JUST BRIEFLY Plastamid repositions within AECI THE AECI engineering polymers business Plastamid has been repositioned within the group and now falls under the Chemfit business unit. Based at AECI’s Chempark site in Chloorkop, Johannesburg, Plastamid now forms one of three business units grouped in Chemfit. It’s three years since Plastamid exited its Cape Town head office and plant, when the business sold its core compounding operation and completely downscaled to focus only on its specialist polymer and elastomer activities. (The closure by AECI group of its nylon technical fibres and PET manufacturing entity SANS led to the discontinuation of Plastamid’s main source of cost-effective nylon 66 and PET feedstocks.) Just 10 of the more than 150 staff remained and Plastamid was then grouped with Industrial Urethanes at Chempark. It has since been deemed that the company would achieve better synergies within the Chemfit business. Surviving in the tough market conditions over the past few years suggests that Plastamid’s core activities and market relations are solid, leading Chemfit MD Ryan Harrison to follow through on an offer for Plastamid to join his unit. Plastamid takes on board the Polymer Additives division of Chemfit and can now offer polymer stabiliser and flame retardant technologies from Chemtura and Buddenheim, lubricant technologies from Fine Organics and PVC stabilisation technologies from Galata, amongst others. Plastamid business unit manager, Charles Goldman, said the change was good news for Plastamid: “We are now able to share our extensive formulation knowledge and experience of polymer additive technologies with our clients. The response from the market has been overwhelmingly positive and heralds in an exciting period in the evolution of Plastamid.” Plastamid continues to supply a range of engineering polymers, polypropylene and ethylene copolymers, styrenic copolymers and TPEs. It is the agent for DuPont Performance Polymers, Teijin Chemicals, Formosa Chemicals, RTP Company, UBE Engineering Plastics, SK Chemicals and Milliken. www.chemfit.co.za www.plastamid.co.za 16 APRIL / MAY 2013
Boxmore moves to much
Boxmore group has made a completely fresh start in the Western Cape and moved to a far larger site in Somerset West Business Park, close to the N2 freeway
bigger Cape site Industrial entity has extensive interests in plastics sector BOXMORE Packaging has consolidated its presence in the Western Cape with its move to a new, custom designed 9000m² manufacturing plant in Somerset West. After around 10 years in Bellville South, continued business growth made a move to bigger and better premises a necessity. The brand new factory – custom designed for injection and stretch-blow moulding – is tangible evidence of Boxmore’s position as a leader in the PET industry and their commitment to the Western Cape region. The site includes both production and warehousing facilities to reduce double handling and, having recently added a closures portfolio to their offering through the purchase of the MCG’s plastic closures business in 2012, the new site will also serve as logistics base for the closures business. Another standout feature of the move is that all 70 employees from the Bellville site chose to move with the company and relocated, so the business virtually achieved the change with regained momentum. Currently the site produces blown bottles for regional bottle customers and preforms for both the local and export markets, including multilayer barrier preforms.
Many of the customers require labels; here we see Eugene Barnes, MD of Boxmore Cape, with the Krones labelling line
In addition to the Cape Town facility, Boxmore Packaging operates manufacturing facilities in Harrismith, Johannesburg, Port Louis, Mauritius with production in a new Lusaka site scheduled to start in May 2013. www.boxmore.co.za
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