET bottles with PVC or PETG full body sleeve labels; and almost total detachment of the labels, with up to 100% recovery of bottles with full body sleeves.

The labels are removed dry in a continuous process and the bottles conveyed on a conveyor belt and, after treatment, discharged continuously with a screw feeder extractor. The labels are collected in an underlying hopper and conveyed by belt to a compacting press or a container. The separation of any remaining labels from bottles can take place downstream through an air system or a “rotary ballistic screen.”

DLB60 and DLB30 are suitable for treating the entire flow of bottles at the beginning of the washing line while DLB10 can be installed downstream, to treat the rejected bottles from the main NIR sorter.

Software for managing blown films Industrial solutions firm Bonfanti will present a new MES software for the film sector. It can be integrated with the main cutting and scheduling applications and with the main ERP systems, for the complete management of the production tracking and labelling, product traceability, quality management and data collecting.

Piovan wins at leading car maker and obtains patent At German car maker BMW’s facility, auxiliary firm Piovan supplied two Modula auto adaptive drying systems with multiple hopper assembly. Launched in the market in late 2010, the auxiliary systems supplied to BMW, automatically adjust and control all operating parameters for each individual hopper and hence use only the overall amount of energy strictly required. This is made possible through a specific control software that interfaces the settings for each hopper with the data collected by the sensors installed on the system.

This means that, by using a Piovan patented airflow measuring device, located in the air supply line and at each hopper, the airflow can be adjusted and controlled instantaneously and individually, hopper by hopper. In addition, the total airflow is modulated automatically and efficiently by the central drying unit, equipped with IE3 class blowers, resulting in optimum process operating conditions.

The materials utilised by BMW are mainly blends, with PP or PC base, like PP/EPDM and PC/SAN. The plastic part is first injection moulded and transferred to the painting lines, a sensitive phase of the production process where silicone particles are banned. One very important feature of Modula is the absence of silicone components/parts within the system.

Bonfanti’s scope of work includes automated handling for film rolls

It will also showcase its automatic handling, storing and packing systems for metallised rolls as well as for packages and labelling systems.

Electric EBM for cosmetic bottles Extrusion blow moulding (EBM) machine maker Plastiblow will exhibit the servodriven double-station PB10E/DXL. It features a 800 mm mould holder stroke, 100 mm extruder diameter, 300 kg/hour plasticising and a 24-tonne clamping force. It will be producing cosmetic bottles with six cavity moulds on each side and 120 mm centre distance. The extrusion head permits quick colour changes, said to be less than half hour using multi-cavity heads.

A servodriven-three axes robot will pick up the bottles after deflashing and place them on a linear belt conveyor.

The machine will also be equipped with an in-line quality control device for the bottles, to check for micro-holes, deformation and obstruction of the neck; including the detection of sprues.

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Modula dryer installed at BMW

Italian Machinery and Technology Two sets of Modula were supplied, each configured with single dry air generator and seven drying hoppers with volumes ranging from 600-1,000 l.

The purpose of hygroscopic plastic drying is to reduce moisture content to the required levels. This operation is generally performed by circulating hot dry air inside a drying hopper.

In the case of applications that involve a number of materials of different kinds, a central unit is commonly used to generate dry air, which is then distributed to a series of hoppers, one for each material type, through a duct system. Each hopper requires specific conditions for optimum operation (dry air flow, temperature and pressure) depending on the different material characteristics, such as the type, the required initial and final level of moisture, the hourly material consumption and the granule size.

Modula is available for medium and large capacity applications (200-2,000 kg/hour) and provides energy savings of as much as 50% with respect to ordinary centralised drying systems of equivalent capacity. Modula is Winfactory ready.

Along with Modula, BMW was supplied with Varyo auto-adjustable vacuum conveying systems, MDW gravimetric blenders and Winfactory supervisory system, all Piovan products.

Moretto to showcase new products Auxiliary manufacturer Moretto says it will be a “container of Italian ingenuity with a new range of products�. Amongst the launches are: - One Wire 6 (OW6), a self-adaptive and automatic control and management for centralised conveying systems that does not require time and parameters to be set.

- New Teko temperature controllers with increased working temperature but still using water as the medium for heat exchange.

- DGM Gravix gravimetric dosing with the Vibration Immunity System (VIS).

- OTX (Original Thermal Exchanger) with an internal geometry to solve material flow-down problems, using 40% less time and energy compared to standard hoppers.

- Eureka dehumidification system when combined with OTX and two other Moretto technologies features XMax and Flowmatik. The modular XMax dryers cater to up to 32 OTX units. Flowmatik is an integrated automatic system for distributing the process air for OTX systems.

Moretto says the OTX allows for a homogeneous air and thermal flow ensuring an optimal granule treatment

Thermoplastic Elastomers

Unconventional solutions to traditional materials Rising costs and inconsistent availability of materials may soon be a thing of the past.

Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) are proving to be a better alternative to plastics and rubber materials, especially since they are environmentally friendly and safe, and provide light weighting and low manufacturing costs.

Meanwhile, the Asia Pacific region is dominating the global TPE market, accounting for 42.4% of the revenues in 2012, says Angelica Buan in this report.

Arkema’s Pebax TPE has been used for both alpine touring and cross-country ski boots for several years. Shown here is the Atomic free-ride/alpine touring Waymaker Tour 110 ski boot, made from a Pebax shell

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ith the capability to be used for a wide range of applications in the automotive, building and construction, engineering and medical sectors, it is no surprise that the TPE market could reach nearly US$24 billion by 2018, according to US-based MarketsandMarkets.

The global market for TPEs, in terms of revenue, was estimated to be worth US$15.1 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.1% from 2013 to 2018. This is affirmed by research firm Freedonia in its report that analyses the 4.1 million-tonne/year global TPE industry.

The TPE market is segmented on the basis of major types such as Styrenic Block Copolymer (SBC), Thermoplastic Olefins (TPOs), Thermoplastic Vulcanisates (TPVs), Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU), Copolyester Ether (COPE) and Polyether Block Amide (PEBA).

Business expansions of key TPE players Italy-headquartered SOFTER Group is building an engineering plastics and TPE plant in the US. SOFTER says it expects to strengthen its foothold in the automotive, appliance, construction and electrical markets. The US$11.5 million site will span an area of 85,000 sq m, with an installed capacity of 23,000 tonnes that will reach more than 68,000 tonnes.

US-based PolyOne Corp.'s GLS Thermoplastic Elastomers unit has installed new TPE production capabilities at its facility in São Paulo, Brazil. Target growth markets include transportation, healthcare, consumer goods and packaging. This increase in capacity for the Brazilian and South American markets follows PolyOne's 2011 acquisition of Uniplen Industria de Polimeros, a Brazilian producer of speciality engineered materials and distributor of thermoplastics.

Meanwhile early this year, another US TPE supplier Kraton Performance Polymers said it will proceed with a 50:50 joint venture with Formosa Petrochemical for a 30,000-tonne/year hydrogenated styrenic block copolymer (HSBC) plant in Mailiao, Taiwan, by 2015.

Though announced last year, Taiwan's environmental groups objected to the plant and Kraton said it would expand in Asia on a stand-alone basis. With Formosa having worked out the environmental permits, the Taiwan project is back on track. Kraton views the Asian market as lucrative since in 2012, its sales in China alone reached US$76 million, representing 26% of the Asia Pacific sales.

Japan-based Mitsubishi Chemical has purchased the TPE and PVC compounds business of Tessenderlo Group. The sale comprises four production sites in France, Poland and China and one R&D site in Belgium. Its revenue amounted to EUR124 million in 2012.

Teaming up for benefits Germany-based TPE maker Kraiburg is to produce new materials using Shell Risella X, a next generation premium process oil derived from Shell’s Gas to Liquid (GTL) technology. Traditionally, most thermoplastics, including TPEs, are produced from crude oil. Shell’s Risella X, on the other hand, starts up as a natural gas before being processed into oil. The new ingredient allows Kraiburg to develop

Thermoplastic Elastomers pioneering TPE solutions and the firm says tests have shown improved compatibility in the TPE matrix due to the chemical structure of the oil.

GTL is the product of almost 40 years of research and technology driven by Shell. Known as Fischer-Tropsch, the technology was developed by German scientists in the 1920s and refined by Shell. GTL enables large scale production of base oils for the manufacture of premium lubricants and process oils from clean-burning natural gas.

This technology has been brought to life in the GTL Pearl plant, a joint development between Qatar Petroleum and Shell, which has a capacity of 260,000 barrels/day of oil.

Meanwhile, thermoplastics compounder RTP has obtained manufacturing rights from US-based ExxonMobil Chemical to produce the latter’s patented Santoprene TPV nylon bondable thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) product line. The materials will be marketed by RTP as its RTP 6091 series bondable thermoplastic elastomer compounds and will continue to use Santoprene TPV technology to provide the same property profile.

Superseding plastics and rubber TPEs are pleasing both to the eye and to the touch; resistant to many different media and have different hardnesses. They adhere to thermoplastics and feature optimal sealing, damping and anti-slip properties. In addition, they are ideal for all processing methods used for conventional plastics and also a sustainable alternative to both natural and synthetic rubbers.

US firm Dynasol develops thermoplastic rubber styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) Solprene and Calprene block copolymers that are targeted at asphalt and polymer modification.

Meanwhile, Russian petrochemicals supplier Sibur has launched styrene-butadiene TPEs, to be used for the road building industry and roof coatings, at its Voronezhbased facility. The facility has reached its full design capacity of 50,000 tonnes/year. The firm says polymermodified asphalt cement represents a considerable growth opportunity in Russia. Although the market grew by 1-3% over three years, Russia is lagging behind other European countries, the US and Canada.

TPEs are also safer substitutes to PVCs, opening more doors of opportunities in applications where properties inherent to the material, such as resistance to weather, chemicals and oxidation and soft touches, are required.

These properties are adjunct to the vinyl-based TPE compounds made by US-based custom compounder S&E Specialty Polymers for cable jacketing used in electric vehicle charging stations. The company’s TufFlex TPE is resistant to heat, cold and oils. It is RoHS and REACH compliant, flexible (58 Shore A), and with a low brittle point (-53°C), says S&E.

Italian elastomer and biodegradable compounds producer API says its new Neogol range of Olefin Block Copolymers (OBCs) can replace PVCs and are halogenfree alternatives to normal TPEs for applications requiring aesthetics, fluidity and mould filling of large surfaces

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Thermoplastic Elastomers and fine thicknesses. Resistant to UV light and ageing, this range is characterised by a higher crystallisation, compared to common olefin copolymers, allowing for reduced cycle times, says the Italian firm. The products can be used in the hygiene, child care and toy sectors; as well as in automotive, electronic/electrical and food packaging applications.

