CONTENT
IN THIS ISSUE... 14...... AIPMA At Work 32...... plastivision india - 2013 show .......... preview
The Official Organ of The All India Plastics Manufacturers Association Estd. 1945
MH/MR/N/200/MBI/12- 14 Volume 61
December 2012 No. 12
39...... Company News
Chairman - Editorial Board
Dr. Asutosh Gor
45...... Features
Hon. Editor
Mr. Ajay Desai
Members
Mr. A. E. Ladhaboy Dr. Y. B. Vasudeo Ms. Poorvi Desai
... Plexpoindia..... The Countdown begins ...Magnetic clamping systems for efficiency
Editorial Co-ordination: Padmesh Prabhune, Dhruv Communications, Mumbai, Tel No: 00-22-2868 5198 / 5049 • Fax No : 00-22-28685495 email: dhruvpr@vsnl.net Published by Ms. Uma Gupta on behalf of the owners, The All India Plastics Manufacturers’ Association Plot No. A-52, Road No. 1, M.I.D.C., Andheri (E), Mumbai-400 093. Tel: 67778899 • Fax : 00-22-2821 6390 E-mail : office@aipma.net Website : http://www.aipma.net and printed by her at Dhote Offset Technokrafts Pvt. Ltd., Jogeshwari (E), Mumbai-400 060. Annual Subscription Rs. 1,000/Single issue Rs. 75/Views/Reports/Extracts etc. published in Plastics News are those of the
...China keen on solar plans
authors and not necessarily of the Editor. Furthermore except for copies of
...Vinyl Makes Life More Affordable
formal AIPMA communications no other matter in this journal should be
...Ocean Plastic: Method turns pollution into packaging
interpreted as views of The All India Plastics Mfgrs. Association.
52...... International News
OFFICE BEARERS
58...... Business News
Dr. Asutosh Gor President
Mr. Manish Dedhia Vice President (West Zone)
Mr. R. K. Aggarwal Vice President (North Zone)
Mr. Hiten Bheda Hon. Secretary
69...... Technology
Mr. Anil Bansal Vice President (South Zone)
Mr. Haren Sanghavi Hon. Jt. Secretary
71...... In the News
Mr. Ashok Agarwal Vice President (East Zone)
Mr. Sanju D. Desai Hon. Treasurer
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66...... Product News
73...... Events
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THE PRESIDENT SAYS e at AIPMA have had the privilege of witnessing some historic moments in the past couple of weeks.
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A seminar, jointly organized with UNIDO-ICAMT was held on 24th November at AIPMA House on improving Energy efficiency in plastic manufacturing. The seminar had live telecast on the internet for the first time for the benefit of members who could not be present physically to attend. Speakers from companies like Kirloskar, Yuken, Baumuller, Hitco Electricals shared their knowledge and expertise to decrease the energy cost by using Energy efficient tools, thereby helping in lowering input cost of power in manufacturing and increasing Profitability of the companies, with ever rising power bills this interaction was of significant importance for Plastic manufacturing industry. I feel extremely happy to share with you that AIPMA has signed an MOU with Society of Plastics Industry (SPI – USA) which organizes National Plastic exhibition. The NPE-USA, last edition was held in Orlando, PLASTIVISION INDIA-2013 will witness a NPE-USA pavilion of 2500 sq mtrs along with all other foreign partner countries. This is an important initiative as far as AIPMA and Indian Plastic industry is concerned. During the signing Of MOU with Mr. William Carteaux President and CEO of SPI-USA in Miami, he conveyed that US exhibitors were looking forward to exhibiting in India and were very upbeat on the prospect of doing business with India. Also I Had the opportunity to attend meet on Global Plastics Industry for marine litter solutions at Miami Florida on 3rd Dec. 2012 along with Mr Arvind Mehta, wherein AIPMA signed a declaration on marine litter, an initiative by American Chemistry council and Plastics Europe with an objective to contribute to solutions aimed at preventing marine debris, help spread knowledge regarding eco-efficient waste management systems and practices, enhance opportunities to recover plastic products for recycling and energy recovery. Although marine litter is relatively not yet an active subject in India days are not far when we, as a plastic industry, will have to play a proactive role in addressing the issue, the developed countries are already facing the environmental heat associated with marine litter. During this visit I had the opportunity to participate in the 23rd annual global meeting on Plastics and sustainability at Miami on the 4th and 5th of December 2012 wherein representatives of Plastic association from different countries like Japan, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Brazil, USA ,to name a few met and discussed topics such as Threats and Challenges for the Plastic industry, Bans and Deselection, Strategies and opportunities for Plastic Industry, Waste Management, Outreach-meaning how can we better demonstrate the positive contribution of plastics. American Chemistry Council Plastics division motto: ‘Chemistry to Energy’ was an revelation. Chemistry is creating technologies that empower to increase energy efficiency, nearly every energy efficient technology is dependent on innovations in chemistry-from lithium –ion batteries that power our laptop and mobile phones and will drive next gen electric cars, to building insulation and strong yet lightweight plastic packaging that allow more products to be shipped with less weight. Transforming waste into a valuable energy resource through advanced energy recovery technologies inspite of traditional recycling tons of high energy content products like non recycled plastics and other materials are buried in land fill everyday-wasting a valuable energy source. Modern energy recovery facilities can process waste with fewer emissions than conventional fuels processed in most power plants, while innovative Plastics-to-Oil technologies convert plastics into alternative fuels. Dr. Asutosh Gor president@aipma.net
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FROM THE EDITOR'S PEN
Two to tango.. resident Barack Obama visited custom injection
P
the business previously located
molder Rodon Group LLC in Hatfield, earlier in
at the former Automotive
the month as part of his week-long effort to garner
Components Holdings LLC in
support for his proposal to extend tax cuts for middle-
Saline, Mich.
income people and end them for families who make
The White House released a
more than $250,000 a year.
report that outlined the impact
Rodon Group, is a subsidiary of K’Nex Brands LP,
that middle class tax increases would have on both
which makes K’Nex building toys. The two privately
consumers and the retail industry. The White House
held companies are both owned by Joel Glickman, the
also released an analysis by the National Economic
inventor of the K’Nex building toy system.
Council which said that millions of small-business owners would suffer if the middle class taxes went
According to the White House “The president would
up next year.
travel to continue make the public case for action by visiting a business that depends on middle class
Republicans want to preserve all the Bush tax cuts
consumers during the holiday season and could be
set to expire Jan. 1, reduce government spending to
impacted if taxes go up on 98 percent of Americans
cut into the nation’s debt of more than $16 trillion-plus
at the end of the year..
debt, and close tax loopholes to increase government revenues.
This was the second time that a plastics company executive had the President's attention. Earlier, Andra
While this seems to be a good measure we can
Rush, the head of two auto interior joint ventures, was
learn from our counterparts. Needless to say there
among the small business owners invited to the White
is no comparison between US and India but the
House to discuss the economy.
good thing is that contribution of Plastics Industry is acknowledged and valued..
Rush owns Wayne, Mich.-based Rush Trucking and heads up Dakkota Integrated Systems, a joint venture with Magna International Inc.'s Intier group, and
Hon. Editor
recently launched Detroit Manufacturing Systems, a
Ajay Desai
joint venture with Faurecia SA that will take on some of
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editor@aipma.net
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Second Meeting of the Associations’ Council on 21st November, 2012 he Second Meeting of the Associations’ Council (ASCON) was held on 21st November, 2012 in New Delhi. From The All India Plastics Manufacturers’ Association (AIPMA) Mr. Manish Dedhia – Vice President (West Zone) attended the meeting.
& Suresh A. Shroff &Co. presented a presentation on Competition Act, 2002 Implications for Trade Associations.
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Ms. Bidisha Ganguly – Chief Economist of Brics Securities Limited presented a presentation on The Indian Economy. The presentation gave us the information of the State of the economy, trends in employment & policy reforms in India.
He also submitted the budget proposal to the Confederation of Indian Industry which was highly appreciated.There were expert professionals and researchers from various fields of the industry.
The third presentation was on Outlook of Indian Economy and Industry which was presented by Mr. Mukesh Agarwal – President, CRISIL Research. For more information on above presentations visit us on www.aipma.net
Mr. Pallavi S. Shroff – Senior Partner and Head of Competition Law Practice, Amarchand & Mangaldas
Seminar on Improving Energy Efficiency in Plastic Manufacturing A Report by Madhav Karbelkar e had organized one day seminar on “Improving Energy Efficiency in Plastic Manufacturing” on 24th November 2012, at AIPMA to reate more awareness about Energy Efficiency in Plastic Industry. The Seminar was inaugurated by AIPMA President Dr Asutosh Gor. It is perhaps for the first time that such comprehensive seminar covering almost all the important aspects of Energy Savings in Plastics was held.
through – Epitome Solutions)
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In all there were 5 topics presented in the Seminar 1. Energy Audit ( S e n e r g y Consultants)
It was also a historic moment that for the first time UNIDOICAMT as well as AIPMA could broadcast the seminar live on Internet (Webinar) for the benefit of those who can’t visit such events. The Webinar was arranged
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Mr. Datar explained about scope of Energy Audit, his experiences and gave example of improvements. 2. Energy Savings in Compressors (Kirloskar Pneumatic) Mr. Sundaresan explained in details about Energy saving methods/options in Compressors. Some simple practical tips on avoiding - over rated compressors, higher bar pressure than required, air leakages etc. were given. His colleague from their Pune plant gave brief
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AIPMA AT WORK presentation on different projects they have undertaken to reduce Energy Consumption year after year. It was a very useful presentation making it clear that for Energy Efficiency every aspect of process should be looked into. (KPL got many Awards in all India Energy Conservation competitions)
along with a detailed case Study. Mr. Kulkarni from Baumuller explained about their Servo Technology along with a lot of case studies in which it was indicated that pay back period of retrofitting is attractive. 5. Energy Savings in Heating Elements (Hitco)
3. Energy Efficiency Measurement & Analysis (National Consultant - UNIDO –ICAMT Mumbai Plastic Industry Cluster)
Mr. Khandelwal from HITCO, explained about different types of Heating Elements available along with benefits of using it. He also presented a case study in which change of Heating Elements to latest types saved considerable energy.
4. Servo Technology (YUKEN & Baumuller) Mr. Rajesh from YUKEN & his colleague explained about their Servo Motor/Pump technology and application in Injection & Blow Molding Machines. The principle behind Servo working was nicely explained in technical terms
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Mr. Madhav Karbelkar – National Consultant – UNIDOICAMT (Mumbai Plastic Industry Cluster) made a case
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AIPMA AT WORK for urgency in improving Energy Efficiency due to Government’s decision of revising tariffs every year. He explained it from Cost competitiveness angle. He urged that we should first take simple steps of measuring Plant wise Total Energy Consumption, its break up etc by filling up simple EXL formats. Mr. Sanju Desai proposed vote of thanks at the end. The feedback available with us indicates that the following three topics were appreciated most – Energy Audit, Servo Technology & Heating Elements.
Report of Plastindia International University Interactive Meet on 5th December, 2012 Delegation from University of Massachusetts, Lowell visits Plastindia Foundation honour which was attended by leaders from processing industry, faculty members and invitees from founder members on 5th December at Plastindia office in Mumbai.
faculty delegation from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell headed by Mr. Mark Reimer, Executive Director in charge of University Advancement visited India between 2nd and 10th December 2012.
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Mr. Manish Dedhia - VP (West Zone), Mr. Hiten Bheda - Hon. Secretary, Mr. Raju Desai – Chairman PVI 2013 & Member Plastindia Foundation and Mr. Jayesh Rambhia Past President from AIPMA attended the meeting.
The visit to India was with the objective to understand needs for human resources in plastic processing sector and to exchange ideas for bilateral co operation in the field of education. Creating Talent pool and to balance it with the subsequent opportunitites is the need of hour.
Visiting members of the delegation interacted with the invitees seeking perspective on current HR situation and expectation of the industry.
The visit is a step forward to MOU signed by University of Massachussets and PLASTINDIA FOUNDATION to set up a state of the art Engineering and Management institution named as Plastindia International University at Vapi.
Mr. Mark Reimer, Executive Director made a detailed presentation on UMASS and road map for Plastindia International University.
The delegation visited the site porposed for the said University at Vapi and took the opportunity to see plastic processing units nearby.
The institution in planning stage will provide platform to train skilled human resources for the processing sector and will use inputs received during the meeting as well as gap study survey carried out by Plastindia Foundation.
Plastindia Foundation hosted a luncheon meeting in their
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Global Plastics Industry Meeting in Miami he 23rd Annual Global Meeting on Plastics & Sustainability organized by The American Chemistry Council (ACC) – The apex body of Petroleum Companies in the United States held from 3rd - 5th December, 2012 at Miami was represented by Dr. Asutosh Gor – President AIPMA & Mr. Arvind Mehta – Executive Director (Asian Continent CIPAD), Chairman – Advisory Board PVI 2013.
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ACC is America’s oldest trade association representing companies engaged in the business of chemistry, petrochemicals. ACC helps in solving the biggest challenges faced by the nation. Dr. Asutosh Gor & Mr. Arvind Mehta were invited by the ACC to highlight to the forum the opportunities presented by India to the global plastics fraternity as well as provide the 1st hand insight to factors concerning the ‘sustainability issues’.
Mr. Arvind Mehta presented 6 papers on Report of India.
The three day conference saw a strong representation by The All India Plastics Manufacturers' Association (AIPMA) by way of a lecture series delivered by Mr. Arvind Mehta – Chairman, Advisory Board PVI 2013. The other participating countries were Europe, US, Japan, China, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, etc.
Issues & Challenges of Plastics Industry in India
2.
Waste Management
3.
Chemical in Plastics
4.
Plastics for a sustainable future
5.
Positive contribution of plastics.
6.
Bans & De-selection
The presentations were very well appreciated by the global audience.
Global Plastics Industry meet was a marathon of discussions, discussing various reports on the respective nations and the threats & challenges for the plastics industry.
Mr. Arvind Mehta’s presentation on Waste Management was the most appreciated presentation among the others. Details of the presentation are available on AIPMA Website i.e. www.aipma.net.
This event saw the captains of the plastics industry all over the world, converge to discuss and deliberate the issues of plastics and its sustainability.
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Landmark achievement by AIPMA r. Asutosh Gor and Mr. Arvind Mehta during their visit to Global Plastics Industry Meeting in Miami met Mr. William Carteaux, President, Society of Plastics Industry (SPI).
2013 Exhibition which is a Landmark achievement for AIPMA and the Indian Plastics Industries.
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AIPMA has signed an Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with the Society of Plastics Industry (SPI) which organises NPE (National Plastic Exhibition).
As we know SPI is an plastics industry trade association representing the third largest manufacturing industry in the United States.
The MOU was signed on 6th December, 2012 at 4.30 am. early in the morning.
SPI promotes various business developments through commercial services, trade shows, etc.
For the first time in the history of India and AIPMA will witness US Exhibitors in Plastivision India 2013. NPE – USA have signed a MOU for 2500 sq. mtrs along with other foreign exhibitors.
NPE is one of the largest exhibitions organised by SPI. Now India will witness United States in Plastivision India
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AIPMA Signed a Declaration on Marine Litter initiated by American Chemistry Council & PlasticsEurope merican Chemistry Council & PlasticsEurope has taken an initiative to stop Marine Litter.
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Marine litter is a human created waste that has been discharged into the costal or marine environment. The world’s plastics associations announced a Progress Report on “The Global Declaration of the Plastics Associations” in Miami on December 4, 2012 for Solutions on Marine Litter which was originally announced in March 2011 at the 5th International Marine Debris Conference. The Progress Report identifies more than 140 projects to prevent marine litter that are completed, underway or planned – a substantial
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Working with scientific community & researchers for better understanding & to evaluate the scope, origins and impact on marine litter.
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Promoting to the comprehensive science – based policies and enforcement of existing laws to prevent marine litter.
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Spreading knowledge regarding eco- efficient waste management systems and practices, particularly in communities and countries that border’s oceans and watersheds.
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Enhancing opportunities to recover plastic products for recycling & energy recovery.
