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| News for Aug. 12-18, 2008 |
Here is your digital guide to the global plastics industry...
Weekly Exclusives
Automotive: Global light vehicle industry faces total overhaul
Akron, OH—In four years time, the global automotive industry that emerges from today's highly volatile environment will be radically different in the kinds of cars that are offered as well as where they're increasingly made and sold. JD Powers Executive Director Automotive Intelligence Jeff Schuster laid out the global light vehicle market to 2012 and beyond during a presentation at ExxonMobil's Elastomer University, held July 29-30 at the company's Advanced Elastomer Systems unit in Akron, OH. MPW attended the event.
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TPE resin pricing: PE, PP flat; PS avails restricted
With monomer prices dropping, polyethylene (PE) resellers have been actively unloading their inventories to the spot market, with many processors buying there as needed to avoid proposed increases from producers, according to spot-trading platform The Plastics Exchange (TPE; www.theplasticsexchange.com) and its partner The PetroChem Wire (www.petrochemwire.com). August PE contracts were nominated to include an $0.08/lb price increase, with another $0.05/lb price increase proposed for September.
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Packaging: Atlantis liquidates molding, film businesses
One day after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Atlantis Plastics Inc. (Atlanta, GA) announced plans to liquidate its business, selling its plastics film extrusion unit to AEP Industries Inc. and its molded plastics division to a subsidiary of New York-based private equity fund Monomoy Capital Partners L.P. The company hopes to close the sales in October, but, because of the bankruptcy filing, it will have to listen to higher offers for the businesses.
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Greening of an Industry: MPW, IMM team up for sustainability conference
Modern Plastics Worldwide and its sister publication, Injection Molding Magazine (www.immnet.com), are organizing a conference, Sustainability in the Plastics Industry, scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL. The conference is co-located with Plastec Midwest/Plastics USA, National Manufacturing Week and other trade shows, as well as the Green Manufacturing: Business Strategies for Sustainability conference, all organized by Canon Communications (www.cancom.com), both magazine's parent firm.
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 Injection molding: With Fakuma looming, Battenfeld Wittmann expands service
Wittmann Battenfeld (Kottingbrunn, Austria; www.battenfeld-imt.com) is offering processors more in the way of IT-assisted services and plans to use the Fakuma (Oct. 14-17; Friedrichshafen, Germany) trade show's stage to highlight its Web-Service, Remote-Service, and Web-Training programs.
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Injection molding: KraussMaffei to debut all electric; joint Toshiba/KM design?
In what seems certain to be the first fruit of the manufacturer's work on processing machinery development with Japanese injection molding machine manufacturer Toshiba Machine, KraussMaffei has invited journalists to its headquarters in Munich, Germany for a preview look at its new AX series of injection molding machinery.
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Polymerupdate global resin pricing: prices continue drop mirroring petroleum
Polymerupdate (http://www.polymerupdate.com) reports that ethylene prices in Asia were assessed at $1500/tonne CFR North East Asia and $1450/tonne CFR South East Asia, with buyers saying they have no interest in committing to purchase of ethylene in a market where downstream polyethylene (PE) prices are being pressured lower.
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Extrusion: Krah, Fränkische form sales/marketing collaboration
Corrugator extruder manufacturer Fränkische (Konigsberg; www.fraenkische.de) and pipe/tube winding equipment manufacturer Krah (Schutzbach, both Germany; www.krah.net) have formed a strategic cooperation whereby Krah will expand its sales activities to include the international sales of Kränkische's corrugators.
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Extrusion: Goex installs cast coextrusion film line
Goex Corp. (Janesville, WI) has installed a new cast-film co-extrusion line at its headquarters location to expand capacity and especially to enable it to extrude films used in the graphic arts market, including PS, PVC, glycol-modified PET and polycarbonate. Last year the processor also installed a new extrusion line. "The addition of another new extrusion line represents a significant increase in our production capacity," says Goex President Josh Gray.
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Auxiliary equipment: Moretto expands in Germany
Italian auxiliary machinery manufacturer Moretto last month established Moretto Deutschland GmbH as a distribution and service organization in Neunkirchen am Sand (near Nuremberg, Germany). Earlier this year the firm also opened a sales/service office in the U.K.
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In the news...
MPW's Material Thoughts
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MPW's Product Watch
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Injection molding: Bito spends a million for more capacity
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Quickparts offers gray ABS-like SLA Materials
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Plastics pricing brief: Solutia, Bayer announce price hikes
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Greening of an Industry: Cereplast ramps up bioplastic production in Indiana
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Tooling: Hasco ceases North American manufacturing
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Packaging: Eastman copolymer receives Canadian food-contact approval
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Additives: PolyOne pursues biobased plasticizers
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Packaging: M&H to roughly double flexible-tube capacity
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Plastics supply: Borouge contracts for Shanghai distribution, compounding site
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Greening of an Industry: e-waste targeted by LG Electronics and Waste Managment
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Greening of an Industry: Biobased film for solar cells
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Briefs
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Global Plastics Bulletin Board
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Names in the news
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In the September Issue of MPW
Tool talk
Twice selected as the AMBA Moldmaker of the Year, Bill Kushmaul, owner and founder of Tech Mold (Tempe, AZ), has thrived in an industry that has more typically just survived in recent years. In September's As I See It, MPW picks Kushmaul's brain on how to succeed in moldmaking.
Virtual molding
Before steel is cut or any pellets melted, flow simulation software allows companies to optimize part and process design. MPW's Design Focus in September offers the latest on the technology, including the capability to feed flow simulation results into structural analysis software.
Featured Events
Medtec China
Sept. 9-11
Shanghai
Canon Communications LLC
+86-21-272-4671
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SPE Thermoforming Conference 2008
Sept. 21-24
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Society of Plastics Engineers
203-775-0471
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The voice of the industry
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Notable
$500
Much has been made of increases in plastics prices, but the price of steel has more than doubled since September, adding $500 to the average cost of a vehicle since January 2008. According to the International Herald Tribune, Toyota Motor recently agreed to pay Japanese steel makers 30% more for sheet steel.
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