For wire and jacketing US-based Elastocon TPE Technologies has developed a new line of high performance FR (flame retardant) TPEs where resistance to ignition, flame-spread and low smoke emission are required. The grades are formulated for use in electrical enclosures, batteries, automotive (fuel line and brake line covers as well as industrial hose covers) and appliance applications, such as cords and connectors, sockets, plug ends and welding cables. The TPEs are alternatives to non-halogen FR TPEs that very often lack the physical performance of more traditional TPEs, says Elastocon. In addition, these resins do not require drying with a desiccant dryer before processing as do many of the newer FR resins.

GLS Thermoplastic Elastomers also has a new line of OnFlex AW non-halogen FR TPEs for the appliance industry. These new wire and cable insulation and jacketing speciality materials are said to help support appliance manufacturers’ sustainability goals by combining physical performance with an eco-conscious solution that enables reduced material usage and up to 65% lighter weight. The manufacturer says the TPEs help multi-wire assembly and construction and reduce jacket/ insulation diameter significantly compared to traditional materials.

TPEs in automotive The automotive sector is a key market for TPEs, according to MarketsandMarkets, and is mostly used in automotive parts, minimising energy consumption while increasing efficiency.

As the automotive industry sets out to improve vehicle fuel efficiency and reduce harmful emissions, one of the consequences of this particular trend is that there is less mounting space available and temperatures increase significantly, which in turn leads to the need for higher performing materials or the introduction of costly heat shields.

Dutch company DSM has developed Arnitel CM622 thermoplastic copolyester elastomer, a material for high heat automotive tubes and hoses. The firm says the new material, which has already been used successfully in vacuum brake tubes, outperforms nylons and many other high heat resistant flexible products. The plasticiserfree material is able to withstand low as well as high temperatures of up to 225°C with good heat ageing performance, says DSM, adding that it can be processed using standard extrusion equipment.

Biobased making a push Biobased TPEs are being developed to address the widening scope of environmental regulations, testament to

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API/DLM have developed biobased protective caps for quick connect couplings

the fact that the TPE industry is no exception in the move towards more sustainable programmes. Evolving biobased TPEs, in sectors such as food, packaging and medical, can create future market spaces for TPEs.

API and hydropneumatics specialist DLM have collaborated to develop the first protective cap for quick connect couplings in 100% biodegradable material, instead of using PVC and SEBS-based compounds. The main characteristics required for this application are good resistance to UV, temperature and the weather. While in use, protective caps often fall to the ground.

DLM incepted the creation of a product line with low environmental impact and the biodegradable protective caps can be completely absorbed into the ground, the company said. For API, the challenge was to create the formulation of a biodegradable material that could offer the same technical performance of traditionally used materials, while also being suitable for transformation using the machines and moulds designed for PVC and SEBS compounds. By carrying out some modifications to the rheology of the base material and by acting on the composition of the constituents, API said that it developed a special grade of APINAT Bio suitable to be worked using the equipment available.

Meanwhile, PolyFerm Canada, which produces polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) bioplastics, says its VersaMer PHA is the only type of biodegradable TPE made from renewable resources such as sugars and vegetable oils. The semi-crystalline material is said to possess excellent elongation-at-break, water resistance and gas barrier properties, the company said. It is biocompatible for use in biomedical and tissue engineering applications.

US-based biobased/compostable bioplastics maker Cereplast recently received an order from India for its Biopolyolefins 111D, which is utilised for soft grip TPE applications such as handles for bicycles and tools, cosmetics packaging, housewares, household appliances, footwear and automotive applications.

French firm Arkema's Pebax Rnew biobased TPE is said to enable to bridge the gap between thermoplastics and rubbers. Compared with the other elastomers used in sports equipment, such as TPU or COPE, the polyether block amide Pebax is 20% lighter, offers greater impact resistance, higher energy return and UV resistance, and does not become rigid at low temperature, says Arkema.

Building and Construction Industry

Asia setting the pillars for global construction Increasing urbanisation in the emerging economies in Asia is triggering growth in the building and construction industry. With an edge over population and economic growth, Asia leads the bustling construction activities, stabilising the future of the industry, reports Angelica Buan.

Asia a forerunner in the sector The global construction activity will be bustling over the coming years, with a report predicting that it will reach a value of US$6.3 trillion by 2025. Published by Global Construction Perspectives and Oxford Economics, the Global Construction 2025 report attributes the 70% growth to a large concentration of activity in China, India, Indonesia and the US.

Furthermore, the report, which was by sponsored by 24 major companies, says the construction sector will be driven by a burgeoning population in the developing world and rising urbanisation. By 2050, it is estimated that up to 70% of the world’s population will live in cities. City dwellers are expected to stir up sectors related to housing, i.e., power, water and sanitation; as well as require new cities to be developed.

Meanwhile, activity is manifested in what the report calls the new Asian Tigers, which comprise Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia.

The combined construction market of these countries will be worth US$350 million, with an average growth of over 6% a year until 2025.

Vietnam and the Philippines both set to post an average growth of 5% a year and will benefit from broader inter-regional trade flows with China and neighbouring economies. The report also says that investments for essential infrastructure and production capacity may be tapped to support the increasing economic development.

As a nearly developed economy, China will influence opportunities for regional growth, since it took the lead as the world's largest construction market in 2010, sidestepping the US. However, the US will continue to benefit from the recovery of its construction market, with output estimated to grow by over 75% between 2012 and 2025 and an average of 1.5 million homes to be built yearly.

Meanwhile, American professional technical and management support services conglomerate AECOM, in its Asia Construction Outlook report, reaffirms that Asia, in contrast to the western economies, will remain strong, accounting for about 40% of global construction spending. The region is expected to account for almost half the total global construction spending by 2020. China accounts for some 41% of Asia Pacific’s total construction spending, with expenditures of US$1.25 trillion last year.

India’s population size will benefit the industry in terms of opportunities, but it may have to find the means to attract private finance. India will overtake Japan as the third largest construction market with annual growth averaging 7.4%. And along with China, India will need to build 270 million more new homes by 2025.

Meanwhile, Japan is expected to see ample growth in construction spending through to 2018, as the country gains momentum from the earthquake/tsunami aftermaths.

However, growth in the European construction sector will decline, amidst unemployment, lower real wages and weakened purchasing power. But the authors of the global construction report singled out the UK’s construction sector, which they see as expanding by almost double the average rate in Western Europe.

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Building and Construction Industry Indonesia leads the sector The global construction report anticipates Indonesia to build more new homes each year, slightly more than the average number for the US, and thus it will covet the third largest housing market ranking globally.

Aiding the country is its Key Economic Corridor that supports the growth of key industrial sectors, with the necessary infrastructure being implemented to achieve this growth.

Government initiatives are strong contributors to Indonesia’s building and construction industry growth, according to data from Timetric, a provider of online data analysis. It cites a new bill on land procurement passed in December 2011, which mandates the government to provide land and enables it to buy property at market value. Likewise, a new regulation passed in May 2012, allows foreigners to own condominiums in Indonesia, upon application for a renewable 60-year increment Building Ownership Certificate (SKBG).

AECOM in its report identifies Indonesia as a strong potential growth market after China. According to its data, construction spending in the country accounted for more than a quarter of the nation’s GDP in 2012, with around half of this expenditure funding infrastructure projects. It was also noted that Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is the top city in the region for potential market growth and profitability.

Materials shaping the industry With growth exceeding 6% annually through 2015, the global building materials market is expected to reach close to US$890 billion by this period. The most widely used building materials are steel, glass, wood, plastics and cement, according to global business information publisher MarketLine.

Transparency Market Research (TMR), which forecasts a CAGR of 7% and a global market value of US$45.6 billion by 2016 for building and construction plastics, also highlights the increasing awareness of green buildings to be drivers of demand for materials in this industry.

It said that the industry is the second largest consumer of plastic after packaging. Acrylics, PE, PC, PVC and extended polystyrene and PU, are examples of commonly used types of plastic materials.

By end-use, pipes and ducts, which occupy an estimated 36% in the entire market and are expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.6% from 2011-2016, occupy a lion’s share in the total market. Trailing behind is insulation, which is expected to reach US$13.3 billion, followed by doors and fittings. The latter two are the fastest growing end-use segment for plastics, with a CAGR estimated at 8.8% by 2016 says TMR. Green building market growing The construction market for green buildings, particularly in the US, is valued over US$60 billion.

This market sector is propelling demand for materials such as cork, bamboo and woven flooring. This is not surprising since nearly 40% of global carbon emissions are the result of energy consumption by buildings. This, combined with tightening regulations and greater public awareness, is creating a demand for technologies that will one day make near-zeroenergy high-performance buildings the norm.

Silicone materials supplier Dow Corning says it is helping lay the groundwork for near-zero architecture with enabling technologies. Included in the US firm’s portfolio is the Silicone Air Barrier System, a 100% silicone liquid-applied air/weather barrier that provides airtight moisture control for more energy-efficient building envelope designs. It also promotes the Building Insulation Blanket, which is a thin insulating material that offers freedom of design coupled with improved energy efficiency.

Meanwhile, Germany-based Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) has a global initiative for sustainable and environmentally friendly construction solutions. Known as the EcoCommercial Building (ECB) Program, it works with 20 partners that offer services and solutions for residential and commercial buildings, which are among the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

For instance, BMS, Puren and AB-Polymerchemie are supporting a research and teaching project at Technische Universität Berlin to test the combination of innovative and recycled materials for new technical and architectural applications.

As part of the research project at Technische Universität Berlin, students designed and built a “White Pavilion” from timber and PU composite façade. The side features twin-wall Makrolon PC sheets from BMS. PU compressed panels made of recycled PU insulation scrap, supplied

by Puren and reclaimed in a special upcycling process, were used for the first time to construct the outer skin of the facade. A first of its kind, the PU compressed panels serve as insulation and are treated with a 3 mm PU spray coating manufactured by AB Polymerchemie

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SEPTEMBER 2013

Flexible Packaging

Sector rises up to meet consumer demands The fast-paced lifestyle, rapid urbanisation and an increasing sense of social and financial mobility has some tradeoffs, like becoming more reliant on off-the-shelf convenience foods and products. With a functionality-smart consumer base that wants to see convenience, light weight, freshness and eye-candy designs rolled into their packaging, the industry is leveraging on innovation and responsiveness to the dynamic consumer behaviour, to further its growth, says Angelica Buan in this report

An emerging trend in pouches is new dispensing technology

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he demand for converted flexible packaging will grow 3.8% a year through 2015 across segments covering the food, pharmaceutical, medical, agricultural and horticultural sectors, according to research firm Freedonia. It attributes the demand inclination towards lightweight flexible packaging to certain drivers like convenience and greater overall emphasis on waste reduction, material cost and other supply chain efficiencies (including reduced transport costs).