• Steward the transport and distribution of plastic resin pellets and products from supplier to customer to prevent product loss and encourage the consumers to do the same. Subsequently, declaration signatories identified 100 specific actions designed to fulfill the declaration, and they agreed to track and report progress. Additional associations subsequently signed the Declaration. It gives us pleasure to announce that AIPMA has also joined hands with PlasticsEurope on Marine Littering. AIPMA has signed an MOU along with other associations. The projects vary widely, from education to global research and eco – efficient waste management and litter prevention.
and significant increase from the 100 projects announced in Dubai in November 2011. In addition, the Progress Report provides case studies and detailed insights into preventing marine litter that can be expanded in other regions. In March 2011, leaders from associations representing plastics makers from regions across the globe announced the Global Declaration, a public commitment by a global industry to work with partners to tackle a global problem: plastics in the marine environment. These plastics associations identified six areas of engagements:•
Contributing to sustainable solutions by focusing on public private partnerships to prevent marine litter
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Antec 2012 he Society of Plastic Engineers, USA also popularly known as SPE, organized it Prestigious ANTEC conference in Mumbai, India on December 6 & 7, 2012 at the Renaissance Convention Centre Hotel, Powai, Mumbai. This is the first time that ANTEC has been organized outside North America in the Society's 70th year of Existence & Excellence.
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This Plastics & Polymers conference has been the largest ever conference for the Industry with a 2 day event where 178 papers were presented across 7 parallel tracks. An interesting session during the conference was the New Technologies Forum, where 6 invited eminent speakers from across the global presented on the future of Plastics and Plastic Processing in the areas of Carbonaceous nano-materials, including, including graphenes and carbon nano-tubes, concluding with a panel discussion.
conducted by experts imparting valuable technical training for the Indian processing sector. A well attended plenary session in the evening on the first day of the conference was addressed by Honourable Chief Minister of Goa, Shri Manohar Parikar who emphasized importance of plastics for our economy and cautioned to address environmental issues.
ANTEC an extension of SPE activity and a very popular technical conference for plastic professionals is normally held in USA under SPE banner. For the first time, ANTEC comes to INDIA with quality that matches its traditional version.
He was so kind to give his personal time to AIPMA to discuss the request of Plastic Park in Goa. Dr. Ernesto Occhiello, SABIC Executive VP of technology and Innovation addressed on “Plastic Materials for sustainability, light weight and high performance”. D r. A j i t S a p r e , R E L I A N C E INDUSTRIES Group President Research and Technology briefed audience on “Technology- trends and challenges for Indian industry”.
An event well planned and meticulously executed was attended by over 450 delegates. In addition, the two day conference included special workshops on scientific injection moulding, Thermo forming and Medical Device manufacturing
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AIPMA AT WORK Mr. Manish Dedhia – Vice President (West Zone), Mr. Hiten Bheda – Hon. Secretary, Mr. Haren Sanghavi – Hon. Jt. Secretary, Mr. Sanju Desai – Hon. Treasurer, Mr. Raju Desai – Chairman PVI 2013, Mr. Jayesh Rambhia – Chairman PVA 2014, Mr. Akhilesh Bhargava – Chairman Environment Committee were the dignitaries from AIPMA who attended the conference. From AIPMA Staff Ms. Sanjeevani Kothare, Ms. Priyanka Sakpal, Mr. Ritesh Naik, Mr. Fahim Memon, Mr. Achal Uppal had attended this Conference. They did marketing for Plastivision India – 2013, Plastivision Arabia – 2014 and also campaigned for AIPMA Membership & Plastics News Advertisement. The overall response was good & the team was successful in getting confirmations from few exhibitors.
ANTEC Mumbai 2012 was the largest plastics technical conference ever held in India, said Mr. Griffing, and he also expects that the next edition of ANTEC in India to be considerably larger. Mr. Griffing cited Mr. Vijay Boolani, ANTEC Mumbai 2012 conference chair, for providing the inspiration for the event and working tirelessly to make it a reality. Subsequently there was dinner and cocktail where the AIPMA team had a good opportunity to mingle with crowd and discuss various points related to Plastivision India 2013 and Plastics in general.
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Report of the meetings attended by Mr. R. K. Aggarwal – Vice President (North Zone) Products Division Council was held on 12th December, 2012 at BIS Auditorium, Bureau of Indian Standards, Manak Bhavan, New Delhi. Shri R. K. Aggarwal – Vice President (North Zone) had attended the meeting on behalf of AIPMA. First of all, Scientist “G” & Chief (Standardization), BIS and all members of PCDC welcomed the new Chairman Dr. R. K. Malhotra has been appointed as the new Chairman for PCDC. Dr. Malhotra, Director (R & D IOCL, Faridabad) is a renowned expert in his field.
1. Meeting on 11th December 2012 at UNDP Conference Hall, New Delhi. FICCI had organized a panel discussion on the Challenges faced by the business sectors and how they can be incentivized to address corruption more effectively with the help of associations like CII on 11th December, 2012 at The UNDP Conference hall, 55 Lodhi Road, Max Mueller Marg, Near IIC, New Delhi from 4.30pm to 6:30pm. Shri R. K. Aggarwal – Vice President (North Zone) AIPMA, attended the lecture program on behalf of AIPMA. The Program was impressed by all the participants.
4. Mr. R. K. Aggarwal – Vice President (North Zone) attended the Exclusive Interactive Meeting with the Officials of Member Bodies of FICCI on the occasion of 85th Annual General Meeting on 14th December, 2012 at Federation House in New Delhi.
2. Meeting on 12th December, 2012 at CII Conference Hall, Gurgaon, Haryana A Half day Lecture program on Computer Design Simulated and Computer Aided Prototyping was organized by AIPMA jointly with UNIDO on 12th December, 2012 at CII Conference Hall, Gurgaon, Haryana.
5. 85th AGM & Election to Executive Committee Meeting of FICCI on 15th December, 2012 at New Delhi. FICCI has organized its 85th Annual General Meeting on 15th December, 2012 at FICCI House, K.K Birla Auditorium, New Delhi. This AGM was inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Dr. Manmohan Singh. Shri R. K. Aggarwal, Vice President (North Zone) attended the AGM on behalf of AIPMA President. 85th AGM was attended by 750 members.
Mr. Richard White and Mr. Daniel Soo - M/S. Sigma Soft, made presentation on 3D Design Process Simulation during lecture program. Mr. Deepak Gupta and Mr. Sumit Bhatia – MD & Director, M/S BEBB India Pvt. Ltd, presented Power 2 SME PoolPurchasing for the benefit of MSME Units. Memento was given to the all speakers by Mr. R K. Gupta - Director, M/S Haryan Engineering Works, and Mr. Anil Bareja - Chairman, IPI Delhi Chapter. In conclusion, Mr. Mihir Banerjee had expressed his views on the topics by appreciating each Speaker for the excellent presentations. Shri R. K. Aggarwal – Vice President (North Zone) AIPMA proposed the program with vote of thanks. 3. 15th Meeting of Petroleum, Coal and Related Products Division council was held on 12th December 2012 at BIS Auditorium, New Delhi The 15th Meeting of Petroleum, Coal and Related
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A GUIDE TO MFI, MFR AND MVI As you can see form the title there are three different terms for this test. MFI and MFR mean the same. But MVI is different but still using the same piece of equipment. A. WHAT IS MFI/MFR 1. MFI/MFR is a widely used test, because it is easy to do and to understand. Definition. A heated plastic material is forced through a hole of certain size. (die or orifice), at a specified temperature with specified load. The weight (Mass) of plastic which is extruded through the hole in a 10 minute period is called the MFI or MFR. The units for MFI/MFR are grams / 10 minutes. A. WHAT IS MVI 2. MVI is more commonly used in Germany. This is because the two main manufacturers of Melt Flow Indexer testing machines in Germany found it easier to automate the test if they used MVI. Definition : A heated plastic material is forced through a hole of certain size. (die of orifice), at a specified temperature, with specified load. The volume of Plastic which is extruded through the hole in a 10 minute period is called the MVI. The units for MVI are cm / 10 minutes. B. WHY DO PEOPLE USE MFI/MFR AND MVI 1. INCOMING QUALITY CONTROL (QC) a) why : To check on batch to batch variation. When polymer suppliers manufacture the raw polymer, it is made by a batch process. Therefore no two batches are going to be the identical, because of the inherent variability of the manufacturing process. b) why : To make sure the polymer is the correct grade for the process he is using. The company which is manufacturing blown film will not be able to use an injection moulding grade of polymer. Because the blown film grade will normally have a lower MFI/MFR and MVI than the injection moulding grade. The company buying the polymer will therefore have his own tolerance on the material. Therefore in order to get good mouldings off his injection moulding machine. he will have an upper and lower limit for the MFI/MFR or MVI. 2. OUT GOING QUALITY CONTROL ON RAW MATERIAL a) why : To make sure the polymer is made to the correct specification. The polymer can then be graded for the different applications it has to meet, so that each customer get the correct MFI/MFR of MVI for his process. 3. QUALITY CONTROL OF FINISHED PRODUCTS a) why : To check that the amount of regrind content is not higher than it should be. If the regrind content is too high the mechanical properties of the product will also be affected. This is because the molecular weight distribution is narrower for the regrind material. b) why : If we know there is no regrind content or it is at the correct level, we can then check to see if we are overworking the polymer (thermal degradation). For example if the polymer is injected too quickly into a mould, it may overheal and scorch. Again this would affect the mechanical properties, they usually drop. 4. PROCESS CONTROL OPTIMISATION a) How : Through correlations between resin consistency and process problems it is possible to set the temperature of the mould, barrel, die, runner, speeds and pressure conditions, all based on the flow characteristics of each batch before it enters the processing equipment. b) why : It is therefore possible to get a very high quality product all the time even though the MFI/MFR or MVI changes. Warning : The changes in MFI/MFR and MVI have to be less than 10% usually. Therefore you cannot expect a polymer of MFI 3.0 to give the same quality of product as one of MFI 4.5 other properties will be drastically affected. 5. CHECKING THE EFFECTS OF ADDITIVES, LUBRICANTS AND STABILIZERS a) why : To see what difference different levels of additives, etc, have on the flow properties of the polymer. This is usually carried out by Research and Development Laboratories. In order to optimize the flow properties with other mechanical properties.
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PERCENTAGE OF EACH MOLECULAR WEIGHT
C. WHAT AFFECTS THE MFI/MFR OR MVI OF A POLYMER 1. ON THE MACHINE a) TEMPERATURE - very critical The hotter the material the less viscous it is, this causes an increase in the MFI. Also if the temperature is too cold then the polymer will be more viscous which leads to a decrease in the MFI. Temperature high increase in MFI Temperature low decrease in MFI. Dynisco MFI controls temperature to ¹ 0.1°C, which is better than all the standards. b) DIE DIMENSIONS If the die is oversize or worn then the polymer will flow at a faster rate giving you a higher MFI value. We can check the dimensions with our Go/No-go Gauge, whether it is perfect or not. c) WEIGHT If too big then your MFI will be higher, or if too small then the MFI will be lower. d) SURFACE FINISH OF BARREL, PISTON AND DIE The surface is important because if the roughness is too great, this will cause inaccuracies in the MFI value. e) TIMING DEVICE This needs to be accurate, when doing the Manual Method A technique it should beep when a cut off is required. The action of doing the cut off should be a reflex when the machine beeps. f) OPERATOR The operator can affect the MFI obtained on the machine by : 1. Packing technique - if the material is not correctly packed, air can be trapped in polymer therefore giving a false value. 1.1 Cutting - if not performed at the correct time. 1.2 Cleaning - degraded material left in the machine can affect MFI, so the machine needs to be thoroughly cleaned after each test. 2. IN THE POLYMER a) RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MFI AND AVERAGE MOLECULAR WEIGHT Within limitations the MFI of a material is linked to its Average Molecular Weight (AMW) As MFI increases AMW decreases. What we are saying is, that when the molecular chains are shortened, then they are more free to move about, therefore the material can flow easier. (This is similar to thermal degradation). The molecular weight distribution can also have an effect. The narrower the band the nearer are the chains to the average chain length. These materials tend to have reduced physical properties as in the case of regrind materials. Narrow Molecular Weight Distribution
Wide Molecular Weight Distribution
MOLECULAR WEIGHT
b) SENSITIVITY OF MFI TO PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE To explain the sensitivity of MFI to pressure and temperature lets consider water and polythene. When water is forced through a hole the volume, pushed through is proportional to the pressure forcing it. This is called a Newtonian fluid. Now when polythene is pushed through the same hole. Initially there is more resistance to the pressure and so there is less flow, but as the pressure is increased flow occurs more easily. This is known as Pseudoplastic material. See graph below. Consequently, temperature and pressure have considerable effect on flow of plastics. But what could happen is, two polymers could have the same MFI but totally different high pressure flow properties. Also those plastics with a narrower molecular weight distribution are more sensitive to change in temperature and less sensitive to change in pressure. Therefore to take some of the variation of high pressure flow properties into account, a flow ratio test can be performed on the Dynisco Melt Flow Index Tester. This is usually done by using two loads and the one load being 10 times greater that other. The flow ratio is simply, the division of a flow rate obtained, using the high load, by the flow rate obtained using the lower load. In addition to measuring flow rate and ratio, the more sophisticated machines, which includes the Dynisco Models 4003 and 4004 calculate melt viscosity, shear rate and shear stress.
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Shear rate measures the violence of the process, that is, how rapidly (frequency) the material is being subjected to the force of shearing. Shear stress describes the force in a system as a function of back pressure and orifice or die size.
Flow
Pressure Viscosity is calculated by dividing shear stress by shear rate. The shear rate range which car be obtained from an MFI machine is relatively low, as can be seen from the graph below. This is because the force is only being applied by dead weight or gravity. Thermoforming Drawdown/ Extension
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Log Viscosity Melt Index Mold flow
Coatings -4
-3
-2
-1
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Log Shear Rate
Extrusion 1
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Injection Molding 3
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(Powers of ten)
D. METHOD A, METHOD B & DETERMINATION OF MELT DENSITY METHOD A/B in Dynisco MFI Tester. 1. METHOD A This was the original Melt Flow Index technique. Method A is the mass of material which is extruded through the orifice during a period of 10 minutes at a given temperature and load. MFI/MFR is grams/10mins. Obviously 10 minutes is quite long. And as we have already discussed thermal degradation has an effect, so the time for the test is usually shorter and the mass found, converted to grams/10 minutes. Also if the MFI value is quite high you may also run out of the material before the 10 minutes is up. So you would also need to reduce the cut-off line, possibly to 10 seconds and/or use a high melt flow plug. 2. METHOD B This technique was developed so that semi-automatic testing could be performed. Method B is the volume of material which is extruded through the orifice during a period of 10 minutes at a given temperature and load. MVI is cc/10 minutes. In order to automate the test, the volume is usually fixed and the time measured for that volume to go through the die. The volume found is then converted to cc/10 minutes. The method B value (MVI) can also be converted to (MFI/MFR) if the melt density of the material is known. By using the formula : Mass = Density x Volume Units : gram= gm/cc x cc The melt density is either obtained from the polymer manufacturer or it has to be measured. Note : most other MFI makers use a special mathematically value for each polymer which can lead to some slightly dubious results. 3. DETERMINATION OF MELT DENSITY - METHOD A/B If we do a Method A/B in Dynisco MFI Tester, we can obtain the melt Density value. from Method A we get gm/10 minutes from Method B we get cc/10 minutes Using the formula Density gm/cc =mass gm / vol cc Substitute Density gm/cc=gm/10 minutes from A cc/10 minutes from B Melt Density is obtained for that particular test temperature and load.