A more aggressive projection from UK-based Smithers Pira augurs that worldwide demand for consumer flexible plastic packaging is likely to grow by almost 5% a year in value terms over the next five years to reach US$87 billion. Overall, sales are forecast to reach US$231 billion, with an estimated 3.5% growth a year over the same period.

Identifying consumer-speak According to the latest “Innovations in Food Packaging� report by UK-headquartered market research group Canadean, it is difficult to pinpoint which packaging form will be bagging in more demand, given the constantly shifting demands Stand-up pouches constitute the of consumers and largest growth converters. The report in the flexible says that the formula is packaging sector not as simple as betting on cost reduction or light weighting.

Other factors such as sustainability, logistics efficiency and product safety are important variables.

Canadean says that the food packaging sector, which is a growth sector for pouches, sleeves and blisters, is likely to reach US$2.5 trillion by 2017.

Meanwhile, the US-based Flexible Packaging Association (FPA), in its recent Consumer Insights & Perceptions of Flexible Packaging report, says that consumers place consideration on positive packaging attributes, e.g., convenience, environmental friendliness, portability, visibility of content, freshness and aesthetics.

The report also indicated that consumers want packaging that aligns with the product, brand, occasion of use and their expectations and thus were seeking resealability and easy-to-pour features.

Pouches rule over rigid packaging Meanwhile, rigid packaging’s limelight may be eclipsed by an increased demand for flexible packaging. Environmental concern is an important harbinger in this shift. Bottles, cans and containers that SEPTEMBER 2013

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Flexible Packaging are made of glass, tins and plastic may have to give way to stand-up pouches that weigh less, use fewer resources and exhibit improved barrier properties and printability.

In Freedonia’s latest analysis on the US$15.1 billion converted flexible packaging industry, it can be seen that pouches are leading with continued conversions to stand-up pouches and flat pouches. Bags will remain the largest segment and food markets will edge out non-food uses.

This is affirmed by FPA that also indicates in its report the high growth rates for stand-up pouches, together with flow wraps and retort pouches.

Emerging trends In a global packaging study undertaken by resealable closure company Zip-Pak, it attempted to pinpoint global consumer behaviour that consequently has shaped the packaging landscape.

According to the US-headquartered firm, an ageing population has prompted for easier to open packaging formats as well as readability of packaging print.

Highly mobile consumers have given rise to a culture of pre-prepared, heat and eat, and grab and go meals.

In this context, packaging in portion specific sizes and formats is offered, which at the same time ensures longer product life and ease of use.

The firm says that the increasing number of liquidbased brands – including coffee, wine, baby food and energy drinks – are adopting flexible packaging formats.

This demand has given rise to advancements in film construction, pouch-forming equipment, and new dispensing technologies, says the Zip-Pak study team.

On the other hand, over-engineered packaging that ensures theft protection and tamper-resistance much more than necessary could also “hurt” consumers (e.g., hand/finger injury during opening of package). The team suggests that a balance must be struck between content and theft protection (as considerations) in developing packaging.

Blister packs in the medical segment are now designed to help consumers with medication compliance, on top of providing them with ease of use experience.

Other factors that are important trend setters include employing mobile technology and QR codes onto the packaging to enhance consumer experience as well as guide them in purchasing decisions; and store-branding packaging and designs that promote convenience and freshness (such as closures integrated into a flexible packaging format).

Sustainability comes into play in packaging Sustainability is directing a significant part of the demand for flexible packaging. In a recent report by Smithers Pira, the global market for sustainable packaging (both paper and plastics) is forecast to reach US$244 billion by 2018.

Sustainability programmes are increasingly being seen as a source of innovation that can help in differentiating a company by appealing to the conscience of consumers. These programmes also serve as a platform for new product and market development.

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Consumer demand and government legislation around the world are the leading drivers for the sustainable packaging agenda.

Environmental awareness among a growing population of consumers is fuelling demand for sustainability and the reduction of the impact of packaging on the environment.

According to the study, the most Recycling of plastic packaging is a common trends growing trend in achieving sustainability in sustainable packaging are: downsizing/lightweighting; increased recycling and waste recovery; increased use of recycled content; increased use of renewably sourced materials and improvements in packaging and logistical efficiency.

In the recycled material packaging segment, paper packaging is the largest market, followed by metal, glass and plastics. The demand for recycled plastics remains strong, but the material faces several challenges, including lack of infrastructure for collection and sorting, international market competition for existing recovered materials and compliance with requirements related to food and drug content.

The reports also state that the biggest growth comes from the Asian market, driven by demand for sustainable packaging in countries like China and India.

Boosted by a growing middle-class population that is increasingly becoming affluent and conscious of health and environmental issues, the demand for sustainable practices is driving the market for greener packaging. In 2018, Smithers Pira forecasts that Asia will be the largest market for sustainable packaging, accounting for 32% of the overall market.

Consumers are placing consideration on the positive attributes of packaging

Injection Moulding Asia • Spanish car component maker Grupo Antolin is considering a string of joint venture operations with Japanese parts supplier Kasai Kogyo.

This year, the two firms have formed a 50:50 business in Chennai, India. With a capital of EUR10 million, Antolin Kasai-Tek Chennai is forecast to achieve sales of EUR9.3 million/year by 2014. Antolin operates three plants in India, including a joint venture with Krishna Maruti.

Meanwhile, the two companies are discussing forming more partnerships. Other joint ventures are likely to be based on the Spanish group’s existing operations in China, Russia and Brazil.

In Mexico, Kasai Kogyo runs a components plant in Leon and the partners want to launch a 50:50 joint business aimed at supplying parts for Nissan later in 2013. Antolin has four existing automotive component plants in Mexico. Last year, Antolin launched a new interior parts plant in St Petersburg, Russia.

• To further the development of its engineering plastics business for automotive parts in Brazil, Japanese firm Toyobo is building a 5,000-tonne/ year plant in Säo Paulo and plans to increase the capacity of this new facility to 15,000 tonnes/year by 2020. The plant will start up in 2014. Last year, Brazil’s automotive market rose to 3.8 million units, making it rank fourth

Automotive News among the world’s car markets. As Japan’s automobile manufacturers, which are the principal customers for Toyobo’s engineering plastics, have relocated their production facilities outside Japan, Toyobo has set up sales offices as well as local production in the US, China, Thailand and Indonesia.

• Japanese firm Asahi Kasei Chemicals has started up its 4,000-tonne/year facility in Indonesia for its Leona glass fibrereinforced PA66 compounds, making it the first plastic manufacturer to produce PA66 compounds locally in Indonesia. Compounding is performed on consignment by local compounder PT Nippisun Indonesia, to meet demand. Automobile production is forecast to increase from 1 million units in 2012 to 1.5 million units in 2016. Previously, Asahi supplied the Indonesian market from Thailand.

• Global automotive components supplier Visteon is selling its 50% stake in Chinese joint venture Yanfeng Visteon Automotive Trim Systems (YFV) to its partner Huayu Automotive Systems (Hasco) and will gain majority control of Yanfeng Visteon

Injection Moulding Asia Automotive News Automotive Electronics (YFVE). Both transactions are valued at US$1.5 billion, with Visteon receiving US$1.2 billion for the portfolio of non-electronics operations.

Visteon’s stake in YFVE will be valued at US$300 million. The transactions are expected to be completed in multiple stages

by June 2015. The transactions support Visteon’s concentration on its core growth businesses – Halla Visteon Climate Control, of which Visteon owns 70%, and Visteon Electronics. YFV was established in 1994 between Ford and Shanghai Automotive Industrial Company (SAIC). Ford transferred the equity to Visteon in 2000 when Visteon became an independent company. SAIC transferred the equity to Hasco as part of a public listing in 2009. YFVE was formed in 1994 as a joint venture of Ford and Shanghai Auto Instrumentation and integrated into YFV in 2002.

took a stake in ACE Advanced Composite Engineering in Germany, and in 2011 established Euro Advanced Carbon Fiber Composites, also in Germany, jointly with Daimler.

• Car makers GM and Honda are collaborating to develop new alternative fuel vehicles based on hydrogen storage and fuel cell technologies. GM and Honda already have more than 1,200 fuel cell patents between them, and both companies have experimental vehicle fleets. Other vehicle makers like Ford, Daimler and Renault-Nissan have announced similar plans. The two companies are planning to develop new hydrogen storage and fuel cell technologies by 2020 and also push for more hydrogen fuelling stations.

Fuel cell vehicles have electric motors that are powered by a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. The only by-products are water vapour and heat, so there’s no pollution. But the lack of infrastructure to transport and store liquid hydrogen has been a barrier to the cars’ development.

• Japan-headquartered Toray Industries has purchased a 20% stake in US-based Plasan Carbon Composites (PCC), a manufacturer of automotive parts based on carbon fibrereinforced plastics (CFRP). Established in 2006, PCC, leveraging its proprietary high-speed Pressure Press moulding technology, is the sole US Tier 1 supplier of CFRP-based exterior body panels. PCC uses Toray Composites America’s rapid curing, thermoset resin prepreg based on carbon fibres produced by Toray Carbon Fibers America for its high-speed Pressure Press moulding. With the acquisition, Toray will set up a distribution channel to US automobile manufacturers and a manufacturing base for CFRP automotive parts in the US. Toray has been working on enhancement of its business bases around the world to create a carbon fibre market for automotive applications. In Japan and the rest of Asia, the company has been designing CFRP products and developing technologies primarily at the Advanced Composite Centre (ACC) and Automotive Centre (AMC), the core facilities of A&A(Automotive & Aircraft) Centre that is its comprehensive technology development base targeting automotive and aircraft fields, located in its Nagoya plant. Furthermore, Toray earlier this year established Toray Carbon Magic (Japan) and Carbon Magic (Thailand) through share acquisitions from the DOME Group. In Europe, which is quite advanced in the adoption of CFRP parts, Toray in 2008

• Japanese injection moulding machine maker Nissei Plastic Industrial has established a Dongguan branch in Guangdong, China, to expand its sales in the country. The Dongguan branch is the second branch opened by Nissei’s overseas-affiliated company that is headquartered in Shanghai.