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WHAT WILL YOUR POTENTIAL CUSTOMER KNOW ABOUT MELT FLOW INDEX AND WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIM : 1. INJECTION MOULDING COMPANY a He will be aware that Melt Flow Index exists. b He should know that Melt Flow Index of his material can affect his process quite dramatically. c He will know that the quality of his part can be affected by the Melt Flow Index of the material. d He should know something of the ASTM Method A technique. e He should know something of the ASTM Method B technique, especially when determining Melt Volume Index. f He will be interested in trying to meet Quality Control Standards like ISO 9000. g He should be checking the Melt Flow Index of his incoming material. h He will add regrind to some of his products he will need to know how much he can add, before he starts changing the MFI of his material too significantly. i He should also be checking the MFI on the parts he has made, so he can see it he is overworking the polymer. j He will know something about QC limits. k He may know something about SPC. 2. EXTRUSION COMPANY a Most will know something about Melt Flow Index (Methods A and B) b Most will buy a specific polymer because of its MFI value, however, they may not know how the MFI value is determined. c They will probably not know too much about the variability of a polymer. They probably think the MFI value which is given in the polymer suppliers literature, is going to be the same for all the batches of polymer which they receive, which is not true. d Would probably check the MFI (if he had a machine) of his incoming polymer. e Will be probably be adding regrind to his polymer, so may need to check MFI of regrind before he adds it to polymer. f Will probably be using one or two types of polymer. g If he has a problem with his production, he will first check the machine settings and he will not think of checking of the polymer until last. h He may know something about SPC. i He should be checking the MFI of his finished extrusion, to see if he is over working his polymer. 3. POLYMER SUPPLIER a He will definitely know about MFI test (Methods A and B) b He should have some experience of the MFI test, and will have seen most of our competitors machines. c He will be using at least three MFI machines. d They will probably be used 24 hours a day in production environment. e He will probably have one machine in his Research and Development Laboratory. f The MFI will be operated by technicians who are not too technically minded. g He will know about his QC limits. h He may know about SPC. i He will issue Certificates of Conformity for his polymer based on his MFI value. j The MFI will be checked on every batch of polymer made. 4. POLYMER PROCESSOR a May know something about MFI, out likely to be very little. b May know something about Method A c Unlikely to know anything about Method B except in Germany. d May have some experience of MFI machines. e Would probably need to test only during the day (not 24 hours) f He should check the MFI of his incoming material. g He should check the MFI of his outgoing material. h He will reprocess more than one type of polymer. i He may issue Certificates of Conformity when he sells his material to his customers. j He should know that he can charge a higher price if he knows the MFI of his material. WHAT QUESTIONS ARE YOU LIKELY TO BE ASKED BY POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS. 1. ABOUT THE TEST a Why do I need MFI/MVI machine. b How often should I do a MFI test. c I don't to test the MFI because I receive a Certificate of Conformity from my supplier.
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d How much time is involved in doing a MFI test. e What from does the polymer need to be in. f What sample preparation do I need ot do. g Why should check the MFI of my finished product (extrusk of mouldings) 2. ABOUT THE MFI MACHINE a What is the temperature range of the MFI. d How good is the temperature control. c What is the lowest MFI value we can test. d What is the highest MFI value we can test - more than 1500 MFI value, material can be tested on Dynisco MFI Tester. e How long will the die / orifice last. f How do I know whether the barrel is clean. g Can the MFI be upgraded at a later date. h What needs to be calibrated on the MFI machine. i What should the barrel be cleaned with. j Can solvents be used to clean out the barrel. k Can the machine be left-on 24 hours a day. l Can the machine do flow ratio test. m How quickly can I change temperature. n How reliable is the machine. o How long do the flags last. 3. GENERAL a Can I alter the MFI if it is too high or low. b What service backup do you have. c. What spares should I keep in stock. d What is the delivery time. e Do you offer training on the MFI. f What do I do with the extra information from the printout. g What type of printer can I use with the MFI. h I don't need two of the three weights supplied can I have another one instead G. ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS 1. ABOUT THE TEST a Question : Why do I need MFI/MVI machine ? Answer : MFI/MVI is a simple method of checking the material you are using, to make sure it is suitable for your requirements. There is no point trying to process a material if it is no good doing what you want it do. You cannot get good product out if you start with bad material. It is therefore possible to reject a material before you have started using it, saving your time and money. b Question : How often should I do a MFI test ? Answer : This depends on how much material your are using, but a suggested guideline is as follows : - Material supplied by tankers (3 tests) - Material supplied in bags on pallets (3 tests per pallets) - Material supplied in individual bags (3 tests per bag) Note : The above are assuming that all the batch numbers are the same. Also tests should be carried out when there is a production problem to see if polymer has changed within a batch. c Question : I don't need to test the MFI of my material because I receive a Certificate of Conformity from my Supplier. Answer : Yes, but a Certificate of Conformity is based on only one test, usually As the Polymer is made by the batch process, you cannot be sure that the polymer is the same throughout your delivery. It has also been known for processors to have problems during production and for them to think they are machine problems, when in fact it is an out of specification material problem. The polymer supplier can get away with this because he can say the MFI was changed during processing and also it is very difficult to return a product. You have therefore wasted valuable production time and the production costs, and you have nothing to show for it. d Question : How much time is involved in doing a MFI test ? Answer : This depends to a large extent on the MFI of the material, but roughly the times are follows : - Loading Polymer / Weighing Polymer 2 minutes - Melting time 6 minutes - Testing time MFI 8+ 1 to 2 minutes - Testing time MFI 3 to 8 3 to 6 minutes - Cleaning time 6 to 10 minutes - Heat Stabilization time 2 minutes
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e Question : What from does the polymer need to be in ? Answer : For ease of loading, granules are the best. However, regrind chips can be used, but care should be taken as they to bridge in the hopper. Also, plastic film can be used if rolled up into a cigar shape, but care should be taken so as to avoid air entrapment. Other forms can be used i.e. powders and strips, but they must be carefully loaded and packed.. f Question : What sample preparation do I need to do ? Answer : The sample which is used for the MFI test should have undergone the same trying drying conditions, etc. as the material you are using on your production line, Therefore LDPE, HDPE and PP will not need any drying, but all the test will, the conditions should be specified by the polymer manufacturer. Note : All polymers with glass, calcium carbonate and talc added should be dried. g Question : Why should l check the MFI of my finished product (extrusion or injection molding) Answer : If you have processed your material and there is a significant change in then MFI, you are probably overworking the polymer in your process which will also effect the mechanical properties of your product. 2. ABOUT THE MFI MACHINE a Question : What is the temperature range of the MFI ? Answer : Standard barrel is ambient to 425째 C high temperature Hastelloy Barrel is Ambient to 425째 C. b Question : How good is the temperature control ? Answer : The standard barrel controls to +0.1째C. c Question : What is lowest MFI value we can test ? Answer : Down to 0.1 gm/ 10 mins. Any lower that this, then the weight or temperature should be increased. d Question : What is the highest MFI value we can test ? Answer : More than 1500 grams / 10 mins. It is possible to go up to 1500 grams / 10 mins or even more, using Method B and Digital Encoder. But to do test above 500 gm/10 mins is most uncommon and would require highly accurate and advanced equipment like Dynisco MFI Tester, to get consistent results. e Question : How long will the die / orifice last ? Answer : This depends on the amount of use and what materials are being used. Dynisco die is made form Tungsten Carbide, which is extremely wear resistant and should last for several years if cleaned and maintained properly. Some manufacturers use stainless steel dies, which last for usually between one and two years, depending on the abrasive nature of the polymer being tested. f Question : Can the MFI be upgraded at a later date ? Answer : All the models can be upgraded to a higher model at a later date by changing an integrated circuit board Except for Model 4001 which does not have the hardware fitted, to do Method B test and also the model 4004 which is currently the Top model any how. g Question : What needs to be calibrated on the machine ? Answer : The weight need to be checked. The liquid in glass thermometer which is used for calibrating the barrel temperature. The die which can be checked using the Go/No-go gauge. The flags need their length checking. The electronic eye need to be checked. h Question : What should the barrel be cleaned out with ? Answer : With the tools supplied and cotton patches. The cotton patches should have no oil on them or other lubricants. i Question : Can Solvent be used to clean out the barrel ? Answer : Yes, but it is not recommended because of the health an fire hazards. Really you should check with your Company's Safety Officer, to see that is the company policy. j Question : Can the machine be left on 24 hours a day ? Answer : Yes there have been machines running 24 hours a day, for several years. k Question : Can the machine do flow ratio test ? Answer : Yes the Models 4002 and above can do flow ratio test. l Question : How quickly can I change temperature ? Answer : This depends on whether you are increasing of decreasing the temperature. If increasing, between 10 and 30 minutes depending on how far the new temperature is away. If decreasing betwee10 mins and up to 2 hours if a how temperature. m Question : How reliable is the machine ? Answer : Very reliable, we have manufactured several thousands and they have proved to be extremely reliable. Any faults which do occur over a period of time can usually be solved by contacting one of engineers over the phone, otherwise a replacement printed circuit board can be sent by over might delivery to solve the problem. In extreme cases a machine will be loaned to you, whilst your machine is being repaired. But if your machines are running 24 hours a day, then a set of boards should be held by your company for any emergencies.
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COMPANY NEWS
GPCA leads 55 countries in ICCA's ranking he Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) tops the ranking of International Council of Chemical Association's (ICCA) member associations in 55 countries worldwide. As the only regional association representing the common interests of the petrochemical and chemical industry in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, GPCA has led this region to the forefront of the global chemical industry. "As
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one of the newest members of ICCA, GPCA takes pride in providing regional representation for the Gulf. ICCA's latest report indicates the tremendous progress this region has made in implementing the Responsible Care Initiative in the Gulf Region in a very short time since signing the ICCA's Global Charter," said Tahir Jamal Qadir, Director of Responsible Care at GPCA. Through this engagement within the region, GPCA is proactively
addressing the challenges facing the petrochemical and chemical industry in the Gulf. "We are actively focusing on the whole value chain in the petrochemicals sector, to ensure the safe manufacture and management of chemicals, which is a key challenge in the sustainable growth of the Gulf petrochemical and chemical industry," said Dr. Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, Secretary General of the GPCA.
Bharat Petroleum gets environmental Invista expands R&D center clearance at Kochi refinery harat Petroleum has received the much-awaited environmental clearance to expand capacities at its Kochi refinery. With this expansion, the company will be able to feed not only rising domestic demand, but also strengthen export globally. The estimated cost of the expansion project is around Rs 14000 crore which will be used to upgrade the refinery to process cheaper, highsulphur crude to improve margins and
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Refinery capacity will be enhanced to 15.5 mln tpa by 2015, from the current 9.5 mln tpa, producing EuroIII/IV compliant auto-fuels and various other Petroleum Products. BPCL will also get monetary concession from the state government which includes payment of tax dues from BPCL's products which will be given back to the company as soft loan.
Saudi Aramco, Exxon to shut most of Yanbu refinery in March audi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company (SAMREF) will shut most of the units at its 400,000 bpd Yanbu refinery in March to bring a new cleaner fuel project online. According to reports the outage is expected to
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nvista’s Specialty Materials has expanded its footprint by 20 percent at the company’s 60,000-square-foot Applied Research Center in Newark. According to the release, the expansion provides space and resources to allow the Invista team to collaborate better with customers, develop new products and applications, and further improve existing products. “Global demand for high-value products in customer applications continues to drive our business forward,” said Bob Francois, president, Invista Specialty Materials, in the statement.“Expanding our facilities at the Applied Research Center will allow Invista to continue innovating and improving its proprietary technology platforms, as well as create real long-term value for our customers.”
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start on March 10 and last for 45-50 days. There has been a shift in the Middle Eastern refineries to produce cleaner fuel as they want to target export markets.
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COMPANY NEWS
IRPC to invest US$130 mln to increase capacity RPC will invest in a Phoenix project worth US$130 million (about Bt4 billion) next year that will increase its capacity to produce plastic pellets, polystyrene and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). According to reports its next year's investment includes expanding capacity to
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produce styrene monomer, from the current 200,000 tons to 260,000 tpa at a cost of US$57 mln. The company will also spend US$70 mln on expanding the annual capacity to produce ABS plastic from 100,000 tons to 160,000 tons. Another US$20-30 mln will be allocated to increasing IRPC's capacity
Luxus invests in its new technical centre lastics recycler Luxus has taken delivery of a twin-screw compounding line. The investment will form part of the company’s new £600,000 technical centre, which will open next February at its Lincolnshire manufacturing site. The new research and development line comprises a twin screw extruder from the Coperion STS Series, a Brabender loss-in-weight feeding system and a Reiter Strand pelletiser. Terry Burton, technical manager at Luxus, said: “We chose the
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compounding system from Coperion as we were impressed with the overall quality of the machine, its flexibility and the support that’s offered. “In our new technical centre the twin screw compounder will create polymer formulations for the test development stages of various materials such as PC, PC/ABS, ABS, PA in addition to standard PP and PE. The line will also be used to achieve process and product optimisation when compounding our existing products too.
Elkhart Plastics on expansion spree ustom rotational molder Elkhart Plastics Inc. is adding a 25,000-square-foot expansion and plans to add 50 new jobs over the next three years at its headquarters in South Bend.CEO Jack Welter said the company initially plans to hire about 20 people, and buy two rotomolding machines, for the addition. That will bring Elkhart Plastics’ total square footage to more than 100,000 in South Bend. Site preparation has
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already begun, and the expansion should be completed by end of the first quarter of 2013. Welter said the company is spending $1.75 million for the building, two machines and to hire the 20 employees. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. reports the total investment at $3.8 million, but Welter said that figure includes additional machines and another 30 workers, which will be added over the next three years. 40
to produce premium-grade ethylene for support with green energy products, developing value-added products from oil depots and the company's lubeoil blending plant, and research and development of new products
Obama visits Rodon Group resident Barack Obama visit custom injection molder Rodon Group LLC in Hatfield, Pa., on Nov. 30 as part of his week-long effort to garner support for his proposal to extend tax cuts for middleincome people and end them for families who make more than $250,000 a year.Rodon Group, one of the finalists for the Plastics News processor of the year in January, is a subsidiary of K’Nex Brands LP, which makes K’Nex building toys. The two privately held companies are both owned by Joel Glickman, the inventor of the K’Nex building toy system.“The president will travel. to continue make the public case for action by visiting a business that depends on middle class consumers during the holiday season and could be impacted if taxes go up on 98 percent of Americans at the end of the year,” said a White House representative.
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COMPANY NEWS
Axion invests £1m to add shredder capacity lastics recycler Axion Polymers has invested a further £1m to optimise materials recovery from endof-life vehicles at its purpose-built plant at Trafford Park, Manchester.
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Roger Morton, the firm’s director, said: “This latest cash injection is part of on-going efficiency optimisation at the facility, which has an annual 200,000 tonnes capacity. It enables Axion to separate the non-metallic fractions from the equivalent of about 800,000
cars a year. “Although the operation is still developing, we are already delivering the 95% recycling and recovery target through a combination of plastics recycling, producing materials for the construction industry and fuel to substitute coal.” Axion said that the polypropylene recovered from automotive postconsumer waste presents a great opportunity for manufacturers to tap into a stream of “truly sustainable materials”
including its Axpoly PP51, which made from automotive shredder residue. “Axpoly PP51 is an example of the new recovery technologies and refining techniques we have developed to satisfy the higher 95% target levels. We are seeing increasing interest from other end-of-life recyclers in using spare capacity on the shredder waste advanced processing plant as the 2015 deadline for the 95% recycling target draws closer,” explained Morton.
RTP, Clariant plans expansions in Germany TP Co. and Clariant each are moving ahead with materialsrelated expansions in Germany. While Winona-based RTP recently installed a new internal batch mixer at its compounding plant in Ladenburg, Germany. A second mixer will be installed during the first half of 2013. The new lines are part of an expansion that will double the size of the plant, which opened in April 2011. On the other hand, In Hurth-Knapsack,
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Germany, Clariant has added a second production unit making Exolit OPbrand flame-retardant additives. Exolit is a non-halogenated additive used primarily in electronics and electrical engineering. The material can be used as a flame retardant in nylon and polyester resins that are then converted into switches, plugs and other components for smartphones, washing machines, airplane parts and similar products.
Alliance Polymers plans to make own compounds hermoplastic elastomers distributor Alliance Polymers & Services LLC will begin making its own proprietary compounds by the end of the year.Romulus-based Alliance will make compounds based on thermoplastic vulcanizates and styrene ethylene butylene styrene (SEBS) copolymers.