The branch will be the fifth (second as a branch office after opening the Taicang branch) operated by Nissei.

• Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery and its Chinese subsidiary Demag Plastics Machinery (DPG) in Ningbo are planning to expand production capacity in China from 650 to 1,000 injection moulding machines/ year, through an investment of EUR7 million, to meet the demand from the automotive sector. DPG is currently producing the Systec C machine series in Ningbo with a clamping force ranging from 50-1,000 tonnes.

In the future, further machine series from the Sumitomo (SHI) Demag product range will be produced in China. In addition, the firm expects to increase its exports of 25% to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. The expansion of production capacity allows the company to meet the increased demand in China and other markets and pave the way for further increase in its market share.

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Injection Moulding Asia Machinery News

Faster and more efficient In keeping with the tradition, injection moulding machine makers will showcase new technology processes at the upcoming K2013 show in Germany. The focus is on all-electric and large machines with processes for composites, LSR moulding, lightweight construction, catering to the packaging, automotive and medical sectors. Automation will round up the displays.

Engel’s latest Emotion 30TL is an all-electric tiebarless for the optical and electronic sectors

Engel hones into efficiency ustrian firm Engel’s new 650-tonne hybrid e-speed for the packaging sector features an electric toggle clamp and screw drive and hydraulic injection, for injection speeds up to 800 mm/second and 4 second-cycle time.

The new electric drive uses a patent-pending flywheel to store the braking energy from the platen movements and transfers this energy back to the motor when required to re-accelerate clamp motions. Thus, it uses less energy and lower connected loads, generates less waste heat and reduces power peaks resulting from high clamping forces applied in short cycles.

Also, the encapsulated toggle with closedloop lubrication and special bushings with patented seals are said to reduce lubricant consumption by 90% and provide a clean moulding area. The machine will be moulding thinwall tubs in an 8 + 8 cavity stack mould.

A brand new entrant is the Emotion 30TL, an all-electric tiebarless for the optical and electronic sectors. The firm says it has the highest precision of platen parallelism and even clamping distribution, is compact and caters up to 100 tonnes. It will develop 50 and 80 tonnemachines next year, while a 30-tonne model will be shown moulding 60-pin electronic connectors in 16 cavities.

The next-generation Duo hydraulic twoplaten, available from 350-700 tonnes, features an improved clamp that runs on linear guides, is faster and has a lower nozzle centre. Also new are the ergonomic safety-gate design and the CC 300 control. The latter is designed to be operated with one hand and has a 21-in. touchscreen with both task and component-oriented navigation.

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Arburg goes all-electric erman firm Arburg’s focus will be on electric and large Allrounders, with ten exhibits at its stand and another ten at partner stands. The Allrounder 820A completes the electric Alldrive series and will make its premiere at the show with a newly developed 400-tonne toggle-type clamping unit and size 2100 electric injection unit.

An Allrounder 370E from the Edrive series will be integrated together with a six-axis robot and an inline printing system from fpt Robotik into a production cell. An Allrounder 470A will use a 64-cavity mould from Männer to produce dosage units in a cycle time of 2 seconds.

The use of cleanroom electric machines in the medical sector will be demonstrated by an Allrounder 520A, producing pipettes in a 4.5second cycle time on a 64-cavity mould from Tanner. A Vario-TIP automation system by Waldorf Technik has been specially designed for the handling of pipette tips.

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Arburg’s 820A will make a debut at the show, with a toggle-type clamping unit and size 2100 electric injection unit

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Injection Moulding Asia Machinery News More from Haitian, Ferromatik, Boy, Netstal, KraussMaffei and Sumitomo Demag hina-based machine maker Haitian International Holdings will roll out larger all-electric and two-platen machinery. Having shown a next generation 550-tonne Zhafir Venus 11 at Chinaplas, of which it has sold nearly 3,000 since its launch in 2009, the firm will introduce a 190 tonne machine at K show.

Updates to the machine include increased tiebar distances to meet international standards for machines with clamping forces of 2,000 tonnes and more; up to eight injection units; motors in the Haitian drive systems that now provide faster acceleration rates, improved energy savings and rapid reaction times.

The new injection unit is also more compact while a swiveling injection unit permits rapid replacement of the screw and easier access for maintenance.

In its Jupiter II series, it will debut the 550 model with a new tiebar design, moulding engine covers on a two-cavity mould. The drive system has a direct connection between the servomotor and the gear pump, to regulate rotational speed and fast response times.

It will also show a Zhafir Mercury machine running PA12 cable ties on an eight-cavity mould; the servo-hydraulic-driven Mars II eco moulding a PP transparent case in a 24-second cycle and a Venus II moulding coffee stir sticks on a 24-cavity mould and a 2.9-second cycle.

Meanwhile, German compatriot Ferromatik Milacron will show an all-electric F200 with a size 50 Advanced Performance (APe) electric injection unit. Using a four-cavity mould and an IML system by H. MĂźller from Switzerland, it will produce thinwall rectangular lids with labelling, in a 3.1-second cycle.

An F350 hybrid will drive a 64-cavity mould

by Corvaglia (Switzerland) to produce 33 mm 2.6 g beverage closures every 4.5 seconds.

Quality will be monitored by a vision system from IMD Vista (Switzerland). The third machine will be the 270-tonne all-electric F270 CUBE, boasting generous tie-bar spacing of 750 x 750 mm, an electric rotating mechanism and an 8+8 cavity cube mould with four sides, both made by Foboha. Ferromatik will also introduce a 30-tonne new machine, to round up its F series. It will produce 1.6 g applicators for 1 ml medical ampules on a four-cavity mould made by Braunform (Germany), in a cycle time of 9.1 seconds.

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Netstal’s Elion is targeted at the medical sector

Germany-based small machine maker Boy will introduce the 25E to replace the 22E. Also new will be the 25EVH insert moulding machine that will be equipped with a horizontal injection unit for parting line injection. Insert moulding of hexagonal pencils with a T-handle in a two-cavity mould will be demonstrated on this newcomer.

Swiss machine specialist Netstal will showcase its all-electric Elion 1750-530 model producing PC infusion devices in a cycle time of 16 seconds. The PC material will be provided

by Sabic Europe, mould by Italy-based RB/ HRS and materials handling by Italian Piovan.

Besides the encapsulated joint, closed drag chains, water-cooled electric motors and clean room cladding, the machine boasts up to 70% lower energy use, with the braking energy fed back into the internal electrical circuit.

Another energy saving unit to be showcased

by Netstal will be the EVOS 4500 featuring the new energy-optimised Eco Powerunit drive that is already available on the Elion. Using a 12-cavity mould from Italian company Bianchi, PS drinking cups will be manufactured in a cycle time of 2.5 seconds. Automation will be provided by another Italian-based company Campetella and material handling by Motan.

Ferromatik Milacron’s 200-tonne F series will produce a lid with labelling

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Injection Moulding Asia Machinery News Meanwhile, Netstal’s sister company KraussMaffei will showcase the two-platen GX series, launched on the market a year ago, in a new size of 900 tonnes. With a cycle time of 7 seconds, the machine will produce a packaging product, with the German firm saying that this is the fastest time for a two-platen. It will also demonstrate a dual platen CX300-1400 forming and back-moulding organic plates using the FiberForm composites process.

Moving the MuCell foam process away from the automotive sector, the German firm will show the all-electric AX CellForm producing technical moulded parts and household goods using the process. The firm says the AX series is ideal for the process, with its high precision and shot weight consistency and also since the compensatory holding pressure phase is not required. At the show, a new space-saving metering system from MuCell provider Trexel will be used for the first time on the machine.

Sumitomo-Demag’s Systec will showcase an IMD-IML process

display, with functional foils developed by PolyIC. The PET-based coating foils with thin metallic conduction structures are spray-coated with PMMA using the IML process. The narrow frame, which is also injected, is decorated at the same time using In-Mould Decoration (IMD) in black lacquer finish.

All the processes, from insertion of the IML foil in the tool cavity to the finishing, take place in a cleanroom environment (ISO Class 7). The conductive IML foils can be used for touchscreens to replace indium tin oxide (ITO) foils, since indium is a rare heavy metal that is becoming expensive. Furthermore, the expensive laminating process of the foil on the carrier is not required.

Technology extensions from Arburg and Engel rburg will showcase a further development of its Particle-foam Composite Injection Moulding (PCIM) process on the Allrounder 470S. This relatively new process, which was developed jointly by Ruch Novaplast, Krallmann and Arburg, opens up possibilities in lightweight construction. A plastic wheel rim will be injected onto an inserted particlefoam tyre. Transfer of the pre-moulded part to the mould is followed by overmoulding of the tyre with TPE. The six-axis robot will undertake insertion of the foamed tyre until transfer of the finished parts to the packaging system, which features printing of the bags.

Another lightweight construction process is the long-fibre direct injection moulding to be demonstrated on the hydraulic Allrounder 820S with a mould from Swiss firm, Georg Kaufmann Formenbau. For the first time, 50-mm glass fibres will be added directly to the liquid

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KraussMaffei’s CX will demonstrate the FiberForm composites proces

KraussMaffei will also showcase the multicomponent technology with its GX 550 SpinForm encompassing a swivel-plate design to produce components made from thermoplastic/PU with a quality lacquer surface.

Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery will show its Systec SP, a 280-tonne packaging machine, producing IML-decorated PP buckets. With the double mould used for this and an injected weight of 84 g, the cycle time is 5.3 seconds. Parallel removal of the decorated bucket and the insertion of the IML label into the mould for the next cycle are performed by linear robots developed by Sepro Robotique and Machines Pagès.

Another demonstration on a 210-tonne Systec will be the manufacture of a 5 in. touch 5 SEPTEMBER 2013

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Injection Moulding Asia Machinery News melt, where they will be homogeneously distributed. The fibre length, fibre content and material combination can also be individually adjusted. The new process allows for cost savings because plastic and fibreglass rovings are cheaper than finished long glass fibre granulates, says Arburg.

A further highlight from Arburg will be the fully-electric cube-mould application for the production of container closures, to be presented jointly with Foboha. On the 320tonne electric two-component Allrounder 720A, the large size 800 injection and small size 400 injection units will be arranged horizontally, on the moving mounting platen of the machine, with both rotation of the cube and the linear sliding motion of the 12+12-cavity driven electrically. This results in advantages in terms of precision and cycle time.