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The TPV products will be sold under the Viprene trade name, while Styflex will be the trade name used for the company’s SEBS materials.Alliance will continue to distribute Elastollanbrand thermoplastic polyurethanes for BASF Corp. and Maxelast-brand TPEs for Polymax Ltd.
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Muttenz, Switzerland-based Clariant, which ranks as one of the world’s largest makers of color concentrates has developed two new non-halogenated flame retardants under the Exolit EP brand aimed specifically at epoxy resins.
Supreme Petrochem clarifies on rumors of takeover ith reference to the rumors including text messages floating in the market regarding takeover of Supreme Petrochem Ltd (SPL) by a bigger Company, Supreme Petrochem Ltd in its release has clarified to BSE that these rumors are baseless and no such proposals are being discussed
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COMPANY NEWS
YPFB selects Tecnimont to complete engineering studies for ethylene, PE plants taly’s Tecnimont has been hired to complete the engineering studies for the ethylene and polyethylene plants that will be constructed in southern Bolivia by state-owned oil company YPFB. Bolivia is paying US$3.8 million for the study, which will submitted to YPFB in H1-2013.The study will
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cover topographical, geotechnical, hydrological, technological, market, raw materials and other aspects of the project. The study will develop the most important technical and economic aspects of the project, allowing YPFB to make strategic decisions to move
ahead with the subsequent stages of the project. The petrochemical complex will be built in Gran Chaco, a province in the southern region of Tarija, and is expected to produce 600,000 m tpa of polyethylene, consuming approximately 756,000 tpa of ethane.
Mitsubishi to invest US$850 mln in methanol-topetrochemichemical complex apan-based Mitsubishi Corp. is leading a group of investors that plan to build a methanol-topetrochemicals complex in Trinidad. The consortium, which also includes Mitsubishi Gas Chemicals Co., USbased ICCL and local company Neal & Massy Holdings, will invest US$850 mln in the first phase of the project. The
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project will be based at a 50-hectare (123.6 acres) site near La Brea in southwestern Trinidad. The project will use 100 million standard cubic feet/day of natural gas to produce among other products dimethyl ether (DME), which can be used in Trinidad as a replacement or blending stock for diesel and liquified petroleum
Shell declares force majeure on ethylene after leak at Louisiana hell has declared force majeure on ethylene after shutting down a segment of a pipeline in Louisiana because of a leak. The incident has led Shell to declare force majeure on ethylene supply to customers east of Lake Charles, Louisiana. The details on the length and depth of the restriction were not yet available, a market participant
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said.Shell was also heard to have shut down its olefins Norco complex in Louisiana because it could not ship ethylene out of the facility. Company spokesperson declined to comment on the operational status of the facility, citing policy. Shell has two crackers in Louisiana with a combined 1.42 mlm tpa of ethylene capacity 42
gas (LPG). The target date for the first stage of the project is Q1-2014, though it could come as soon as Q4-2013
Fire at Allied Reprocessing LLC fire has destroyed the Allied Reprocessing LLC plastics recycling plant in Ripley, Tennessee. According to reports no employees were in the plant when the fire began around 5 am on November 27 and there were no reported injuries, said a representative for the mayor’s office. The 5-year-old company employed about 20 people, regrinding industrial plastics that it sold to automotive suppliers who make trim parts that have recycled content, said the city representative.
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COMPANY NEWS
Formosa wins appeal against VOC limits, plans naphtha cracker ormosa Petrochemical Corp planned to start an expansion project of its naphtha cracker in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township after winning an administrative appeal against the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).The Executive Yuan overruled the strict environmental conditions the EPA had set on the project, a joint venture with the USbased Kraton Performance Polymers to produce hydrogenated styrenic block copolymer (HSBC), a high valueadded rubber product.
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“Once we receive the official document on the ruling, we will contact Kraton to continue the project
in Yunlin,” Formosa Petrochemical chairman Chen Bao-lang said, without elaborating on when the company would begin the project. Formosa Petrochemical and Kraton would share the cost equally, with each holding 50% in the venture, which was previously set to become operational by H22013. The project won the Fair Trade Commission’s approval in October last year and was expected to cost more than US$200 million. However, the EPA’s Environmental Impact Assessment Committee made a policy change earlier this year, stipulating that volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions generated from
PETRONAS selects Innovene G Platform For LL/HDPE Project etroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS), the national oil and gascompany of Malaysia, has awarded INEOS Technologies (INEOS) the LL/HDPE portion of the PETRONAS’ Refinery & Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project, utilising the Innovene G gas phase fluidised bed process. The 350,000 tpa LL/HDPE plant will manufacture a full line of high value polyethylene resins, including HDPE, LLDPE and metallocene LLDPE. The products from this plant will serve the Malaysian and other Asian markets in high performance film, molding and packaging for industrial and consumer applications.
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PETRONAS’ RAPID project is by far the largest liquid-based green-field downstream undertaking in Malaysia. It will have a 300,000 barrels per day refinery to supply the petrochemical complex, apart from producing a host of refined petroleum products, including gasoline and diesel that meet the Euro 4 and Euro 5 fuel specifications. The petrochemical component of the project will allow PETRONAS to expand its product portfolio from commodity petrochemicals to premium differentiated and specialty chemicals, capitalising on the growing demand for these higher value products in the Asia Pacific region. 43
flares, water cooling tanks, and while painting, cleaning and performing annual maintenance on water storage tanks, should also be viewed as sources of pollutants and thus subject to the regulatory VOC limit. The committee rejected both of Formosa Petrochemical’s appeals in August and September. The company then lodged an administrative appeal with the Cabinet. The Cabinet overruled the EPA’s decision that total VOC emissions should include not only VOCs produced in the production process, but also those produced from the five other sources
ONGC seeks buyers for paraxylene, benzene from new aromatics plant ndia's ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd has issued tenders to sell paraxylene and benzene from its new aromatics plant. The underconstruction plant at Mangalore is scheduled to come online in April-June 2013. The plant will have capacity to produce 900,000 tpa of paraxylene and 270,000 tpa of benzene, of which over 65% volume will be offered to the domestic market and the rest for export.
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COMPANY NEWS
Foster Wheeler awarded EPCm contract for EPDM rubber plant oster Wheeler AG subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCm) contract by LANXESS Changzhou Co., Ltd for a new ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber plant to be built at the Changzhou
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Yangtze Riverside Industrial Park at Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, in the People’s Republic of China. Foster Wheeler is currently executing the front-end engineering design (FEED) for this facility.. The new facility will be designed to produce 160,000 tpa EPDM rubber. The plant is expected to start up in 2015.
LK Technologies,planning a new production facility in Ningbo K Technologies Hong Kong press manufacturing has said that it is planning a new production facility, in Ningbo. The company on its stock market filing, said that it has bought a 100,000 square meter plot of land there in early in 2012, as part of a £16m investment in a factory that will become its production base
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in east China. It said it expects the new factory to be operating by mid2013.Though the overall sales for its injection moulding machines fell 11% in the six months ending 30 September, to £21m,it saw growth in large tonnage machines, servo-controlled machines and more advanced direct clamping models.
Engro to invest up to US$15 mln to enhance the production capacity of PVC resin ngro Polymer and Chemicals Limited (EPCL) will invest up to US$15 million in 2013 to enhance the production capacity of PVC resin. Almost US$10-15 mln will be invested in 2013 to enhance production from the existing three PVC resin plants at
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Port Qasim, Karachi. The company is looking into multiple ways for raising investment funds. It could be debt, equity, or a mix of debt and equity. Debottlenecking will help produce an additional 35,000 to 40,000 tons of PVC resin
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Industrial recycler adds capacity in North Carolina ennsylvania-based EPI Recycling Solutions has begun pellet production at its industrial plastics recycling plant in Sanford, N.C.The pellets are being produced with an S:GRAN 125 recycling machine that can reprocess 1,500 pounds of material per hour, increasing the plant’s capacity to 1 million pounds per month, said Kurt Duska, president of EPI Recycling Solutions. The 30,000 square foot plant in Sanford —represents an investment of more $1.1 million. It opened in April with a single granulator and baler.
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Petronas awards Ineos Technologies contract for LL/HDPE of the RAPID projects ational oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has awarded Ineos Technologies the linear low/high density polyethylene (LL/HDPE) portion of its RM60 billion Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project.The company will be providing the process design, training and start-up assistance for the 350,000 tpa LL/HDPE plant.
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FEATURES
Plexpoindia..... The Countdown begins Organized by the Gujarat State Plastic Manufacturers Association the exhibition will be taking place during 8th to 13th January, 2013 from leading manufacturers. The show offers a good opportunity to see live demonstration of plastic machinery. Major raw material suppliers, and manufacturers of plastic products will be present offering latest products.
Mr. Ketan Shah Chairman – Plexpoindia 2013 he Countdown begins for much awaited mega show of PLEXPOINDIA Exhibition.
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The 6 th Plexpoindia exhibition organized by Gujarat State Plastic Manufacturers Association will be taking place during 8 th to 13 th January, 2013 at Helipad Ground, Near Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar (Gujarat).
There will be Theme Pavilion which will be one of the major attractions of the expo. The theme pavilion will be highlighting the important role that plastics can play in our day-to-day life. Not only that Plastics play a major role in our country and also contributes to the national economy. This includes Plasticulture, Healthcare, Automobile, Agriculture Environment protection. The show is also likely to focus on how Plastics helps in preserving natural resources.
The Indian plastic industry is growing @ 15% p.a. and the consumption of plastics growing significantly. Agriculture, packaging, automobiles, Electronics, Telecom, Healthcare, Infrastructure, Transportation and Consumer Durables are major drivers of growth in plastic consumption. The focus on plasticulture in the agricultural sector – envisages coverage of 17 million hectares under micro-irrigation schemes, which will further boost the prospects of the plastics industry. PLEXPOINDIA will be the gateway to explore and catch the opportunities in the emerging markets. We, at GSPMA invite all plastic fraternity to visit the mega show and be a part of its success.
Plexpoindia 2013 is now round the corner.
EXTRUSION RUNNING UNIT
Plexpoindia 2013 promises to be one of the best shows in the world of Plastic Industry, wherein major exhibitor groups will be raw material manufacturers, machinery and equipment manufacturers, finished goods, moulds & dies, recycling, quality control & testing equipments, major promotion bodies & trade associations and alikes.
FOR SALE
Many of the machineries and other equipments are expected to be launched at this expo. At display will be latest equipment and machinery
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• Plant Capacity – 90 Tonnes • Lohia / GCl 6 Shuttle Looms – 12 Nos. • Lamination Plant (Upto 36 Inches) – 1 No. • GCL Automatic Cutting and Stitching Machine – 1 No. • Flexographic 4 Colour Printing Machine – 1 No. • Electrical Bale Press – 1 No.
Contact: + 91 – 94884 77779 45
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FEATURES
Magnetic clamping systems for efficiency Magnetic clamping systems afford advantages that allow for an efficient production system conditions of injection moulding machines, such as static and cyclic force applications, increased operating temperature, vertical contact surface between the machine platen and mould, require specific solutions.
Advantages of clamping systems Besides unrestricted utilisation of the full clamping area or evenly distributed clamp force over the full contact surface, the biggest advantage of magnetic clamping systems is that the mould/machine-interface need not be standardised by adding standard platens with matching clamps mounted on fixed positions. Round and blockshaped moulds or moulds with square platens can be used, allowing for maximum flexibility and easing the job on hand, especially for trade moulders. But the different magnetic clamping systems available in the market are not identical with respect to the concept and performance says EAS. Its Pressmag systems, for instance, are specifically designed for use on injection moulding machines and have not been adapted from work-holding applications on machining centres. The reason is that the working
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Different requirements – different solutions Although the fundamental requirement – the clamping and holding of an injection mould – is identical over the entire scope of a machine, at a closer look one important difference can be identified. Small/medium-size machines are different from large machines with large and heavy moulds, especially in the physical size of the interacting components. Small/medium-size moulds, in general, are constructed of relatively thin platens, back platens included. As the magnetic force between the two metal components varies, apart from the correct material and sufficient thickness of the material for allowing the magnetic flux to develop a magnetic field, it is obvious that small/ medium-size machines offer different conditions than large machines. It is for these reasons that the optimum holding force on small/ medium-size machines can be achieved with small-sized magnetic pole elements with a multitude of short range magnetic fields, whereas large
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magnetic poles are used on large machines.
For small-medium size machines EAS offers the Pressmag SP, with square pole technology for small/medium-range machines with a clamping force up to 400 tonnes, and the Pressmag HP with long pole technology for large machines. The determinant layout criteria for the magnetic clamping system for small/medium-size machines are to achieve a maximum clamping force on a small area and to distribute that force evenly. But other important specifics are the thin back platens with 20-30 mm thickness and the relation to the platen’s bore size rather a high number of through holes. Thus, EAS says its system has small 47 x 47 mm square poles, compared to competitor systems with large 80 x 80 mm square poles for all applications. Depending on the size of the magnet pole, a different range of magnetic fields can be used. When using the large 80 x 80 mm square pole, the full magnetic force can be achieved in co-operation with platens with an increased thickness only. Therefore, the moulds need a replacement for the usually thin platens. The disadvantages are that it involves higher costs and the shut height or the opening stroke of machine is limited. D E C E M B E R 2012
FEATURES EAS says its option with the usual back platens is an alternative layout with small 47 x 47 mm magnetic poles in higher numbers. This reduces the effective reach of the magnetic field and offers the potential to fully develop the magnetic flux within the given platen thickness, without any losses caused by stray flux. Thus, the full holding force can be achieved in a practical operation. EAS also offers multi-directional magnetic elements with a cubic base and a round head in the contact surface. With the round head, a circular magnetic field is achieved allowing for an evenly distributed magnetic field independent of the geometrical size and shape of the counterparts With 47 mm square poles, not just an optimum result regarding the force build-up can be achieved but also the thickness of the magnetic clamping platens can be reduced to 38 mm. This, in combination with standard (thin) back plates, helps to maintain a standard machine specification, without the need for a longer frame or tie bars. Other magnetic systems on the market work with 55 mm thick platens. Small 47 mm square poles allow for more design flexibility in distributing the clamping force on the platen. The higher number of magnetic poles on a given area allows for a more flexible arrangement whereby the poles are arranged around the ejector holes and the opening for the centre location ring, resulting in a higher overall holding force. Each 47 mm pole creates a holding force of 2.2 kN per pole when fully covered by the mould. The flexibility of
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arranging the small poles allows for a platen layout with a sufficient number of screw connections preventing the bending of the platens during the opening stroke of the machine. With only a few connections, the magnetic clamping system will bend and thus create an air gap between the clamping system and the mould, resulting in a reduction of holding force. Meanwhile, the SP systems are designed for an application temperature up of 150°C, while competitive models work with a 100-120°C temperature range.
For large machines The more spacious layout of large machines and the corresponding mould size directs the focus on the holding force and operational safety rather than the spatial aspects, says EAS of its Pressmag HP system with long pole magnets. Compared to square poles, long pole elements feature a specific difference in the function. It is the ability to concentrate a high proportion of the magnetic flux even in a partially covered element. Thus, almost the full holding force is provided even when a mould does not cover the full area of the magnetic platen. Compared to a magnetic system with square poles and the identical platen size, the long pole layout provides a higher holding force. EAS says that tests on machines with 720, 1,500 and 1,600 tonne clamping force show a difference between the two competing systems, with the long pole system being more advantageous. Using the long pole system and the mono-directional technology, where the single magnetic inserts are the north pole and the frame the south
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pole, the contact surfaces of both poles result in a neutral condition with no stray flux. The mechanical construction of the magnetic platen system with the long poles inserted into machined pockets of the carrier platen provides for maximum rigidity and stability with less bending or breathing of the platen. This in combination with sufficient mounting screws results in no air gaps and no loss of holding force.