Further, together with partner Rico, thermoplastic and liquid silicone (LSR) suction cups, such as those used for moving bulky or heavy loads in logistics, will be produced on a hydraulic Allrounder 570S with two injection units in an L-arrangement. A metal threaded bushing will be inserted by a Multilift V robotic system and overmoulded with the two components.

Meanwhile, Engel will show a new method of multi-component, soft-touch moulding of dashboards for Hyundai Kia, utilising the new Varysoft process developed by Georg Kaufmann Formenbau. A decorative, grained TPO film is preheated and preformed in one station of the automated cell while the ABS/PC substrate is moulded in Trexel’s MuCell process. The TPO film is then transferred to the mould on a rotating table, PU foam is injected between the film and substrate, using Germany-based Hennecke’s system.

In the medical sector, Engel will demonstrate three-material (ABS, TPE and PP) plus insert moulding of a drip chamber for blood transfusions. The process uses a cleanroom E-victory 310 combi tiebarless hybrid with three electric injection units and servo-hydraulic ecodrive.

Another automotive composites display will feature the new V-duo 700-tonne vertical two-platen hydraulic machine with ecodrive. It will produce latch covers for the KTM X-Bow GT sports car using a carbon-fibre skin and glass fibre core. The HP (high-pressure) RTM liquid reactive moulding process will use a new “snap-cure” PU resin from BASF and a Hennecke metering system.

A third composite display will showcase cases for mobile electronic devices, with preformed carbon-fibre organic sheets to be overmoulded with PC/ABS on a new 170-tonne E-mac. Roctool variothermal (hot/cold cycling) moulds will be used to preform the sheets. The automated cell will also demonstrate in-line vacuum metallisation of parts for EMI shielding.

Meanwhile, Engel’s 110-tonne E-motion T machine will produce acrylic automotive headlamp lenses using a three-layer process.

The 30 mm-thick part will be moulded in two steps, with the core moulded/demoulded while the centre is still molten. After cooling outside the mould, it will be returned to the mould and overmoulded with thinner layers of the same material on both sides. The result is a 440-second cycle instead of 1,550 seconds for a single-layer moulding.

Automation rounds up processes or the automation segment, Arburg will jointly present with its partner fpt Robotik an Agilus six-axis robot system from Kuka, with integrated Selogica user interface. The system is suspended from a linear axis arranged transversely to the machine. The combination of the six-axes with a linear axis permits more dynamic movements and faster entry into the mould. Furthermore, the small robot can move on the axis and the floor space below can be used without restriction, allowing the robot to perform a wide variety of moulded part production tasks. It is designed for load weights between 6-10 kg.

Engel will show the Viper 120, its newest and largest linear robot. It has a payload of 120 kg, a demoulding stroke of 3,000 mm and reach of 3,550 mm.

French robot maker Sepro Robotique will showcase 23 robots, with another six on booths of partner companies. These include two sixaxis articulating-arm robots that will operate together with three five-axis Cartesian robots.

The five-axis 5X line is based on Sepro’s threeaxis beam robot and a two-axis Stäubli servo wrist. The 6X Visualline of robots combines a Stäubli six-axis articulating robot with a Sepro Visual 3 controller.

Sepro will also premiere its Multi-Inject 20 robot that will operate on a multi-material, in-mould labelling application on a 210-tonne Sumitomo Demag machine, moulding ice scrapers with a soft-touch grip. Other Sepro robots will run on the Haitian, Romi Sandretto, Billion and JSW Windsor booths.

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Rubber Journal Asia • Bridgestone Asia Pacific has opened the company’s first technical centre in Thailand and the Asia Pacific region (excluding China and Japan). The technical centre is a step towards strengthening its framework for R&D in the region, catering to tyre development, production technology, quality management and procurement.

• Germany-based HF Mixing Group’s rubber batch mixing machinery businesses in the US will be consolidated to HF Rubber Machinery for supporting the Farrel Banbury equipment.

• Japanese firm Yokohama Rubber’s US subsidiary will start production of automotive air conditioning hoses in Mexico and begin delivery of the hoses to a Japanese car maker in Mexico from 2014.

• Petrochemical firms Sinopec (China) and Sibur (Russia) have formed a joint venture to produce nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) at Sibur’s Krasnoyarsk plant. Sinopec has acquired 25% plus one share of the 42,500-tonne/ year synthetic rubber plant.

Over 30% of the plant’s output will be supplied to the Russian market and half will go to China, with the rest exported. The partners may expand the plant’s capacity to 56,000 tonnes/ year.

• Sibur has also started producing styrene-butadiene thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), to be used for the road building industry and roof coatings, at its Voronezh-based facility that has a capacity of 50,000

tonnes/year. Although domestic consumption of polymer-modified asphalt cement grew by 5.6% from 2009-2012 and the market share grew by 1-3% over three years, Russia is still lagging behind other European countries, the US and Canada.

• Chinese tyre equipment manufacturer Mesnac has purchased a majority interest in US-based Test Measurement Systems I n c . (TMSI) for an undisclosed amount.

TMSI, which was founded in 1991, specialises in the design and manufacture of custom-designed scientific and test engineering systems for the tyre and automotive industry.

• Toyo Tire North America will commence its fourth expansion of production capacity to meet the growing tyre demand in the US. The facility for passenger vehicle and light truck tyres has been utilising a proprietary tyre production system called Advanced Tire Operation Module, designed for multi-product, small-lot production with reduced lead times. With an investment of 20 billion yen, the facility will be expanded by 1.5 times and initially achieve a capacity of 2.5 million tyres/year with the aim to reach 6.5 million tyres/ year, through successive production capacity expansions.

• Dutch firm IMCD Group has entered into a PanEuropean distribution partnership with Solvay Specialty Polymers for

Industry News its Tecnoflon FKM product range used in the rubber industry. The market segments covered include automotive, aerospace, energy and oil & gas.

• In the US, Cooper Standard has acquired the automotive sealing business of Michigan-based Jyco Sealing Technologies, which has facilities in Canada, Mexico and China. Jyco is a pioneer in thermoplastic vulcanisate (TPV) sealing technology and has supplied sealing systems and components to the automotive industry.

• Italy-based Versalis (Eni) has entered into an agreement with US firm Neville Venture for the production of hydrocarbon resins at its Priolo plant and also entered into a licence agreement related to the feedstock that will feed the resin facilities.

The new resins will be used in speciality applications such as adhesives, inks, coatings and rubber.

Neville is a joint venture between US-based companies Neville Chemical, a synthetic resins manufacturer, and engineering and technology company GTC. • Citing competition from China, US-based Carlisle is looking at exiting its tyre business founded nearly 100 years ago, describing it as “no longer a strategic asset.” The speciality tyres are used on all-terrain vehicles and boat and horse trailers, but not on vehicles. It had a loss of US$86.8 million before interest and income taxes, last quarter.

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Rubber Journal Asia Tyre Industry

Tyres: a great way to start going green Lanxess, a leading producer of synthetic highperformance rubber, has been a strong partner to many global automotive manufacturers, and has worked with leading tyre makers to provide consumers with high-performance tyres that have positive environmental impact.

Lanxess not only distributes speciality chemicals, but also provides expertise for

Christoph Kalla says that

manufacturers in applying these products to

Thailand is aiming to be a champion of the “eco-car”

create the best possible quality tyres. This

market in this region by 2015

article by Christoph Kalla, Global Head of

In Thailand, there is a similar upward trend, with car density in the country currently three times higher than the ASEAN average of 44 cars per 100 persons. This capacity is expected to increase by a third, reaching 4 million vehicles in the next few years.* This growth rate has further been fuelled by the ‘eco-car project’ that was launched in early 2007, by the Thai government.

Thailand’s Eco-car programme is a great start imed at becoming the champion of the “eco-car” market in this region by 2015, the scheme looks at promoting the manufacture of environmentally-friendly automobiles that can boost exports and industrial competitiveness of Thailand.

Under this scheme, a tax rebate of 17% for eligible eco-cars was introduced for manufacturers; of these cars who in addition could enjoy a tax exemption on corporate tax for up to eight years. Further benefits in this scheme include a tax exemption on the import duty for machinery and equipment and up to 90% reduction in the import duties on raw materials and finished parts for two years. Manufacturers who wish to apply for the scheme have to manufacture cars with engine capacities below 1,300 cc, considered to be energy efficient.

Additionally, a manufacturer must guarantee to invest more than 5 billion baht in eco-car production and produce more than 10,000 vehicles annually in order to enjoy the tax incentive.

This project has successfully led to an increase of some 700,000 vehicles on the Thai roads within a few years. In 2010, only 60,000 of the vehicles manufactured in the country were eco-cars; that number jumped to 259,000 in 2011 and reached a record high of 430,000 in 2012³.

What has emerged from these developments is a need for the country to maintain a balance between the demand for growing mobility alongside environmental sustainability – a challenge for both industry and consumers.

In Thailand alone, where some 4 million vehicles are expected to hit the roads by the end of this decade, it is not only essential for the country to adapt a sustainable urban lifestyle, but to also provide real solutions to cut down CO2 emissions and noise pollution. This is where

Marketing, Performance Butadiene Rubbers

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Business Unit, outlines the sector in the ASEAN, Thailand’s eco-car programme and tyre labelling.

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he global business community is well aware of the phenomenal growth and success in Southeast Asia over the last decade. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the region has increased by roughly 280% in the ASEAN5¹ from 2001 through 2011. Transportation networks and transport-driven resource consumption have developed growing concerns as a result of this.

Prosperity has generated traffic on the roads, air and sea. From 2000-2010, sales of passenger automobiles in ASEAN member states have increased by an average of more than 14% annually². Notwithstanding the economic setbacks seen in 2011, partly caused by severe flooding in Thailand# and the anxiety over the Thai elections, the total number of cars on ASEAN roads was estimated to be 26 million in 2011 and is expected to rise to 55 million by 2020.

The current regional economic prosperity in Asia is seeing a rising middle class, and an increasing demand for mobility, leading to the consumption of passenger cars. It is predicted that car ownership in Asia is expected to grow further, especially in the cities e.g., Bangkok, Seoul and Shanghai^.

KPMG’s Global Automotive Executive Survey 2013 estimates that in the next 15 years, 85% of mobility growth is expected to come from the BRIC markets (Brazil, Russia, India and China). Of this, 36% is expected to come from China alone.

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Rubber Journal Asia Tyre Industry “green tyres” – low-rolling resistant tyres contributing to fuel efficiency – could add great value to sustainable mobility.