Safety issues EAS says its Pressmag systems are designed and rated to hold the maximum weight of a potential mould and in addition the rated opening force of the moulding machine. Other plus points include a new 4-in-1 sensor that monitors the temperature, set tolerances of the magnetic flux level (in case a non-magnetic material is used for the mould platens) and the change of magnetic flux during the production (in case an air gap occurs). The sensor is interfaced with the machine control and stops the machine in case a problem is detected. An optional safety feature is a patented mechanical safety device consisting of one or two pins attached to the back platens of the mould and a key slot opening on the magnetic clamping system. The pins will stop the moulds from dropping off in case there is a complete system breakdown. (Courtesy: Injection Moulding Asia)
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China keen on solar plans With external demand to drop next year, the government is boosting domestic solar-power installations while turning a blind eye to local governments' moves to ramp up production. hina's bloated solar sector has been hard hit this year by plummeting prices brought on by overcapacity. Overseas demand, which absorbs most Chinese panels, is set to fall next year as tariffs are imposed and subsidies cut. However, consolidation in solar manufacturing is not yet in the cards. Instead, the government is turning its attention to boosting domestic solar-power installations. At the same time, it is turning a blind eye to local governments' grandiose plans to ramp up production. As new-energy and high-tech activity remains a national priority, these plans are likely to come at least to partial fruition, exacerbating the problems suffered by the industry. Most of the solar panels made in China are exported, with much of the demand coming from the US and Europe; the latter is expected to account for two-thirds of worldwide installed solar capacity this year. Global demand growth has been robust, with panel installations doubling in the US in both 2011 and 2012. However, 2013 is likely to be different. US anti-dumping tariffs on solar-cell imports from China were finally approved in November, which will discourage purchases from Chinese companies. In early 2012 several EU countries, including Spain, cut subsidies for solar installations. To top it all, the EU began an anti-
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dumping investigation into Chinese solar exports in September, which may lead to further tariffs. As the sector braces itself for the slump in external demand, officials are trying to accelerate development in the home market. According to reports China has already become the world's third-largest consumer of solar energy, up from seventh in 2010. Solar installed capacity ballooned from 537 mw in 2010 to 2.5 gw in 2011. It is also learnt that as a result of the external slowdown, officials have brought forward the planned target of 21 gw from 2020 to 2015. In October local media in China reported that the State Grid, China's largest utility, plans to give local subsidiaries the power to approve plants with installed capacity of less than 10 mw. The National Energy Administration is reportedly considering a subsidy of Rmb0.4-0.6 per kwh of distributed solar power.
More, more, more The pains taken to boost domestic absorption may prove a Sisyphean task, however, as local governments still have ambitious plans to ramp up production. The industry remains favoured, and is seen by local officials as an easy way to boost new-energy and high-tech development. Moreover, it spurs upstream activities, such as the production of polysilicon, a core component in solar panels.
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The province of Shaanxi, which has large stores of polysilicon as well as a glitzy new solar research-anddevelopment centre established by US-based Applied Materials, aims to raise solar industrial output to Rmb300bn (US$47.6bn) by 2015a tenfold increase on 2011. By comparison, total Chinese exports to Europe were only worth Rmb223bn in 2011. Efforts to increase photovoltaic (PV) cell production in the north of the province, where several solar-power stations are under construction, have been substantial. The local five-year plan (2011-15) calls for expansion into equipment manufacturing. Production in Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, is also expanding rapidly. In-November 2012 the prefecture announced that it had attracted Rmb6.45bn in planned investment for solar-manufacturing projects. Chengdu has maintained a target of Rmb100bn in industrial capacity in new energy, with a focus on solar projects. In May the western region of Xinjiang released a fiveyear development plan targeting annual output of Rmb10bn from PV producers, and annual income growth of more than 70% from the PV industry.
Solar madness Expanding production in western China will exacerbate the problems. This year solar panels with an estimated
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FEATURES capacity of 59 gw will be produced in China, against global demand of just 30 gw. Producers in Shaanxi, Chengdu and Xinjiang are still overwhelmingly looking to foreign markets to take up excess supply, creating more price competition for struggling established companies. Installation costs per watt dropped by 45% between 2010 and August 2012-much of this driven by falling panel prices. In the first 10 months of 2012, Chengdu's solar-cell exports rose by 60%, while the average value of those exports fell by 89%. Prices for polysilicon fell from US$50-55/kg in 2009 to US$20-30/kg in August 2012, forcing around 80% of the country's polysilicon producers to shut down this year. Although western China will see demand grow, much depends on the pace of progress in constructing supporting infrastructure. The country is still struggling to build the infrastructure needed to transfer the
electricity to market. In 2011, only 70% of China's installed solar capacity was connected to the grid. In addition, more advanced power distribution and storage systems are needed to handle the irregular nature of power loads from solar and wind sources. The State Grid is reportedly investing more than Rmb300bn in upgrading transmission infrastructure this year. It plans to complete seven ultra-high voltage (UHV) lines by 2015, forming the backbone of a national grid system. Several recently announced projects in Xinjiang and Qinghai are explicitly dependent on the further development of UHV lines. However, doubts remain over the success of these lines. Similar projects have been abandoned in Russia, the US and Japan, as overdependence on UHV can amplify the damage caused by isolated grid failures and blackouts. Projects often run over schedule in
order to account for these issues. Many of China's new installations will probably remain off-grid for some time after they are completed. In the next few years the country should surpass Germany and Italy as the world's largest consumer of solar panels. However, this will not be enough to fix the struggling sector. The central government will need to make more aggressive attempts at consolidation than it has done so far, lest its companies-which are often propped up by local governmentsfall further and further into debt. LDK Solar, one of the country's largest manufacturers, was sued in November for failing to repay its loans. Western regions looking to expand their high-technology manufacturing may see a short-term boon, but the outlook for the overall industry is anything but sunny. (Courtesy: The Economist)
Vinyl Makes Life More Affordable sed for more than 60 years, vinyl is the material of choice for a wide range of products. Without vinyl, in North America one would spend $20 billion more to find alternative materials for its many uses — and they almost certainly would not perform as well.
or colorful; thick or thin. This versatility enables vinyl to be made into a variety of products — from pipe, siding, flooring and wallcovering to blood bags, toys, packaging and windows — and also ranks it as the third-largest volume plastic produced in North America.
An incredibly versatile plastic, vinyl, also known as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), is produced from chlorine and ethylene. With the addition of other additives, vinyl can be flexible, rigid or anything in between; transparent
Vinyl makes life more affordable. It brings products that might otherwise be too expensive into reach for many Americans, and brings solutions that save money and resources.
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Putting Money in Your Pocket
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■ Vinyl is less expensive than many competitive materials because it is one of the world’s most widely produced, highest volume resins and because more than half of the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) molecule (chlorine) is derived from sea water. ■ Vinyl products have long, useful service lives and, therefore, need to be replaced less often. ■ Vinyl windows and flexible vinyl roofing dramatically reduce heating and cooling costs. Vinyl has low conductivity, which reduces heat
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FEATURES exchange. Reflective vinyl roofing membranes reflect heat, reducing the heat island effect and reducing the need for air conditioning. ■ Flexible vinyl products help reduce health care costs. For more than 50 years now, vinyl has been prized for its combination of value and wide range of properties specific to medical uses. During World War II, vinyl components were first used in blood transfusion and IV sets on the battlefield. Putting Economical Solutions into Practice ■ Vinyl pipes help prevent costly water leaks in water distribution systems. (Leaky, mostly cast or ductile iron, water pipes result in water losses of 2.2 trillion gallons per year in the US alone.) ■
Flexible vinyl booms have been used to help prevent costly damage from offshore oil spills.
■ Flexible vinyl helps reduce the weight of automobiles, promoting greater fuel efficiency. "Lightweighting" innovations in plastics have given auto manufacturers the opportunity to reduce car weights without compromising safety. ■ Flexible vinyl helps reduce food spoilage via packaging specially designed to extend the shelflife of food, preserve its nutrient content, and prevent food-borne illnesses. Food waste has at least 10 times the environmental impact of packaging waste. ■ Flexible vinyl products provide temporary housing following disasters. Such shelter is less expensive than using traditional materials, offers superior strength to weight ratio, improved durability, recyclability, and can often be shipped in modules and assembled with unskilled labor.
Information and Statistics Courtesy of: ■ American Chemistry Council ■ Abasco LLC ■ American Chemistry Council ■ Chemical Fabrics and Film Association/ The Vinyl Roofing Division ■ European Commission ■ European Council for Plasticisers and Intermediates ■ Examiner.com & Clarity Digital Group, LLC ■ How Products Are Made/Madehow. com (Advameg, Inc.) ■ LINPAC Packaging Filmco, Inc. ■ National Center for Policy Analysis ■ Teknor Apex ■ SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association ■ Vinyl Institute ■ Whitfield Associates
Ocean Plastic: Method turns pollution into packaging By Heather Caliendo
When Adam Lowry took a trip to the Hawaiian Islands, it was a real eye-opener… dam Lowry, co-founder of Method, a supplier of environmentally conscious household and personal care products, saw firsthand the extent of the marine debris problem—witnessing beaches covered with plastic for as far as the eye could see, says Rudi Becker, Method's director of packaging,.
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Instead of sitting back and
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conducting business as usual, he suggested a pretty ambitious project: produce packaging made from ocean plastic. "It was a visit to the Hawaiian Islands by our co-founder, Adam Lowry, that really got the project off the ground," he said. "This project was undertaken because Method wanted to raise awareness of the ocean plastic
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problem and the importance of using the plastic that's already on the planet." Becker said the first step involved sending teams of Method employees to the beaches of Oahu to participate in local beach clean ups. Employees flew to Hawaii on donated airline miles pooled together from Method's leadership team. Method employees worked with volunteers from
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FEATURES Sustainable Coastlines Hawai'i and the Kōkua Hawai'i Foundation to handcollect several tons of plastic from the beaches of Hawaii, where the kinds of rigid, opaque plastic needed to make this packaging are most abundant. From there, the team sorted out the plastic debris and shipped it back to California, he said. Method partnered with recycler Envision Plastics to develop a new recycling process to make the bottles. The material was hand sorted one more time before being transferred into the PE recycling process. Once the material was sorted, the plastic got chopped up into small flakes and is put through a wash to remove any foreign manner. The clean ocean plastic flake is then transferred to a large extruder where it is blended with HDPE PCR (material from the local MRF) to produce a stable 100% PCR pellet ready for further processing. The pellets are made into the bottle using a standard blowmolding process. Still, blowmolding this resin presented some challenges. Becker said with
some specific design elements on the base of the bottle and optimizing the percentage of ocean plastic in each bottle, they eventually were able to produce a stable bottle. This process to convert plastic pollution into packaging isn't cheap. "Before we have even processed anything, the collection of the ocean plastic and transportation add significant costs to the overall price of the resins," Becker said. "While the ocean plastic resin is substantially more expensive on a dollar-per-pound basis, we are willing to pay this price for a project that is driving awareness for a global issue." Finally, Method was able to introduce the world to its innovation in sustainable packaging - bottles made from a blend of plastic recovered from the ocean and post-consumer recycled plastic. This limited edition packaging is for a new Method product, a twoin-one hand and dish soap, available exclusively at Whole Foods Market stores nationwide. The company has produced approximately 80,000 bottles for this launch. Method's intention was to leave the plastic in its natural state, and the gray color is a result of the chopping, washing and blending undergoes during recycling. Inspiration for the package texture was drawn from a sea urchin, with small ridges running the length of the bottle. It is available in two fragrances sea minerals and sweet water at the suggested retail price of $4.99. A portion of the product's proceeds will go to these two Hawaiian organizations as part of Method's efforts to establish an ongoing business
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model and supply chain for collecting and sorting plastic marine debris. Method believes there is an opportunity to potentially expand the usage of ocean plastic to the company's other product lines. "At this time, we are really focused on establishing a sustainable supply chain for the ocean plastic," Becker said. "With this in place, it opens up the potential to expand the program." Plastics are estimated to represent between 60% and 80% of the total marine debris floating in the world's oceans, according to the EPA. The debris varies from fragments of manufactured plastic products to preproduction plastic pellets that were spilled at some point during shipping or at the factory. Through this new use of recovered ocean plastic, Method hopes to demonstrate how businesses can tackle environmental problems, and that there are smarter ways to make plastic rather than using virgin material, the company stated. Nearly all of Method's packaging is made from 100% post-consumer recycled material. "Our goal with ocean plastic packaging is to show that the most viable solution to our plastic pollution problem is using the plastic that's already on the planet," Lowry said in a statement. "Method's ocean plastic bottle demonstrates in the extreme that recycling is possible. By recycling and reusing plastic to make our bottles, we turn off the tap of plastic flowing into our oceans and take the first, most important step toward solving the ocean plastic problem."
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
UK Government once again ignores plastics industry he House of Lords has approved amendments to the Packaging Waste regulation ahead of a debate in the House of Commons and once again the views of UK plastics have been ignored.Environment minister Lord de Mauley faced criticism for disregarding advice from the plastics industry, which has lobbied hard for a more realistic set of targets rather than the “ambitious” ones proposed by Westminster.Nonetheless
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Lord De Mauley showed the government was unmoved. “The largest increase under the targets proposed will be in plastic packaging recycling,” he said. “The target under consideration today will increase the UK's plastic recycling rate from 24% to 42% in 2017.“This is an ambitious target compared with where we are now. At present the UK's recycling rate puts us towards the bottom of the EU league table. I acknowledge
that there are concerns about this, but we need to do better.”The environment minister said he had listened carefully to concerns about the costs of the new regulations but asked the upper house to accept that “this needs to be seen in the context of the overwhelming benefit to the economy as a whole, including the UK's recycling and reprocessing industry.
Canada halts funding for plastics training anada’s federal government has pulled the plug on financing for a plastics council charged with training labor for the plastics industry. The Canadian Plastics Sector Council (CPSC) will suspend operations effective March 31 due to lack of funds. According to reports Federal Ministry Human Resources and Skills Development Canada was first informed of the cutoff in summer of 2011. The council, which
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was built on the premise of federal funding, does not have a fee-per-service business model that might have kept it going. The federal cutoff is part of a broad-based austerity drive to reduce Canada’s deficit, which is relatively low compared with other G7 nations. The council said that “The past year for the CPSC has been one of retrospection and change, With the completion of the essential skills project, the plastics
processing industry now has access to a series of valuable and powerful tools that support skills training and human resource development.” Deborah Lovegrove, spokeswoman for CPSC, said the council represented just about all Canadian processors, about 2,700 firms. It had an annual operating budget of about C$500,000 (US$500,000) plus additional funding for special projects
Toronto withdraws plastic bag ban oronto City Council has rescinded its decision to ban plastic bags in retail operations.
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The decision came in voting held on November 27 vote. The ban’s reversal passed by a 38 to 7 votes The Council took into account legal advice after two industry trade groups filed lawsuits to overturn the ban.CTV and CBC news organizations reported the story the P L A S T I C S N E W S
afternoon of November 27.The ban was due to begin Jan. 1. Retailers have been charging 5 cents a bag as a prelude to the ban, but some dropped the levy when Council stopped imposing it over the summer.Toronto had added plastics bags to its curbside collection program for recycling materials even while it planned to ban bags from its stream. This only added to confusion about the
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status of plastic bags. Toronto faced legal challenges of the ban from the Ontario Convenience Stores Association and the Canada Plastic Bag Association. The Council decision was not entirely predictable, because Toronto Mayor Rob Ford -- who has pushed to drop the bag fee and who has opposed the ban -- faces impeachment for alleged conflict of interest charges.
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EuPR changes name, calls for higher targets urope’s plastics recyclers’ organization, EuPR, has changed its name to Plastics Recyclers Europe. The announcement was made its annual meeting in Brussels.
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During the event, held in November 21-22, EuPR unveiled its new corporate identity, which it said will emphasize the transformations that the plastics recycling industry is currently undergoing. EuPR
also published its future priorities and objectives in an updated strategy paper -- an increase in recycling targets. Ton Emans, EuPR president, said: “We should push plastics recycling for higher targets in order to improve Europe’s efficiency and in order to better manage our own resources.”According to EuPR 2012 was difficult but “fruitful” year for the organization. It successfully
Middle Eastern petrochem makers to enjoy cost advantage iddle Eastern petrochemical producers will continue to enjoy considerable cost advantage compared with their counterparts in Southeast Asia even as a scarcity of gas forces them to shift to other feedstocks, Jaap Kalkman, a partner at German consulting firm Roland Berger has reported. "The energy cost [expenditure on power] of a naphtha cracker in the Middle East
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will be about 50% lower than that of a naphtha-fed cracker in Singapore and Japan," Kalkman, who is also Head of Energy and Chemicals for the Middle East, said. "The feedstock cost for a Middle East naphtha-based producer will be lower as compared to an Asian producer, in the range of 1-10%." He attributed this to easier access to oil reserves and growing refining capacity in the region.