Tyre labelling shaping the Green Tyres phenomenon ccording to a research done by Germany’s Technical University of Munich, tyres on passenger vehicles have a significant impact on fuel consumption and the environment. Tyres account for every fourth filling of petrol in cars and every third filling in commercial trucks, and fuel consumption is impacted by the rolling resistance of one’s tyres used.

Energy loss in tyres is caused by the heating and deformation of tyres, as they work hard to brake and grip the road. Specially engineered “green tyres” can offer consumers increased durability and enhanced safety with less rolling resistance and help improve fuel consumption with reduced energy loss.

It is estimated that 20-30% of fuel consumption and rolling resistance is produced by tyres, and about approximately 24% of a vehicle’s CO2 emissions output is related to tyres.

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Green tyres strike a balance between environmental sustainability and fuel efficiency

emissions. Hence, the relevant information is adequately presented on the tyre label to show consumers the economic and ecological benefits of their tyre choice. In other words, the European consumer is now made more aware of how “green” and efficient their tyres are. With tyre labelling, the power is now in the consumers’ hands to make informed purchasing decisions to save fuel and money.

With the success of the EU’s tyre labelling legislation, many countries have already followed suit in hopes of shrinking domestic fuel consumption, cutting down CO2 emissions and also raising the standards for tyre safety.

In the Asia Pacific region, there is already action taken by countries to go the same direction. As of December 2012, South Korea legislated tyre labelling with the aim of reducing their CO2 emissions by 30% by 2020.

Japan has also initiated the tyre labelling initiative on a voluntary basis since 2010, and this has been championed by the Japan Automobile Tire Manufacturers Association (JATMA), an independent conglomerate formed by Japanese tyre makers. In the case of Europe and Korea, where tyre labelling legislation is in effect, the display of such labels are now mandatory at the point of sale. In Japan, due to its voluntary approach by tyre manufacturers, consumers will only see such labels on tyres of participating tyre makers.

Labelling in tyres help consumers make informed choices. Shown are Lanxess’s rubber bales alongside green tyres

“Green tyres” for example can reduce rolling resistance by approximately 30%, and this could lead to reduced fuel consumption of about 0.5 l per 100 km or alternatively 5-7%, to bring about reduced CO2 emissions or about 1.2 kg per 100 km. Just by choosing ‘green tyres’, passenger car drivers could possibly lower their fuel consumption by some 7-8%, and trucks by about 10-11%. These tyres can also deliver a shorter braking distance at 80 km/hour by up to 21 m***.

Aimed at helping consumers make informed choices during tyre purchase, the European Union (EU) introduced the tyre labelling legislation in November 2012. Tyre labelling provides a classification for tyres that measures three key performance parameters: fuel efficiency (related to rolling resistance), wet grip (impacting safety) and external noise level.

These significant performance parameters contribute greatly in impacting fuel consumption and carbon

Lanxess’s AA concept tyre

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Rubber Journal Asia Tyre Industry While the above markets have detailed tyre labelling in place, China, the biggest automotive consumer in Asia, has vocalised its aim to reduce its CO2 emissions by 40-45% by 2015 via tyre labelling in the near term.

At least 25% of the tyre manufacturers in China have been tasked to produce fuel-efficient and low carbon emitting “green tyres” by this coming mid-decade. India has also publicly announced that it is seeking to reduce the country’s CO2 emissions by 20-25% by 2020, and perhaps it is a matter of time when other countries with overcrowded cities and traffic woes in ASEAN follow suit.

Rather than emissions, green tyres leave a sustainable mark on the environment

The firm makes highperformance rubber for the manufacture of green tyres

essential in Thailand’s bid to stay competitive in the global market while meeting consumer demand for environmentally friendly goods. It will be then imperative for Thailand not to fall behind on technology and instead stay on course with consumer and industry trends and developments, i.e., tyre labelling.

There is no doubt that the implementation time in different regions and different countries will differ due to local political and social reasons. However, the EU example has definitely influenced other regions and countries to follow suit. A good example is Brazil.

The topic of tyre labelling kick-started in the Brazilian governmental discussions shortly into the year 2010, As of mid-2012, the government has confirmed that it will follow the EU’s blueprint on tyre labelling aiming for implementation before 2015 – approximately about half the time the EU had taken to get it legislated.

Based on the introduction and adoption and response to its eco-car policy, Thailand, too, is ready for a tyre labelling legislation foreseeable anytime in the next 3-5 years. This can be further propelled by the automotive industry taking the voluntary approach as seen in Japan, or the legislative route approach as taken by the EU. Will Thai legislators take the next step toward sustainable solutions to further the success of their eco-car programme? Only time will tell.

Tyre labelling has become an important topic by many governments globally. With tyre labelling, we may well see more “green tyres” in the market.

However, more importantly, it is clear that there is now a new awakening and focus on environmental stewardship globally.

In 2015, it is hoped that the Assembly of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), when formed, will help strengthen Thailand’s position as an automotive hub for the region. Thailand will hold a certain responsibility in manufacturing the best possible quality automobiles and automotive parts, including tyres. Adhering to such stringent global manufacturing standards will be

Glossary # According to World Bank estimates, 1.425 billion baht (US$45.7 billion) of damages and losses due to flooding as of Dec 1, 2011 ^

Springer, Transport Development in Asian Megacities: A New Perspective, S. Morichi and S. R. Acharya

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Source: Thai AutoBook 2013 (www.thaibutobook. com)

** Source: Goldman Sachs Global Economics Group. “Is this the BRICs decade?”, 2010 (Population with income > US$6,000 and <US$30,000/capita in

BRIC countries *** According to Lanxess research ¹

The Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam

²

According to 2011 Deutsche Bank Research, titled, ”ASEAN Auto Market- Growing in the shadow of China and India’’

³

According to an article, titled, “Success of eco-car project drives phase 2”, Bangkok Post, 21 June 2013

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Rubber Journal Asia Materials News

Roll out of sustainable materials While Invista is working on bio-derived

With the implementation of the Japanese tyre labelling regulations, at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, the Japanese tyre maker released the prototype for the 100% fossil fuel-free tyre, made from epoxidised natural rubber (ENR). Since then, the firm has furthered its development to improve the product durability as well as the implementation of the technology for mass production.

Also new in this tyre will be the use of “ultrapure natural rubber technology,” which is the manufacturer’s solution to increasing longevity, and therefore reducing raw materials consumption.

The natural rubber is highly purified to enhance the interaction of the natural rubber and carbon black, which helps to increase tread life. The product will be released in November.

Meanwhile, at the Malaysia-based International Rubber Research and Development Board’s International Rubber Conference 2013 on rubber technologies, Dr Stuart Cook, the Director of Research at the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC) in the UK, spoke about the development of Ekoprena ENR, which has been used by Sumitomo in its tyres.

Cook said the development of the green tyre technology, which at first merely referred to the fuelsaving properties of synthetic rubber tread compounds with precipitated silica-filler and silane coupling agent replacing carbon black fillers, has grown to include sustainable, non-fossil fuel resources.

More recently, with the tyre label ratings, natural rubber latex has been chemically modified, making use of ENR to reduce rolling resistance while improving wet grip. Ekoprena is one of the additions to this, and is said to reduce the impact of the tyre tread on fuel consumption by up to 30% on truck tyre radials and more modest gains in passenger tyre radials.

Commercial production of Ekoprena began in Malaysia this year, with Felda Rubber Industries as the sole manufacturer.

Felda expects output to increase to 300 tonnes/month this year and 1,000 tonnes/ month by 2014.

Felda’s natural rubber production capacity is 280,000 tonnes/year.

butadiene, and a new material using palm oil surfaces in Malaysia, Sumitomo is planning on launching a 100% sustainable tyre in November, made from Malaysia’s Ekoprena.

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S chemicals firm Invista and Portugal-based computational biology company SilicoLife are collaborating to develop new technologies to enable bio-derived processes for the production of industrial chemicals like butadiene.

The agreement will leverage Invista’s capabilities in biotechnology and catalysis, and knowledge of the chemicals industry, and SilicoLife’s in silico (performed on computer or via computer simulation) metabolic engineering and rational synthetic biology capabilities for the development of new biobased routes to industrial chemicals.

SilicoLife offers metabolic engineering solutions, builds computational models of microbial cells and develops proprietary algorithms to find the most efficient pathways between the raw material and the end-product.

Meanwhile, at the upcoming Latex & Synthetic Polymer Dispersions conference to be held 10-11 September in Kuala Lumpur, a presentation by Prof Dr Khairiah Haji Badri, Head of Polymer Research Centre at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) will focus on a rubber-like polyurethane from palm kernel oil, made using a pre-polymerisation technique.

Badri says the material is a palm oil-based polymer. “It combines knowledge in rubber and is added into a plastic with the utilisation of a sustainable green material (palm oil) that is found in abundance in Malaysia.” The basic reactant, the palm oil-based ester, is already in the stage of precommercialisation, she said, adding that it has been produced at a pilot plant in UKM that has a capacity of 500 kg.

“Green” tyres on a roll umitomo Rubber Industries of Dunlop will display a 100% fossil fuel-free tyre, which does not use any fossil fuel resources such as petroleum, at the 43rd Tokyo Motor Show 2013 in November. The company says it has been working on the tyre since 2001 and released Enasave ES801 in 2006, which increased the usage of non-fossil resources to 70%, furthered by the release of Enasave 97 in 2008, which had 97% non-fossil resources.

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Rubber Journal Asia Philippines Rubber Industry

Building a rubber nation The increasing usage of rubber is driving demand globally and this has encouraged expansion of rubber acreage of late. The Zamboanga region, with a total planted area of 79,138 hectares (in 2011) is the country’s leading producer of NR with Zamboanga Sibugay as the major producing province.

The Philippine economy has been hailed as a new Asian tiger, since it posted a 6.6% GDP in 2012. This success has spilled over to the rubber sector as well and though the sector still requires a lot

Coping with global demand onsidering that the Philippines is capable of producing sufficient rubber to meet global demands, the country’s production output remains minimal.

Rhodora Medalla, President of the Philippine Rubber Industry Association (PRIA) told PRA that fostering “political will” is essential to achieving targets for the local industry. “Based on the data gathered and sectoral meetings PRIA has had with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industries (DTI), the local rubber industry needs not only political will, but also teamwork and determination within the government, farmers, traders and the private sector to focus on increasing productivity and upgrading the quality of natural rubber produced. It also has to be more cost efficient by adapting new technologies and good agricultural practices.”