Sipchem launches EVA films project in Hail he Saudi International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem) has launched the construction of its ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) films project in Hail Industrial City. The project enjoys the patronage of Hail Governor Prince Saud bin Abdulmohsen, who is also the chairman of the High Commission for Development of Hail Region. Built on an area of 40,000 square meters, the
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SR 120 million project will manufacture 4,000 metric tpa of EVA films. The project, which is fully owned by Sipchem Chemicals Company (SCC), will be financed by the company and other local backers. The project is expected to be operational by Q3-2013. EVA films are used to produce solar cell panels which are important components for the production of renewable electricity.
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launched the EuCertPlast accreditation and made progress with its End of Waste Criteria – tools that will help European member states create jobs in plastics recycling, it claimed
Dow Chemical applies for federal permit to for ethylene plant in Texas ow Chemical Co. (DOW), the largest U.S. chemical maker by sales, applied for a federal permit to build the company’s biggest ethylene plant to benefit from the cost advantage of cheap natural gas. The plant in Freeport, Texas, would have capacity to make 1.5 mln tpa of ethylene, the same size as Texas ethylene plants proposed by Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. and Exxon Mobil Corp. It will be Dow’s largest in the world. Construction of the $1.7 billion plant would begin in January 2014 with operations to begin in January 2017. Dow is investing a total of US$4 bln in Texas and Louisiana through 2017 to increase output of ethylene and propylene. The Gulf Coast investments will boost earnings by at least US$2 bln pa after the new cracker starts.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Sasol commences FEED phase For integrated GTL and ethane complex outh African-based energy and chemicals company, Sasol, plans to proceed with front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase for an integrated, 96 000 bpd gas-toliquids (GTL) facility and a world-scale ethane cracker with downstream derivatives, at its Lake Charles site in southwest Louisiana. The GTL facility, the first of its kind in the U.S, will produce four million tons per annum (mtpa) of high quality transportation fuel, including GTL diesel and other value-adding chemical products.
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Current project costs for the GTL facility are estimated between US$11 billion and US$14 billion. The GTL project will be delivered in two phases, with each phase comprising 48 000 bpd. The first phase is planned to come into operation in the 2018 calendar year and the second phase the following calendar year. The worldscale ethane cracker will allow Sasol to expand its differentiated ethylene derivatives business in the U.S. The cracker will also benefit from the current low U.S. natural gas prices
INEOS to invest in construction of new ethane tank at Rafnes site In Norway NEOS plans to invest in the construction of a new ethane tank at its Rafnes site in Norway. The company has signed a Letter Of Intent with TGE Gas Engineering to build a new tank and expanded infrastructure, to be commissioned in 2015. The new facility will complement the existing storage at Rafnes. It will expand the company’s ability to access ethane from world markets and secure long-term competitiveness and jobs at the site. Subject to signature of the final contractual agreements, the construction work is planned to
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commence in February / March 2013 and will continue for 24 months. The tank will be capable of storing first ethane loads from the Q2-2015. The investment in the tank and infrastructure at Rafnes quickly follows the recent completion of supply and infrastructure agreements by INEOS, to access ethane feedstock from the US for use in its European cracker complexes. The additional ethane will supplement existing supplies and provide the opportunity to replace more expensive Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG).
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and the abundance of ethane. Current cracker project costs are estimated between US$5 billion and US$7 billion. Sasol expects beneficial operation to be achieved during the 2017 calendar year. It will produce an estimated 1,5 mtpa of ethylene with downstream derivative plants. Sasol also has a differentiated portfolio of ethylenebased technologies that will enable it to meet growing demand for high value-add chemicals
Iowa City rejects plastic bag ban Officials in Iowa City, Iowa have pushed back against a potential plastic bag ban, the Press-Citizen newspaper reported. According to the report the city has pushed for education on plastic bags in recent years and the city's recycling coordinator said there are many locations where residents can recycle plastic bags.Susan Mims, the city's mayor pro-tem, said she supports a plastic bag ban, but it's an issue that should be addressed on the regional level, not city-bycity, according to the newspaper. The plastic bag ban was brought forward by a group called 100 Grannies, the newspaper reported.
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BUSINESS NEWS
Indian Oil Corp planning a Rs 30,000 crore refinery on India’s west coast ndian Oil Corp (IOC) is planning Rs 30,000 crore refinery on the west coast in Gujarat or Maharashtra. According to PTI it could be as part of its plans to raise the refining capacity to 100 mln tons.IOC has seven refineries totaling 54.2 mln tons and a 11.5 mln ton subsidiary - Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd (CPCL). It so far has no coastal refinery, impairing its ability to process cheaper difficult crude oils. IOC is looking for sites for the new unit in Gujarat and Maharashtra. The company has been offered land by Adani Group at Mundra in Gujarat as well as by Shapoorji Pallonji Group in Saurashtra. IOC already has a 13.7 mln tons refinery at Koyali in Gujarat but does not have a presence in Maharashtra.
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All of its refineries are landlocked. It is building a coastal refinery at Paradip in Orissa by September 2013. “We have commissioned Engineers India Ltd to do a configuration and location study for the west coast refinery,” Ghosh said, adding the study is likely to come-in by year-end after which the company will commission a detailed feasibility report (DFR). The refinery on the west coast is to come up by the 13th Five Year Plan. Ghosh said IOC has plans to raise its refining capacity to 100 mln tons by 2021-22, Koyali refinery to 18 mln tons at the cost of Rs 4,858 crore by 2014. Mathura refinery is being considered for expanding capacity 11 mln tons from current 8 mln tons and also, an expansion of Panipat unit to
18 or 21 mln tons from current 15 mln tons. Its under construction 15 mln ton Paradip refinery in Orissa would be expanded to 20 mln tons in future. Paradip refinery will be commissioned by end 2013. IOC plans to invest Rs 56,200 crore in the 12th Five Year Plan ending March 31, 2017. A majority of Rs 27,159 crore is planned to be spent in expanding refining capacity. The company has planned to set up a polypropylene unit at Paradip at the cost of Rs 3,150 crore while also building similar units at Gujarat and Panipat refineries. Paradip refinery, he said, is nearing mechanical completion and the petrochemical project will thereafter take 36-39 months to complete.
Oman Oil Company and LG to jointly develop a petrochemical plant man Oil Company (OOC) and LG International (LGI) have signed an agreement to jointly develop a petrochemical plant at the Sohar Port. The joint venture company, which will be owned 70% by OOC and 30% by LGI, will execute the project in accordance with international standards to produce a total of 1.1 mln tons of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and 500,000 tpa of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The project, which is estimated to cost around US$850 mln and will be operational
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by the end of 2016, will be completed in two phases, as per Oman News Agency. Al Jashmi, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Oil and Gas and Chairman of OOC said: “The development of the PTA/PET complex is an important investment project and will help step up downstream projects based on PET. In addition, the project will create more employment opportunities for Omanis. The project highlights the economic importance of setting up diversified industrial projects in Port of Sohar and 58
supports the government’s efforts in diversifying the national economy and attracting foreign direct investments,” he added. The project will also support In-Country Value and contribute to the Omani economy by way of engagement of local contractors and suppliers, use of feedstock produced by the aromatics complex in Sohar owned by Oman Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) and the use of Sohar Port for import of plant equipment and other raw materials D E C E M B E R 2012
BUSINESS NEWS
Japanese petrochem majors scout for overseas operations apanese petrochemical majors are scouting overseas countries to set up petrochemical plants either on the own or in joint ventures. Big petrochemical companies like Sumitomo, Asahi Kasei, Mitsui & Co, Mitsubishi Chemicals and Ube Industries have already set up overseas plants or are in the process of doing so.
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According to Sumitomo Chemical, “Expansion of overseas operations is necessary for the survival and the development of the petrochemical business. Japan’s petrochemical industry faces various challenges, such as the transfer of user industries’ production bases abroad, the yen’s appreciation and a decline in cost competitiveness due to higher electricity bills in Japan”. Recently, Sumitomo Chemical confirmed that it is moving ahead in its joint venture with Saudi Aramco on the Rabigh Phase II Project at a total investment which is projected to reach around US$7 bln. The Rabigh II Project will achieve superior cost competitiveness by using cost-competitive ethane as part of its feedstock and by utilizing the existing infrastructure of the Rabigh I Project. The Rabigh II Project will use an additional 30 mln standard cubic feet per day of ethane and approximately 3 mln tpa of naphtha as feedstock to produce ethylene propylene rubber (EPDM), thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO), methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), low density polyethylene/ ethylene vinyl acetate (LDPE/EVA), paraxylene/benzene, cumene and
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phenol/acetone. Sumitomo says, “We have been expanding our overseas business by investing in large-scale projects in Singapore and Saudi Arabia. By investing in the Rabigh II Project, we seek further expansion of our petrochemical business abroad”. Sumitomo and Saudi Aramco will continue to explore to implement projects related to acrylic acid, super absorbent polymer (SAP), caprolactam and nylon-6, including possible collaboration with a third party. Incidentally, Sumitomo is the only Japanese petrochemical company to operate naphtha crackers outside Japan. It started operating naphtha crackers in Singapore as far as back as 1982. Japanese trading giant - Mitsui & Co along with a consortium of other Japanese companies has sketched a joint venture with Saudi International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) to set up a plant to produce methanol with an annual capacity of 1.1 mln tons
in Jubail - Saudi Arabia. According to a spokesperson of Mitsui, cost competitiveness of raw materials is given the utmost importance, when they expand business overseas. A spokesperson at Mitsubishi Chemicals revealed that they operate a PTA plant in China. It set up the 600,000 tpa PTA plant in 2007 in Ningbo province. Mitsubishi Chemicals also started commercial production of a new Bisphenol A (BPA) plant in China with a capacity of 150,000 tpa in the current year. Asahi Kasei Chemicals wants to become the top producer of acrylonitrile (ACN) in the world. A spokesman of Asahi Kasei informs, “In South Korea, we are planning to ramp up ACN capacity by 200,000 tpa, which will take ACN production capacity to 500,000 tpa and in end-2011, Asahi Kasei began commercial production of an ACN plant in Thailand with a capacity of 230,000 tpa
Tata Capital acquires stake in Pluss Polymers ata Capital Innovations Fund, VC firm headed by Tata Capital, invested Rs 15 Crores in specialized polymer maker Pluss Polymers Pvt. Ltd. through equity infusion. The company is in the business of R&D and manufacture of specialized polymers and phase change materials (PCM) and the funds will be utilized to enhance R&D and manufacturing initiatives.
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The firm’s product finds application in white goods, auto and plastic film industries by enhancing the properties of polymer compounds. PCMs are used for thermal energy storage and serve to balance and maintain heating/cooling load requirements. It now plans to tap the international market along with capacity expansion and heading into new geographies
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BUSINESS NEWS
Saudi Aramco to make offers for Fujian selects products from Fujian petchem complex KBC software for audi Aramco has begun talking to prospective buyers for products from its Fujian Refining and Petrochemical Company (FREP) complex at Quangzhou in China's Fujian province. FREP is a joint venture between Fujian Petrochemical Co. (50%), ExxonMobil China Petroleum and Petrochemical Co. (25%) and Saudi Aramco Sino Co. (25%). Fujian Petrochemical is a 50:50 JV between Sinopec and the Fujian provincial government. The first offer is expected to be made in early January 2013, instead of the earlier announced November. Saudi Aramco will sell about 330,000 tpa of polymers from FREP, including about 100,000 tpa of low density
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polyethylene, 100,000 tpa of linear low density polyethylene, 100,000 tpa of high density polyethylene and 130,000 tpa of polypropylene. FREP production facilities comprise an 800,000 tpa steam cracker, a 400,000 tpa PP plant, a 400,000 tpa LLDPE plant, a 400,000 tpa HDPE plant, a 120,000 tpa butadiene plant, a 700,000 tpa paraxylene plant and a 260,000 tpa benzene plant at Quanzhou.Sales of Aramco's share of products produced by FREP have so far been handled by Saudi Basic Industries Co., or Sabic, which has a sales network in China. Saudi Aramco recently set up an office at Quanzhou and hired its own staff to handle the sales of its products.
Sahara Petrochemicals signs financing deals with Saudi Banks ahara’s affiliate, Sahara & Maaden Petrochemicals Company (SAMAPCO) has signed a financing agreements for a total amount of SAR 1980.75 million (US$528.2 mln). The agreements were signed with three Saudi banks: Banque Saudi Fransi, Riyad Bank and The Saudi British Bank, to provide Islamic commercial financing for the development of SAMAPCOs Ethylene Dichloride and Caustic Soda petrochemical project located in Jubail Industrial City. The financing is
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for a period of 15 years with unequal semi-annual installments commencing after the completion of the project. Promissory Notes were provided to effect payments due as per the agreements. SAMAPCO is a 50:50 joint venture between SAHARA Petrochemicals and Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden), with production expected to commence in the end of the first quarter of 2013. Any additional information will be announced in due course.
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petrochemical, refining optimization project B C A d v a n c e d Technologies has signed a contract for a large optimization and efficiency project with Fujian Refining and Petrochemical Corp. (FREP), a joint venture comprised of Fujian Petrochemical Co., ExxonMobil, China Petroleum & Petrochemical Co. and Saudi Aramco.
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Under the multi-million US dollar contract, KBC will provide a 5-year Petro-SIM and ProSteam software license, build a refinery and petrochemical integrated flowsheet model, online utility optimizer and complex-wide LP model, and train Fujian personnel on software model building and applications. "Implementation of the project can effectively improve the production and operation conditions of FREP and provide strong technical support and a vast application platform for FREP's optimization and profit improvement work," said Brian Ablett, vice president for FREP
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BUSINESS NEWS
Songwon and Polysys Industries to build OPS plant in Kizad, Abu Dhabi ongwon Additive Technologies AG and Polysys Industries has announced of establishing a new company Polysys Additive Technologies ME, which will build an OPS (One Pack Systems) manufacturing plant in Kizad (Khalifa Industrial City of Abu Dhabi), Abu Dhabi. This follows the announcement of the establishment of Songwon
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Additive Technologies AG, a Joint Venture between Songwon Industrial Group Pan Gulf Holding Company of Saudi Arabia and Polysys Industries of Abu Dhabi, for the manufacture and sale of Songnox® OPS. Maurizio Butti, Chief Operating Officer, Member of the Songwon Industrial Group Executive Committee and Chairman of the Board of Songwon Additive Technologies AG,
stated: “We are very pleased to be able to confirm that Kizad, Abu Dhabi will be the location of our OPS plant in the Middle East. The new plant will have an initial capacity of approximately 7.000 metric tons, however it will be designed to take into consideration increasing demand in the future, and we expect that construction will be completed in approximately 12 months.
Portugal's Logoplaste investing $31.5 million on plant in Kansas City ogoplaste SA is opening a new manufacturing plant in Kansas City.The rigid packaging manufacturer is investing $31.5 million to start operations at a 200,000 square foot facility in the East Bottoms region of the city, according to the Kansas City Area Development Council.The plant will manufacture plastic bottles to fulfill a contract with Procter & Gamble
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Co., said John Fougere, director of communications with the Missouri Department of Economic Development. Logoplaste will create 80 new fulltime, permanent jobs over the next 5 years, Fougere said. The company will receive more than $1.65 million in tax credits and $92,5000 in recruitment assistance from the state, he said. Logoplaste, based in Cascais, Portugal,
has a North American headquarters in Plainfield, Ill. The company operates more than 350 machines and has 60 facilities in 18 countries.The company makes rigid plastic packaging using injection molding, stretch blow molding and extrusion molding for a variety of markets including food and beverage, personal care, household care and oil and lubricants.