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of spadework towards improving yields and implementation of modern planting/ tapping techniques, it is headed towards growth, according to Angelica Buan and Rhodora Medalla, President of the Philippine Rubber Industry Association (PRIA).

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n the first quarter of this year, the Philippines posted a 7.8% year-on-year economic growth, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board, and therefore has become Asia’s fastest rising economy to date.

Ranked as the 40th largest economy by the International Monetary Fund last year, the country has outpaced other ASEAN economies based on Standard & Poor’s (S&P) upgrading following a GDP forecast of 6.9% this year. Hence, the country is now ahead of Indonesia (6.1%), Vietnam (5.3%) and Malaysia, (5.3%).

However, success did not happen overnight for the country that has transitioned from an agricultural economy to a service and manufacturing base.

Nevertheless, its natural assets – climate and vast acreage suitable for cultivation of crops – will continue to drive revenues for its economy.

The Philippines has been cultivating natural rubber (NR) for more than a century now. Back then, three major US tyre companies, Goodyear, Firestone and Goodrich, set up their manufacturing plants in the country. Each company owned 2,000 hectares of plantations in the Mindanao provinces of Zamboanga Sibugay, North Cotabato and Basilan. During the ‘80s, at the height of the US economic recession and the Gulf war, the three foreign firms closed down their plants. The rubber plantations were also broken up into parcels and allotted to small holders during the implementation of the land reform programme of the ruling administration.

“The local rubber industry, from the upstream rubber plantations to the downstream rubber products manufacturing, is optimistic and promising,” says Rhodora Medalla, President of the Philippine Rubber Industry Association (PRIA)

Concerted effort to boost productivity relies heavily on the private sector, which owns a majority of the rubber plantations in the country. “About 90% are owned by small holders and 10% are owned by cooperatives and corporations,” says Medalla.

She further notes that the country’s output is only 1% of the 92% overall output of the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC).

Founded in 1979, when the two rubber associations, namely the Philippine Rubber Manufacturers Association (PRMA) and the Rubber Industries Association of the Philippines (RIAP) merged, the 51-member PRIA ensures that the local rubber industry remains competitive.

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Rubber Journal Asia Philippines Rubber Industry Medalla suggests that to boost domestic rubber production, the plan should include “promoting new rubber plantations and replanting schemes by using tried and tested rubber tree clones adaptable to soil and weather patterns in various areas in the Philippines.”

Meanwhile, the Forest Products Research and Development Institute says that opportunities exist for the country to groom the rubber industry. For instance, Malaysia’s lower NR production is a signal for the Philippines to expand its exports.

Foreign companies are taking the cue, with Yokohama Tyre’s production capacity expansion from the current 21,000 to 50,000 tyres/day by 2017 will make the Philippines-based plant the largest amongst Yokohama’s tyre plants worldwide.

Therefore, it is subject to international factors like fluctuating oil prices, unstable foreign currencies (US$ to Php exchange) and the financial crisis in Europe.

Another factor is the lower demand from China, which is one of the major importers of our crumb rubber (rubber blocks) and cup lumps,” Medalla told PRA.

Supporting the workforce hether cartels exist or not, the lower rubber price was a harsh blow to farmers and processors who now have to make do with lower incomes.

“Rubber tappers in the Philippines get 30-50% of their incomes from the harvest. Depending on the agreement between plantation owners/farmers and the tappers, some are paid a fixed daily rate. But there a r e only a handful of owners who practice this,” Medalla says.

Myth or truth: rubber cartels push prices down eak global prices usually result in the setting Aside from meagre incomes, many farmers and up of illegitimate rubber cartels to shore up rubber tappers lack skills and techniques to properly prices, a strategy that has seen backlashes against tap rubber trees. several European companies. On the other hand, “Many will exploit rubber trees to the maximum, what has been deemed legitimate is the regional NR especially if the market price of cup lump is high. cartel formed in 2001. The International Tripartite But this practice may, in the long run, damage the Rubber Council (ITRC) comprises the top three rubber tree’s productivity life,” says Medalla, when rubber producers, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, asked about the problems facing the rubber industry’s has strategised to stabilise prices by limiting NR workforce. She adds, “Increasing the incomes of production and exports of the founding countries. farmers and processors will prevent, if not eradicate, Legitimate or not, the corruption and unlawful rubber sector is indignant on business practices.” cartelisation and farmers in Medalla explains that “…..the rubber sector is the Philippines have recently government agencies indignant on cartelisation blown the whistle on the setare putting their heads up of a likely cartel. together to counter the and farmers in the In late July, an estimated problem of skills. “The Philippines have recently 5,000 rubber farmers from Agriculture Department and the Free Tappers Association the Technical Education blown the whistle….” in North Cotabato (a Central and Skills Development Mindanao province that is the Authority (TESDA) are country’s second largest rubber producer with 55,000 working together to formulate training modules to hectares) claimed that a cartel had been pushing the certify and upgrade the skills of tappers.” cup lump prices down. The farmers said rubber was Medalla also says that the country started its first sold at Php36/kg in July, lower than the Php 50.51/ rubber training centre in North Cotabato last year. It kg price in February. According to Anthony Bravo, is operated by the local government unit (LGU), which DTI Provincial Director, the lowest buying price per provides training on proper tapping methods and kg recorded in the province was Php19.23 in December new technologies without charging any fees, with the 2008. trainees mostly absorbed by the local rubber industry Consequently, the low prices have taken a toll in the area. Trainees from other areas outside North on farmers’ earnings. However, the local authorities Cotabato are also accepted for a fee. “It focuses on debunked these allegations, with the North Cotabato rubber plantation and production and is not related government attributing it to unstable rubber prices, to the downstream manufacturing of rubber products, lack of modern processing facilities in the province and which is what PRIA represents,” says Medalla, adding a shortage of latex and coagulated lumps. that other LGUs are encouraged to replicate the PRIA also confirms that there are no rubber cartels training centre in their areas. in the Philippines. “The reason for the low prices is The centre also extends training to ethnic that being an agricultural product, rubber is a globally minorities and recently concluded a rubber tapping traded commodity just like rice, sugar, corn and wheat. training course for a group of T’boli natives.

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Rubber Journal Asia Philippines Rubber Industry “Skills training forms part of the human resource development programme of the government and it is being conducted to increase the number of tappers and workers in the processing sector,” Medalla explains.

While rubber processing and production are mostly male-dominated, according to Medalla, women are also contributing to the sector, mostly constituting the workforce in the bud planting segment and rubber nurseries owned by corporate farmers.

Overall, the Philippines, in its journey to becoming a growth leader in Asia, is still contending with high unemployment rates.

Medalla believes that the rubber sector can help address the scarcity of work, especially in rural areas.

“In Mindanao, as well as areas where rubber planting is amenable, there will be a need for skilled tappers and workers, therefore the quality of lives of these people will improve,” she says.

The scheme is targeting to cultivate 200,000 hectares by 2016, or an average increase of 10,000 hectares/year. The DTI projected that the plantation target will create some 5,000 jobs per year, or a ratio of one job per 2 hectares.

Not a sunset industry yet edalla envisions bright prospects for the local rubber industry and for it to grow at a steady pace.

“The high confidence rating of the business sector in the Philippine government (under President Benigno Aquino Jr.) has created a wave of enthusiasm, optimism and faith,” she says.

She adds that the country’s rubber sector has yet to tap its full potential, nevertheless, it already has taken bold steps to position itself strategically amongst its co-rubber producing ASEAN member countries.

“Amongst our strengths is that we still have land to develop plantations. We can also adopt new rubber tree clones and modern agricultural technologies that have been proven effective through years of research by other NR producing countries. This can be enabled by technology transfers within the ASEAN group. Implementing these will prevent us from making costly mistakes,” she says.

China’s increasing labour costs and the subsequent higher prices of finished products could also benefit manufacturers in the Philippines, says Medalla. “Customers will seek out more options and start buying Filipino products that are equally cost effective and of high quality,” she observes.

As for the slowdown of global demand from the automotive sector due to the slower economies in Europe, US and China, Medalla says that the situation is short term. “The fact that transportation is a necessity is assurance that demand will pick up again in the near future.”

According to Singapore-based International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) and the ANRPC, global market demand for NR was 10.974 million tonnes in 2011; and 10.9 million tonnes in 2012, versus the world market supply of 11.031 million tonnes and 11.383 million tonnes, in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Medalla says that though there was a surplus in 2011/2012, the demand, notably from the tyre industry, will be on an uptake in 2013/2014.

In conclusion, Medalla adds that even though the automotive sector is the top consumer for rubber, other sectors like industrial, marine, construction, footwear and medical are potential and huge markets ready to be tapped by the Philippine rubber industry.

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Traversing the rubber road map for a clear path eanwhile, Medalla says the government has, for the past three years been working to draw up a road map with the assistance of agencies like the DA, DTI, Bureau of Investments (BOI) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and its sub agencies.

“The rubber sector’s involvement encompasses the upstream (rubber plantations and farmers), the midstream (rubber processors, traders) and the downstream sectors (rubber products manufacturers of tyres, footwear, industrial and automotive rubber parts, and latex products).” The road map, covering short to medium term plans from 2011-2016, focuses on the following: • Increasing productivity and cost effectiveness • Improving the quality and sustainability of rubber products • Establishing institutions to sustain, support and monitor the rubber industry from upstream to downstream • Focusing on human resource capabilities • Intensifying market connection, both domestic and global

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The manufacture of rubber products in the country needs to be increased

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Rubber Journal Asia Country Focus

Tyre sector in Iran

by Hooman Tootoonchi, Pars Tire Company, Iran

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Automobile industry of Iran ranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy is one of a few economies in the world that remained unscathed during the 20072009 recession, helped mainly by the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oil and gas sector. In 2010, oil and gas exports from Iran constituted 60% of government revenue. The country was the fourth largest oil producer in the world in 2011 and its petrochemical segment has a high capacity.

The automobile industry trails after the oil industry, with 1,648,505 cars produced in the country, making it the 13th largest maker of cars globally and the leader in the Middle East.

In 2009, Iran ranked fifth, with respect to the growth rate of the global car industry, after China, Taiwan, Romania and India, with an average of 200 cars per 1,000 people. Based on the Bureau of Census estimates, Iran has a population of 77 million, with a majority aged between 15-39 years old; and a high literacy rate of the population that is educated up to tertiary level.

iven the growth of the young population in Iran and the very diverse desires for car selection, the automotive industry and its related industries, particularly the tyre sector, have grown. In respect to these conditions, the tyre industry has made investments for enhancing the technical and performance aspects so that it can maintain its position in the competitive global market.