Lonza sells former Arch urethanes business onza Group has signed an agreement with Monument Chemical to sell the assets of Lonza Group’s U.S. performance urethanes and organics business located in Brandenburg. Lonza expects the agreement to close by the end of the year.Speaking about the sell off Richard Ridinger, CEO of Lonza said
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“We are pleased to have found a strategic owner for our Brandenburg facility. While performance urethanes operations is not core to the Lonza portfolio the divestiture of the assets provides the Brandenburg business, with the foundation for continued growth and expansion.The Arch performance urethanes and organics business 61
has supplied specialty urethane and organic chemicals for over 40 years, developing and manufacturing products used in applications including products for coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers, flexible and rigid foams, coolants and solvents
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BUSINESS NEWS
Huntsman merger called off with large payout
Mold-Rite beefs up cap operations
untsman has called off its merger with Hexion Specialty Chemicals with Hexion and its private equity owner, Apollo Management, to pay Huntsman US$1 billion, thus concluding a disagreement that has lasted six months. Included in the payment is a US$325 million breakup fee that was part of the merger agreement and which Hexion expects will be funded by Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank under an existing commitment compensation, US$425 million in cash payments by Apollo and certain affiliates and an additional US$250 million in exchange for ten
S-based cap maker MoldRite Plastics has recently acquired two cap closure makers: Weatherchem Corp. and Stull Technologies Inc. Weatherchem and Stull are both family-owned and make dispensing closures for the food and beverage, cosmetics, personal care, pet care, healthcare and chemicals markets. The 27year old Mold-Rite, which is owned by private equity firm Irving Place Capital, says the acquisitions will help expand its product line and production capabilities as well as broaden its geographic reach.
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year convertible notes issued by Huntsman in that principal amount. At least US$500 million must be paid to Huntsman by the end of this year and the rest by 31 March. This settlement also resolves Huntsman´s court claims against Apollo and its affiliates relating to Huntsman’s prior merger agreement with Basell (now known as LyondellBasell). According to Huntsman CEO Peter Huntsman, the payout of the proceeds will “enhance the strength of Huntsman´s balance sheet and better position the company to prosper during the current turbulence in the global economy."
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ERT agrees to license its powder process to 2 K nvironmental Recycling Technologies (ERT) has licensed its powder impression moulding process for converting mixed waste plastics into commercially viable products to 2K Manufacturing. Under the terms of the deal, ERT will receive £1.7m over a period of five years. In addition, 2K will pay ERT an annual royalty based on sales volume.
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Roger Baynham, ERT’s managing director, said: "This is a landmark agreement which provides the framework for future cooperation between ERT and 2K enabling 2K to focus on the significant UK market whilst providing it with rights to license the PIM technology for flat sheet production to the rest of the world as P L A S T I C S N E W S
evidenced by the recent agreement with NBF Plastics." Omer Kutluoglu, CEO of 2K, added: "We are delighted to have completed this revised agreement with ERT. Domestic demand and market
awareness for EcoSheet is growing well, and this agreement better reflects our company's UK focused commercial strategy. We look forward to a fruitful and profitable relationship with ERT."
Waddington North America buys Eco-Products addington North America Inc., a maker of upscale plastic tableware and packaging, has acquired Eco-Products Inc., a supplier of disposable food service products made from plant-based and recycled materials. This is WNA’s second acquisition of 2012. In August, WNA purchased the drink cup division of Winpak Portion Packaging Inc.Eco-Products, based in Boulder, Colo., sells disposable packaging -- including cups, bowls, lids, containers and utensils -- made from postconsumer recycled cardboard and plastic, bio-based polylactic acid resins and other plant-based materials.
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Battle for shareholding in Haldia Petrochemicals could be taken to ICA decision on whether the battle for shareholding in Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL) would be taken to the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) will be made this month, following a Supreme Court order directing the high court to dispose the case in December, according to report in The Business Standard. A ruling in favour of The Chatterjee Group against another major shareholder, the West Bengal government, may drag the case to ICA, following a long legal battle in the Indian courts. The Supreme Court has also approved a petition by the TCG, challenging an interim stay by the Calcutta High Court on TCG approaching ICA. However, the firm’s
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board is likely to take up a resolution this week for the conversion of a part of its long-term debt into equity. “When the battle for shareholding is before the court and supposed to come before the ICA soon, the board is not supposed to take this action. The firm’s financial woes are created by the government. It is not availed of tax credits worth Rs 775 crore in various categories,” an HPL source said. According to HPL’s financial statement, there is a massive increase in short-term financial borrowings to Rs 951.7 crore in 2011-12. Operations have been below 40% of installed capacity, while the company incurred an accumulated cash loss of about Rs 900 crore in
the current financial year. Chowdhury indicated that no such agenda for conversion of debt into equity was on the agenda of the board meeting as of now. TCG had filed the arbitration with the International Chamber of Commerce ( ICC) headquartered in Paris, earlier this year. The ICC’s International Court of Arbitration is the world’s leading institution for resolving international commercial and business disputes. TCG had approached the court as it came as an NRI investor and the agreement is of international standard. Against this, HPL had approached the High Court seeking a stay on TCG’s move to take the company to ICA.
SPE plans ANTEC in India and first-time conferences in Mideast, China NTEC® Mumbai 2012, the latest initiative by the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) to make its plastics technical education programs available globally, concluded on December 7 as a resounding success and will be followed in December 2014 by a second ANTEC in India, SPE announced today. The association’s global president Jim Griffing noted that SPE will organize its first ANTEC for the Middle East at Dubai in January 2014 and plans its first technical conference in China for December 2013. In July 2013 at Lyon, France, SPE will hold its second EUROTEC®
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conference for the European plastics community. At ANTEC Mumbai 2012, more than 450 delegates attended 178 original, peer-reviewed technical presentations across seven parallel tracks over two days. The conference also hosted a special plenary session with an address by guest of honor Shri Manohar Parrikar, chief minister of Goa. Two other plenary addresses focusing on the plastics industry in India were given by Dr. Ernesto Occhiello, executive vice president of technology and innovation for SABIC, and Dr. Ajit Sapre, group president of research and technology for Reliance Industries. 63
“ANTEC Mumbai 2012 was the largest plastics technical conference ever held in India,” said Mr. Griffing, “and we expect the next edition of ANTEC in India to be considerably larger.” Mr. Griffing cited Vijay Boolani, ANTEC Mumbai 2012 conference chair, for providing the inspiration for the event and working tirelessly to make it a reality. “There was great support from the Indian and international plastics industry,” he added, “and participation in networking and plenary events by plastics company executives brought total attendance at ANTEC Mumbai to around 500 D E C E M B E R 2012
BUSINESS NEWS
Kazakh national oil and gas company to invest in US$1 bln azakh National Oil and Gas company KazMunayGas is mulling participation in US$1 bln investment project of the Belarusian company Mogilevkhimvolokno. The Belarusian state petrochemical concern Belneftekhim and its subordinate organizations have put together a government program for the development of the national petrochemical industry till 2015 and till 2020. The program is supposed to be discussed and approved by the Council
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of Ministers Presidium in December 2012. The ogram provides for implementing a US$1 bln project at OAO Mogilevkhimvolokno in association with the Kazakh company KazMunayGas. An agreement on cooperation with KazMunayGas was reached during the visit of Prime Minister of Belarus Mr Mikhail Myasnikovich to Kazakhstan in November 2012. The project will include a complex to make terephthalic acid out of Kazakh paraxylene. Terephthalic acid will then be processed
by OAO Mogilevkhimvolokno to make polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and after that polyester fiber. In comparison with the present technology that uses dimethyl terephthalate to make PET the new complex will be much more effective as far as energy costs involved in the manufacturing process are concerned. Mogilevkhimvolokno will build a new complex able to make about 600,000 tonnes of polyester fiber per annum. The company plans to export about half of it.
Chen Hsongs sales down two percent at $4.5m hen Hsong, one of China’s largest injection moulding machine makers, said in a report to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that overall sales were down two percent in the six months ending 30 September (£76m) as it said business in mainland China and Taiwan declined compared to the year ago period. The company said its profits in the period declined 46% to $4.5m, which it said was largely due to currency fluctuations.
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“China’s economic structure has traditionally been heavily dependent on exports and investments in infrastructure and real estate, and the pitfalls of such over-dependence are now becoming apparent,” Chen Hsong said, with the sharpest declines among Chinese firms buying small and medium-sized machines to make export goods.The Hong Kong-based company reported sales up 18% in international markets, to £21m, even
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with severe problems in parts of Europe.It said it saw solid sales growth in the Americas, led by a recovery in automotive markets in the United States, and it said it was beefing up
its presence in Brazil and Turkey to try to increase market share. And it said demand was rising for its new twoplaten ultra-large tonnage machines.
Reliance seeking upto US$1 bln of ECA-backed loan facilities Reliance Industries plans two U.S. dollar- denominated offshore loans of about US$500 million each, backed by export credit agency guarantees, according to reports by Bloomberg. HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) has been approached to arrange both facilities, the person said, asking not to be identified because the details are private. The first, of US$400-500 mln, will have a guarantee from Korea Trade Insurance Corp. (K-sure), and will mature in about six years. The second, also of about US$500 mln, will be backed by French export credit agency Coface SA and have a tenor of about 13.5- years. Reliance Industries is accelerating investments to boost output of natural gas and petrochemicals as it bets local demand will double by as early as 2017. The company has signed about US$4.3 bln of foreign- currency denominated loans this year, the most by any local borrower, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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CPI offers PU end-use data from 2010 enter for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) is offering enduse data for sale, in three volumes, focused on individual segments of the polyurethanes value chain. The data offer an assessment of 2010 polyurethane production by enduse for the US, Canada and Mexico specific to flexible foam; rigid foam; and coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE), binders, reaction injection molding (RIM), and other products.These three volumes are part of the CPI’s 2010 End-Use Market Survey, based on data collected by IAL
Consultants. Each market segment data set --Volume 2: Flexible Foams, Volume 3: Rigid Foams, and Volume 4: CASE, Binders, RIM, costs $500 for CPI members and $750 for nonmembers.These volumes provide detailed analysis of the end-use market for each PU type, including a breakdown of issues and trends.The flexible foams volume is nearly 250 pages, covering raw material demand in North America, total production of the primary types of flexible foam, and analysis and overview of major end-use areas.
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Priority Plastics buys CWW Products low molder Priority Plastics Inc. has purchased CCW Products Inc. in Denver, a move to expand into clear PET and PVC wide-mouth bottles.Terms were not disclosed for the deal, announced Dec. 17.Priority Plastics, based in Portland, Ind., makes extrusion blow molded polyethylene bottles such as tight-head containers, motor oil and other automotive bottles and series and stock containers, and injection molds lids.
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PRODUCT NEWS
PolyOne’s launches reFlex with 99% biocontent von Lake-based PolyOne unveiled the new reFlex 300 grade bioplasticizer at the European Bioplastics Conference in Berlin. The new grade is derived from rapidly renewable feedstocks and provides a one-to-one replacement for generalpurpose plasticizers used in flexible PVC formulations. The new grade is made using soybean-based technology developed by Battelle Memorial Institute, The phthalate-free 300
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grade “enables customers to expand their offerings with differentiated alternatives that heed consumer calls for eco-conscious solutions,” said Performance Products and Solutions President Rob Rosenau. The new material has been certified under the Department of Agriculture BioPreferred program, officials said, and it also can help manufacturers and brand owners in meeting the
requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which bans certain phthalates in products used by children.Potential applications for the new reFlex grade include tubing and connectors in health care, plugs and insulators in electrical components, and toys and shoes in the consumer-goods arena. In building and construction, the new material can be used in weather stripping, gaskets, office furniture and flooring.
Rhodia Engineering Plastics launches Sinterline hodia Engineering Plastics, a company in the Solvay Group, has announced the launch of Sinterline, the first powdered polyamide 6 range developed specifically for Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). This technology uses a high power laser to fuse powdered plastics into three-dimensional shapes and can be used to produce complex articles
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in a short amount of time. Sinterline components produced using SLS have a thermal resistance and rigidity similar to injection-moulded PA6 products. This makes it possible to produce functional prototypes and pieces in limited series at affordable costs. The automotive and electronics industries are the ideal sectors of application for the new range of powdered PA6. It has
been used, for example, by Solution F/ E2R, an engineering firm specialized in rapid prototyping of components for recreational vehicles and aerospace applications, to produce air lines and tanks for fluids, while work is in progress to create components for the cockpit of the futuristic Solar Impulse aircraft, powered by the sun.
RadiciGroup developes Polyamides for electrostatic coating new family of polyamides for electrostatic powder coating has been developed by RadiciGroup. Commonly using metals, this technology provides excellent surface finish with high resistance to atmospheric agents. Furthermore, given the total lack of solvents, an added advantage of this type of surface coating is its reduced environmental
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impact with respect to liquid paints. The specific formulations, based on PA6.6, provide aesthetic results that are analogous to those achievable with metal-based coatings and open a new range of possible applications. One concrete example is profiles for doors and windows that can replace the aluminium members used in metalplastic hybrids. The possibility of using 66
a single insulating material based on PA6.6 brings a number of advantages: better thermal insulation, elimination of the aluminium-plastic assembly step and chemical anti-corrosion treatments for aluminium, excellent strength and dimensional stability following the powder coating process at nominal temperatures of up to 200°C.
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PRODUCT NEWS
Hasco shows flexible mold temperature control line erman mold tooling components producer Hasco Hasenclever GmbH & Co. KG has introduced a flexible mold temperature control line. Hasco featured the new line and other mold components at its booth at Expoplast12, held November 14-15 in Montreal.
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“It reduces pressure loss because there are no sharp angles,” explained Christoph PIschel, business development manager for North America, “It’s less costly to make [than conventional mold temperature control lines drilled into mold plates].” Pischel said theTempFlex products cool quicker than conventional channels embedded in the mold because the
flexible lines are made of braided stainless steel hose with quadratic cross sections and change direction through arcs rather than abrupt corners. The Lüdenscheid, Germany, company says the lines are simple to assemble and adaptable to the desired groove process.According to the company’s calculations, deflecting the coolant in the new lines through 10 arcs rather than through 10 conventional 90 degree deflections results in 300 percent less pressure loss. TempFlex is available in metric and Imperial measurements. Hasco claims the lines can be retrofitted onto existing molds plagued by insufficient cooling performance.
AERT to introduce deckboard with nanotechnology ood-plastic composite decking manufacturer Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies Inc. will debut its muchawaited -- and the industry’s first -- decking board that incorporates nanotechnology at the International Builders Show in Las Vegas in midJanuary.AERT’s new co-extruded deck board will be part of its MoistureShield product line. It is designed to compete with capstock composites, which have had a slight market edge in tough
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weather climates in the Northeast, along the Eastern seaboard, the upper portions of Minnesota and in Colorado. The nanotechnologyenhanced materials for the AERT decking were developed in partnership with NanoMech Inc., which is located in Fayetteville, Ark., 10 miles south of AERT’s headquarters in nearby Springdale. AERT would be launching a new plastics recycling venture with a new company called Green Country Recycling, based in Westville, Okla.
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New mixer in place at Plastics Group lastics Group of America recently installed a new vertical silo mixer at its plant in Woonsocket.The mixer can hold up to 28,000 pounds and will be used to homogenize large batches of resins and regrinds prior to pelletizing or compounding. The new machine is Plastics Group’s third mixer, complementing in-house abilities to shred, grind and densify recycled materials. “We will do whatever it takes to improve product quality and reduce time to delivery,” Vice President and co-owner Mike Rosenthal said.
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Plastics Group is in the process of restoring a 105-yearold mill building in Woonsocket that will be used as a warehousing and grinding site. Rosenthal - who co-owns the firm along with Robert Lebeaux - said that Plastics Group should be able to occupy part of the building by the end of the year.Plastics Group has annual sales of about $30 million, generating more than half of that amount from Polifil-brand filled polypropylene compounds for food packaging, medical and trays
D E C E M B E R 2012
PRODUCT NEWS
Reifenhauser Master series The Master series covers a wide output range from 2 up to 2000 kg/h. Because of the integrated know-how, the BKG system convinces by easy handling and compact design. A hand wheel allows fine-adjustment of the contact pressure of the cutter head to give optimal product processing, whatever the requirement. The Master series can be installed in the minimum of space and easily relocated at any time. Advantages in particular for compound & master batch production: •
Flexibility with respect to the granulated material.