Iran entered the automotive industry more than 50 years ago to manufacture different kinds of automobiles, with the first automobile factory established in the country in 1957. Thus, the first tyre factory was set up in the country by BF Goodrich about 50 years ago.

As Iran is the second biggest country in the Middle East, with an area of 1,698,340 sq km and also due to the growing young population, the tyre industry should be suitably developed, alongside the car industry. Of course, it should be noted that the establishment of the Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute and Iran Rubber Industries Research Centre, have helped this industry to grow significantly.

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Companies currently producing tyres in Iran Location

Production

Ardabil

Capacity (tonnes/year)

Technology

Establishment

Company

Bias truck & passenger car tyres; radial passenger car tyres; agricultural tyres

28,500

TRI, Russia

1996

Ortavil Tire

Tehran

Bias truck & passenger car tyres; radial passenger car tyres; agricultural tyres

29,000

General Tire & Rubber, US

1963

Tehran

Bicycle/motorcyle tyres and tubes

16,000

IRC, Japan

1968

Iran Yasa & Rubber

Kerman

Bias truck & passenger car tyres; radial passenger car & truck (allsteel) tyres; agricultural tyres

50,000

Continental, Germany & Marangoni, Italy

1993

Barez

Saveh

Bias truck & passenger car tyres

40,000

Pirelli, Italy

1976

Pars Tire

Shiraz

Bias truck & passenger car tyres; radial passenger car tyres; agricultural tyres

40,000

Bridgestone, Japan

1974

Khozestan

Birjand

Bias truck & passenger car tyres; radial passenger car tyres

25,500

Matador, Slovakia

1998

Kavir Tire

Tehran

Bias truck & passenger car tyres; radial passenger car tyres; agricultural tyres

28,000

BF Goodrich, US

1962

Alborz

Yazd

Bias truck & passenger car tyres; radial passenger car tyres; bicycle and motorcycle tyres

20,000

Vredestein, Netherlands & IRC, Japan

1995

Yazd Tire

Iran Tire

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Rubber Journal Asia Country Focus of bias and radial tyres for cars. One of them has the technology to produce radial tyres for trucks.

The tyre industry is growing in tandem with the car market and it can be noted that there are not enough tyres to supply the market, with imports required.

Due to this, domestic companies like Barez Industrial Group (Kerman), Yazd Tire and Iran Tire have identified development programmes for offsetting this deficiency and are in the midst of implementing these programmes.

Iran’s automotive sector is also focused on enhancing the quality of cars and optimising weight reduction, enhancing the safety, reducing the manufacturing costs and reducing energy.

The country also complies with standards for bus tyres, bias truck tyres and bias wagon tyres. The first standard pertaining to the properties and methods of testing was implemented in 1974. It was revised and is now stated as a Standard No 2169/1.

The standard denotes international references such as TRA, JIS, ISO, FMVSS, ETRTO, ECE, meaning to say that Iran’s tyre industry is not far behind other developed countries.

Iran, the second largest country in the Middle East, entered the automotive industry more than five decades ago, with BF Goodrich as the first tyre factory in the country

Meanwhile, it is predicted that the number of cars in Iran will total more than 30 million by the end of 2021. Thus, with the growth of the automobile industry, increasing affluence of the population and import of various cars into the country, the demand for tyres is expected to increase.

Conclusion ran has a huge potential for growth in its tyre market and is an attractive prospect for joint ventures to set up facilities due to: • Lack of investments in the tyre industry • Vastness of the country • Reliance on road transport as the main

transportation system • An educated young population • Relatively low costs for establishing production facilities • Proximity to other markets in the Middle East It is forecast that automobile production will reach 11.6 million vehicles/year, with 1 million vehicles/year to be imported – this volume of growth will surely require tyres and is a ripe market for further growth, compared to the saturated market in developed countries.

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Burgeoning tyre market ran experiences diverse weather conditions, with temperatures ranging from -30°C (in Ardabil) to +60°C (in some areas of the south and central deserts of Iran). The weather conditions require consistent tyre technology. Besides this, about 80% of travel is undertaken by road, due to the limited capacity of the railway network as well as the vast geographical layout of the cities and villages.

Therefore, since road transport is the main economical vein of the country, the transport industry has consistently maintained its growth in terms of quality and quantity, n otwithstanding the various challenges that arose as a result of eight years of internal/external strife in the recent years. For instance, during the Islamic revolution the production of tyres was only 1,000 tonnes, but in 2007, it was more than 238,000 tonnes.

Nine companies are active in the production of tyres and tubes, with eight companies having different tonnages Heavy and light truck tyre market in Iran for the production

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Events 2013 16 - 23 OCTOBER K2013 Venue: Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre, Germany Tel: +49 211 4560 900 Fax: +49 211 4560 668 Email: k-online@messe-duesseldorf.de Internet: www.k-online.de 20 - 23 NOVEMBER P&R Indonesia Venue: Jakarta International Expo Kemayoran, Indonesia Tel: +62 21 316 2001 Fax: +62 21 316 1981 Email: info@pamerindo.com Internet: www.pamerindo.com 21 NOVEMBER Green Packaging Conference Venue: Jakarta International Expo Kemayoran, Indonesia Tel: +603 4260 4575 Fax: +603 4260 4576 Email: winston@taramedia.com.my Internet: www.plasticsandrubberasia.com 12 - 16 DECEMBER Plastivision Venue: Bombay Exhibition Centre, India Tel: +91 22 2827 1678 Fax: +91 22 2825 2295 Email: marketing@plastivision.org Internet: www.plastivision.org

2014 3 - 5 MARCH Sino-Pack Venue: China Import & Export Fair Pazhou Complex, Guangzhou, China Tel: +852 2811 8897 Fax: +852 2516 5119 Email: exhibition@adsale.com.hk Internet: www.packinno.com

23 - 26 APRIL Chinaplas Venue: Shanghai New International Expo Centre, China Tel: +852 2516 3325 Fax: +852 2516 5024 Email: chinaplas@adsale.com.hk Internet: www.chinaplasonline.com 14 - 16 MAY Rubber & Tyre Vietnam Venue: Saigon Exhibition & Convention Centre, Vietnam Tel: +84 8 38427755 Fax: +84 8 62936024 Email: info@veas.com.vn Internet: www.inrubber.cn 6 - 7 JUNE Kenya Plast Venue: Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi, Kenya Tel: +91 79 2970 1994 Email: info@kmgindia.com Internet: www.kmgindia.com 11 - 14 JUNE Propak Asia Venue: BITEC, Bangkok, Thailand Tel: +66 02 615 1255 Fax: +66 02 615 2991 Email: piyaporn@besallworld.com Internet: www.propakasia.com 14 - 16 AUGUST Sri Lanka Plast Venue: Sri Lanka Exhibition & Convention Centre, Colombo., Sri Lanka Tel: + 91 97890 95247 Email: srilankaplast@smartexpos.in Internet: www.srilankaplast.com 3 - 6 SEPTEMBER Indoplas Venue: Jakarta International Expo Kemayoran, Indonesia Tel: +65 6332 9620 Fax: +65 6337 4633 Email: indoplas@mda.com.sg Internet: www.indoplas.com

4 - 6 MARCH Propak Vietnam Venue: Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre, Vietnam Tel: +66 2615 1255 Ext. 113 Fax: +66 2615 2993 Email: arayabhorn@besallworld.com Internet: www.plasticsvietnam.com

26 - 30 SEPTEMBER Taipeiplas Venue: Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall,Taiwan Tel: +886 2 2725 5200 Email: plas@taitra.org.tw Internet: www.taipeiplas.com.tw

12 - 15 MARCH Bangkok International Tire Expo Venue: BITEC, Bangkok, Thailand Tel: +662-933 0077 Fax: +662-955 9971 Email: enquiry@Bangkok-Tire-Expo.com Internet: www.Bangkok-Tire-Expo.com

14 - 18 OCTOBER Fakuma Venue: Friedrichshafen, Germany Tel: +49 (0) 7025 9206 0 Fax: +49 (0) 7025 9206 620 Email: info@schall-messen.de Internet: www.fakuma-messe.de

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INTERNATIONAL OFFICES Publishing Office Postbus 130, 7470 AC Goor, The Netherlands Tel: +31 547 275005 Fax: +31 547 271831 Email: arthur@kenter.nl Contact: Arthur Schavemaker Regional Office SQ9, Block A, Menara Indah, Taman TAR, 68000 Ampang, Selangor, Malaysia Tel: +603 4260 4575 Fax: +603 4260 4576 Email: tej@plasticsandrubberasia.com Contact: Tej Fernandez China & Hong Kong Matchexpo Co. Ltd Room 702, No. 2, Lane 707, Greenland Avenue, Kunshan, Jiangsu, 205300, China Tel: +86 21 3921 8471 Fax: +86 21 60911211#3091 Mobile: +86 18915759645 Email: marketing@matchexpo.com Contact: Bin Li Germany, Benelux, Austria, Switzerland & France Kenter & Co BV Postbus 130, 7470 BV Goor, The Netherlands Tel: +31 547 275005 Fax: +31 547 271831 Email: arthur@kenter.nl Contact: Arthur Schavemaker India Tara Media & Communications SQ 9, Block A, Menara Indah Jalan 9, Taman TAR, 68000 Ampang, Selangor, Malaysia Tel: +603 4260 4575 Fax: +603 4260 4576 Email: winston@taramedia.com.my Contact: Winston Fernandez Italy, Spain & Portugal MediaPoint & Communications Srl Corte Lambruschini, Corso Buenos Aires, 8, Vo Piano - Interno 9, 16129 Genova, Italy Tel: +39 010 570 4948 Fax: +39 010 553 0088 Email: info@mediapointsrl.it Contact: Fabio Potesta Philippines U-10A C-11, Fordham Bldg.

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In the time it takes to read this headline, our HyCAP system produced this many closures When it comes to being competitive in the closures market, just producing high volumes is not enough. You must be able to produce the highest volumes while consistently manufacturing superior quality parts—which leaves no room for variability in an operation.

As the industry’s only supplier of complete injection molding system solutions for beverage closures, Husky supports the entire closure ­manufacturing system—helping streamline your operation to consistently produce and ship higher quality parts.

HyCAP™ systems are specifically optimized to reduce variability, minimize waste and maximize productivity, so you can focus on what matters most—satisfied customers and a healthy bottom line.

To learn more about the benefits of HyCAP visit www.husky.ca/discover-hycap

Husky World Tour 2013 www.husky.ca/world-tour