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Flexibility with respect to new materials &colors.
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Flexibility with respect to the production of various pellet sizes, thanks to fast exchangeable perforated plates.
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easy & fast cleaning of the system components
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production of micro granulates.
dramatically reduces the time for cleaning and material changes. •
easy integration in existing and new lines by custom made adaptors
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rheologically optimized flow channels, no dead zones.
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electrically heated (GPE), all heaters wired in a junction box
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measuring borings 92 for melt pressure & 1 for temperature are included
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max. 250 bar differential pressure and 350 bar cutlet pressure are available
to the following features: •
completely continuously working melt filter by means of 2 pistons with 2 screen cavities (1 per piston).
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optimized melt flow, no dead zones.
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continuous operation, no interruption of the melt flow during a screen change.
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easy handling, strong and long lasting design, high reliability.
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extrusion pressure upto 500 bar.
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big available active filtration area.
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low Delta p (differential pressure)
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for melt temperatures upto 450o C
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for thermo and shear sensitive products (i.e. PC, PMMA...) & optical applications.
possibility of automation by full automatic ACS system (siemens PLS)
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main applications : pelletizing, direct extrusion (Film, sheet, pipe), polymerisation.
Kreyenborg Screen Changer K-SWE/LK-SWE: Kreyenborg filtration systems are designed individually according to your requirements. In practice, KREYENBORG screen changers and melt filters stand out due
Pelletizer type A 1000 - Economy model, can be used for throughput upto 1000Kg/hr.
Kreyenborg Gear Pump GPE / MB: A Kreyenborg gear pump can help you optimize your process so that your extrusion line achieves the highest possible quality& constant throughputs Characteristics: •
for viscosities of 500-30.000 Pas
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possibility of diverting the material outside which has passed the bearings by the special MB system patented by KREYENBORG.
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avoids off-spec material and
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Moretto's new Oktobag system oretto presents the new Oktobag system, the latest technology for automatic emptying of octabins and big-bags.
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The system is based on the exclusive Wave movement: four independent oscillating arms work the polyethylene bag with a sequential wave movement controlled via dedicated PLC,
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ensuring that the big bag or oktabin is completely emptied of its contents. The arms are equipped with gravity operated grippers that make the hook-up operation quick and simple: no tools or anchors required. The many features and modularity of this product make it perfect for all applications .
D E C E M B E R 2012
TECHNOLOGY
Plastics from unconventional sources - future technology and economics he idea of making monomers and polymers from sustainable sources is rapidly becoming reality with many companies targeting R&D funds and investment in this field. The drivers are to save the planet, reduce carbon footprint and to develop a longterm viable business. The market for greener materials will be affected by the discovery and exploitation of shale gas, which supplies a cheap source of ethylene precursors, however higher carbons are not found in this resource and there is a shortage arising, which is a further factor pushing the search for new sources of monomers.
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Polymers are vital to the global economy from cable insulation, water pipes and medical devices to packaging and there has to be a long-term solution to sourcing that won’t run out with fossil fuels. The additional benefits will come from finding feedstocks that are waste by-products from another arena that need disposal, like waste to syngas projects. Work is continuing on enzyme and conventional catalysis of bio-based feedstocks to produce conventional plastics. The industry is used to working with petrochemical sources, so it will need to adapt to working with agriculture where there are different issues in the supply chain. Cargill is one of the three top agricultural companies in the world (the ABC of ADM, Bunge and Cargill) and has decades of expertise and specialist consultants to advise industry on building a suitable
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supply chain. Poyry Management Consultants has conducted a market study into the future prospects for biobased materials. Linde Engineering Dresden has built several industrial bio-refineries to supply the polymer industry. Thailand is rich in plant material, for example it has excess sugar cane, and PTT Global Chemical is expanding from its conventional petrochemical feedstock to looking at the potential for renewable chemistry. Wood can be a very sustainable source of materials and SCA Hygiene products, which manufactures disposables such as diapers, is involved in research to make its polymer materials using this resource. In the Netherlands TNO is leading the BioConSept project to use second generation biomass in plastics, including a pilot scale plant at Fraunhofer IGB for lignocelluloses conversion to useful chemicals. Biomethodes in France is also working in this area. One of the leading agricultural universities in this field is Wageningen UR in the Netherlands, where current research projects include the discovery of new sources of polyamide monomers. Evonik is one of the key suppliers of bio-based polyamide. The current cost of bio-sourced materials is higher than from petrochemical feedstock, so companies like Taghleef Industries which are manufacturing films from biobased polyethylene have looked at the market and the value to
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brand owners of the sustainability of materials. Another option for the specialty film market is a new bio-based tielayer from Yparex.. Acrylics have been later in appearing in this arena, but Arkema Altuglas has just announced a breakthrough in this field. There is an EU project on making thermoplastic elastomers with SKZ as one of the project leaders. There are several polymers where green feedstocks are regularly used and one of those is polyurethane where the polyol can be sourced from a variety of plants. This has been reviewed by Angela Austin editor of the PU Magazine. The isocyanate component of PU is much harder to synthesize from nature. Bayer Material Science has established methods to produce polyurethane using CO2 as the base material. One big area of interest is the use of CO2 from power stations as a feedstock and this has been achieved by several major chemical companies looking at both general hydrocarbons and polymers. The latest development is commercial ventures which are using excess renewable energy to convert the CO2 to usable hydrocarbons and by doing so providing a form of energy storage. CO2 is of great interest as a feedstock for the polymer industry as using it gives a negative carbon footprint and removes a key factor from the global warming equation, plus there are abundant sources.
D E C E M B E R 2012
TECHNOLOGY
Sabic to open four technology centers 'Biofoambark' audi Basic Industries Corp. will open four technology centers in 2013, one each in Bangalore, India, and Shanghai; and two in Saudi Arabia. Ernesto Occhiello, Sabic’s senior vice president, technology & innovation, said the centers will handle application development, strategic business research and corporate research.
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Sabic is investing more than $100 million on the Bangalore Technology & Innovation Center, Occhiello said at the Antec conference in Mumbai. The operation will have a broader scope than plastics. “The center would focus primarily on diverse areas of research in chemistry, material science, process engineering, analytical and
application technology. Its aim is to support business as a strategic center of excellence to cater to global and regional needs,” he said. The Bangalore center will house more than 250 research scientists and 50 commercial team members. “India is a rapidly growing market and there is a large and highly skilled talent pool available to Sabic to leverage for the global research center,” Occhiello said. “Sabic has great expertise and experience -- with a research center set-up in Baroda, [India], in 2002; we are building up and consolidating into a large set-up at Bangalore.” The India center is scheduled to open in the first half of 2013.
Microtrace markets nanotags he Minneapolis fir, Microtrace LLC, recently commercialized molecular taggants that can be used in plastic masterbatch concentrates to help materials firms and brand owners know what they’re getting when they buy plastic raw materials or finished plastic parts.
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“Users will be able to identify the makeup of the materials and be able to measure things like quantifying content and loading levels,” Vice President Brian Brogger said The nano-based technology used to make the new taggants can be used by brand owners to ensure their products are being made up to their standards, and as anti-counterfeiting P L A S T I C S N E W S
measures. Customers or material suppliers can use a scanning device provided by Microtrace to take these measurements.
project wins prizes ecnova has introduced the Refil TTC system for recovery of edge trims from film extrusion plants. It offers a complete system in a compact size, allowing immediate recovery of material in line or from rolls. The scrap is introduced into the hopper of the recovery plant with speed varying with that of the extrusion line, which may run as high as 100 metres per minute, or it can feed a side haul-off to be wound onto a roll.
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The granules are then sent to the extrusion line by a feeding fan.The plant achieves hourly productivity of 40-45 kg.
Technology and simplicity made in Italy
The taggants can be used in all types and colors of resins.Microtrace has sold its existing line of Microtaggantbrand identification particles into the plastics market for several years.
he extrusion blow moulding machine model 550 in the new Isit series (an acronym deriving from the Italianisation of "easy" into "isi" plus "it" for Italy) was recently tested at the ST Soffiaggio Tecnica factory.
The new molecular particles are expected to help the firm grow its presence in plastics.The molecular taggants are completely invisible in finished products, and are typically used at low let-down rates of 1-2 percent.
The blow moulding machine, has a clamping force of 55 tons and incorporates an HEX extruder with diameter of 75 mm and L:D ratio of 30:1, which ensures a plasticization capacity of 300-320 kg/h of HDPE.
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IN THE NEWS
West Bengal government urges SBI to release a loan for Haldia Petrochemicals est Bengal government has decided to make an urgent pitch to the State Bank of India to save Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. Bengal chief secretary Sanjay Mitra will soon meet SBI chairman to plead to the country’s largest bank to release a loan as soon as possible, www. telegraphindia.com. The company has been losing heavily because of low capacity utilisation. Unable to buy raw material naphtha to produce polymer,
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the plant is operating at barely at 50% cent of the installed capacity. “The main topic of discussion today was how to restore the financial health of the company. Our main aim is to keep the plant operative. Purnendu Chatterjee has also said he will make a joint effort with us to bring in funds,” Chatterjee said. “We are trying to resurrect the corporate debt restructuring committee. I have asked for the relevant documents as to why
‘Thermoplastic Elastomers 2012’ held in Pune h e r m o p l a s t i c E l a s t o m e r, 2012- the 6th International Conference was held at Hotel Westin, Pune, on December 4 and 5, 2012, by Plexium, India; in association with Chatsworth Hall, Singapore. This 2 day conference attracted over 110 participants who gathered under a common platform to learn latest technology, markets and applications of this wonder material. Conference was chaired by Mirisch Damani, a founder member of Plexium and Chairman and Managing Director of Zylog Plastalloys. During the inaugural session, speeches were delivered by Chief Guest Mr. Vipul Shah, CEO and Chairman of Dow Chemical India> his speech was on "Global market trends of Elastomer and its
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impact on Indian Economy". Mr. Shah highlighted Footwear and Automobile segments being 2 major growth markets for Elastomer in India, not only for domestic consumption but for the global consumption. Guest of Honour, Dr. Krishna Venkataswamy, Sr. Director of Global Research and Development, GLS; Polyone Corporation, U.S.A. delivered his speech on Thermoplastic ElastomerInnovative Specialty Materials. Dr. Krishna narrated how TPE was developed, patented, commercialized as long ago like late 50s. and current technology trend globally. He also showcased how TPE influences our daily life from the time we get up till time we go to sleep
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no meeting of the committee has been held since 2003-04,” he said. “We need around Rs 1,000 crore. The more we can collect the better.” HPL had earlier pleaded with the SBI-led bank consortium, which provides short- term working capital, to release funds to shore up capacity utilisation. However, banks had turned down the proposal, citing inability of the promoters to resolve differences and infuse equity in the firm.
Anti-dumping duty on Saudi polypropylene scrapped ndia has lifted an antidumping duty on imports of a polypropylene from Saudi Arabia, The finance ministry said in a notification that it revokes the duty imposed on imports of the subject goods (polypropylene) originating in or exported from Saudi Arabia. India had imposed a 6.5% duty on imports of polypropylene from Saudi Arabia, Oman and Singapore. The duty has been removed on imports from Saudi Arabia only.
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D E C E M B E R 2012
IN THE NEWS
Indian Plastic exporters see huge potential in African markets, eye 20% growth in exports ndian plastic exporters foresee a huge growth potential in Middle East and African markets and eyeing nearly 20 per cent growth in shipment of plastic products and 22 per cent in machinery in the upcoming financial year (2013-14).Plastics Export Promotion Council (PEPC) Executive Director Ranjan Kalyanpur said, “There is huge potential in the African countries where a lot of industrial growth is taking place. We are currently present in seven countries in the continent and are
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planning to expand our footprint in Africa.” The growth in exports was being contributed by plastic sheets, films, sacks, bags and other moulded products. Writing instruments, medical disposables, tubes, pipes and fittings have also contributed to this growth. Last year, India exported nearly USD 7.1 billion plastic products and USD 150 million machinery accounting for 2.3 per cent of the total exports to countries like the US, China, European Union, the Middle East and Africa.
West Bengal government to appoint advisor for valuation of HPL shares he West Bengal government would appoint an advisor for valuing its shares in Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) with a view to offload them. While the State Government owns around 39% equity in HPL, The Chatterjee Group (TCG) has around 36% in the company. An auction of the government’s shares would be held among the bidders and the highest price fetched would be offered to the other principal promoter, Purnendu Chatterjee’s TCG as first right of refusal. If TCG declines to buy the shares at that price, then the shares will be given to the highest
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bidder.Sources in HPL, however, expressed concerned over the timing of the move to sell stake. “At the moment, it is becoming extremely difficult to run the company. If the government wants to make an exit at this moment, it may not be able to recover the investments made in the company”, the HPL source said. The petrochemicals industry at the moment is facing a supply glut. The high price of naphtha was adding to the woes as the company was more dependent on imports. “We are trying to increase the supply of domestic naphtha”, HPL sources said
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Haryana State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation body to develop Panipat petrochem hub he Haryana State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation (HSIIDC) plans to go ahead with the development of the proposed petrochemical hub at Panipat on its own by pumping in about Rs 3,700 crore.
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According to reports the project, which is to be spread over 4,000 acre (near Indian Oil’s Panipat refinery), will be developed in two phases. In the first phase, 2,000 acre will be developed and about 900 acre has been acquired for the same. However, the project may be delayed further as Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has decided to quit as an equal partner with HSIIDC in the petrochemical project. HSIIDC is also believed to be scouting for a private partner to develop the petrochemical hub and working out the modalities to decide about the ownership model.
D E C E M B E R 2012
EVENTS
Events and Exhibitions Plastics Events & Exhibitions in December 2012 – January 2013 mega event that will Promote Indian plastic Industry worldwide. Plexpoindia 2013 will be held at a fully equipped convention center. Instrumentation
* Plasto 2012, 20-23rd Dec. 6th PLASTO National Exhibition and Seminar- Dec 20th to 23rd 2012. Auto Cluster Chinchwad, Pune PLASTO 2012, the 6th National PLASTO Exhibition and Seminar, will be held from 20th December to 23rd December, 2012 at the Auto Cluster Exhibition Centre, Chinchwad, Pune.
* 7th India Rubber Expo and Tyre Show 22 - 24th Jan., 2013 Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, India
* Interplastica 29 January - 01 February 2013
* MBI - TRADE EXPO-: 22 - 25 Dec. 2012 Vanita Vishram Ground, Surat, India Exhibitors will be from the many industries including Equipment, Consumer durables, Appliances and many more other industries
Expocenter Krasnaya Presnya Moscow Moscow, Russia Interplastica is one of the prominent trade fairs, which is organized to focus on Machinery and equipment for the plastics and rubber industries.
* Plexpoindia 2013 :8-13 Jan., 2013 Organized by GSPMA, Plexpoindia 2013will be the next
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D E C E M B E R 2012
Mamata Machinery. ....................................................................................................................................... cover Madhu Machines & Systems ...............................................................................................................inside cover R. R. Plast Extrusions ..............................................................................................................................Fan Fold Anupam Heaters...................................................................................................................................................5 Polymechplast ......................................................................................................................................................6 GMS Plastic Machinery. .......................................................................................................................................8 Ferromatik Milacron. .............................................................................................................................................9 Reifenhauser India Ltd. ......................................................................................................................................10 Boolani Engineering ...........................................................................................................................................12 Reliance Polymers..............................................................................................................................................23 FITCO .................................................................................................................................................................24 9th PlastiVision India 2013 .................................................................................................................................31 Vodafone ............................................................................................................................................................38 AACE Hiotech Woven Sacks Pvt. Ltd... .............................................................................................................45 Kabra Ltd.Extrusiontechnik ................................................................................................................................55 Vora Packaging. .................................................................................................................................................56 Merit Polyplast ....................................................................................................................................................57 Pramukh Poly Products ......................................................................................................................................65 Exxonmobil Lubricants ...............................................................................................................Inside back cover Rajoo Engineers ................................................................................................................................... Back cover
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