Stop Press

New publisher at the helm of PRA

Arthur Schavemaker

After 25 years as the publisher of PRA, Tim Ornellas has decided to step down. As of immediate effect, Arthur Schavemaker has assumed the role of publisher and as such all the publishing activities and the head office will move from the UK to the Netherlands, where Arthur is currently based. He can be contacted at Tel: +31 547 27 50 05
and email: arthur@kenter.nl

Tej Fernandez

It is business as usual at PRA, with Tej Fernandez, who is based in the regional office at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, taking care of the editorial, production and circulation for PRA. She can be contacted at Tel: +603-42604575
and email: tej@plasticsandrubberasia.com

K2010 Show

Auxiliaries for powering processing
Auxiliary equipment manufacturers will have a lot to shout about, given that the K2010 show, from 27 October to 3 November, is held once in three years. Below are highlights from some major equipment suppliers like Wittmann, K-Tron, ACS Group, Maguire and Agr.
click here for full story

Automation and colour measuring for processors
In automation, Wittmann will have upgraded robot versions while Swiss company X-Rite Europe will showcase its multi-angle spectrophotometers aimed at the automotive and appliance sectors.
click here for full story

Emphasis on recycling and granulators
From Austrian Erema's recycling system and Maag's screenchangers to Cumberland's granulators, processors will have the latest equipment on hand.
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Adding on sustainability factor with additives
Increasing sustainability through additive innovation is central to the many cutting-edge developments for polyolefins and this will be reinforced by US additives supplier Milliken. Meanwhile, another US supplier Chemtura will present a new line of flame retardants, antioxidants, UV stabilisers, polymerisation inhibitors and organometallic specialties and UK-based Croda will focus on packaging innovations for reducing the carbon footprint.
click here for full story

Message from the Publisher

Welcome to the latest edition of PRA (Plastics & Rubber Asia)’s E-News Update.

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Each electronic issue carries topical news in an easy-to-read format with a link to longer stories. In this way, readers of  PRA (Plastics & Rubber Asia) are kept abreast of events of interest within the plastics sector and have a seamless flow of information throughout the calendar year. To ensure that you receive the newsletter on a regular basis, please make certain that your free subscription to PRA (Plastics & Rubber Asia) is up to date. It only takes a minute to reconfirm this information to ensure that you will continue to receive both the printed and electronic versions of PRA (Plastics & Rubber Asia)
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Company News

Momentive is new speciality chemical company
Silicone/quartz materials supplier Momentive Performance Materials is merging with Hexion Specialty Chemicals, which is the world's largest thermoset manufacturer, to form a US$7.5 billion speciality chemicals company in the US.
click here for full story

PP capacity coming on stream in China
China-based Pucheng Clean Energy Chemical Company is building a 400,000 tonnes/year PP plant in Shaanxi province with start-up planned for 2013. It will be a part of China's largest coal-based chemical production project, which is expected to produce more than 2 million tonnes of olefins/year.
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Thai projects in Map Ta Phut to proceed
With Thailand's Administrative Court having allowed 74 of the 76 projects that have been suspended at the country's industrial park at Map Ta Phut to resume, Thai chemical suppliers Siam Cement and PTT will be able to continue with their expansion plans.
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Kraton planning Asian HSBC facility
US-based Kraton Performance Polymers, a global producer of styrenic block copolymers or SBCs, expects to start up a 30,000 tonnes/year hydrogenated styrenic block copolymer (HSBC) plant in Asia by 2013.
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BP to sell Malaysian assets to Petronas
To focus its attention on more lucrative countries like China and India and to pay off some of its debts incurred from its worst oil spill in the US, British petrochemical giant BP is selling its 75% stake in its Malaysian ethylene and PE assets to its Malaysian partner Petronas.
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Materials News

Plastics not the enemy say Asian countries
The Asian plastics industries will rally governments to change littering habits in the respective countries and work towards educating the public that plastics have a lower carbon footprint compared to other materials, said Callum Chen, Secretary-General of the Asia Plastics Forum (APF), which represents 12 Asian countries, at a recent conference in China.
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Plastics industry in China booms
Last year's global downturn had little impact on China's plastics industry that grew by double-digit figures during the first half of 2010, according to a report from Research in China report. In fact, synthetic resin production went up by 23.21% in the first half of this year, compared to last year, to total 21.07 million tonnes.
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First plastic LED lamp from Japanese collaborators
Lighting manufacturer Iwasaki Electric and chemicals supplier Teijin have jointly developed a completely plastic LED lamp that uses a high thermal conductivity resin, made by combining Teijin's Raheama material with PC, for the entire housing (except for the bayonet) instead of aluminium. Both companies have been working on the LED Eyelamp since 2009 and it will be commercialised by the end of this year.
click here for full story

Catering to the demand for plasticisers
US-based Eastman Chemical is expanding its capacity for 2-EH to 37,000 tonnes/year to support the growth in sales of non-phthalate plasticisers. It will add on 4,500 tonnes through debottlenecking to increase its capacity from the current 32,000 tonnes.
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Eco-friendly process for PPPs
German materials company Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) has received funding of EUR4.5 million from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research to research the manufacture of polyether polycarbonate polyols (PPPs) from carbon dioxide waste product
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Teknor Apex adds on TPVs
With the recent acquisition of Sarlink, which manufactures thermoplastic vulcanisates or TPVs, from its Dutch owner DSM, US compounder Teknor Apex says it has strengthened its portfolio of thermoplastic elastomers or TPEs.
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Food contact TPEs and resins
US company DuPont Performance Polymers has introduced FG (food grade) portfolios of engineering plastics and thermoplastic elastomers for food contact applications, which comply with regional regulations including the US FDA, European Food Contact and GMP.
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China aiming for a regulated pipe market
With the upcoming implementation of a new national standard for PE-RT pipes for hot and cold water systems in China, Dow Chemical, which supplies Dowlex PE-RT resins made from its patented Insite technology, is working with Swiss George Fischer Piping to conduct seminars in the country to educate the industry.
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Printed electronics market in the race
With the global market for printed electronics set to grow to US$100 billion by 2020 and reach US$250 billion in five years, according to British market research company IDTechEx, it is no surprise that companies like Solvay and Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) are making investments in this market.
click here for full story

High fibre nylon for metal replacement
Fibreglass materials supplier 3B together with compounder Lati have a developed a 60% glass fibre-reinforced nylon for aesthetic structural components and metal replacement applications, to reduce cost, complexity and weight.
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Machinery News

Direct drives prove their worth

In a recent series of tests undertaken by Davis-Standard, it says that direct-drive extruders provide a quieter (as much as 70% at 100rpm), more energy-efficient operation (as much as 25%) when compared to AC or DC drive counterparts. The direct drive operates on a permanent magnet synchronous motor, which does not require a mechanical gear reducer to multiply the torque to rotate the screw.
click here for full story

Exhibition News

New medical show for Asia, in December
Research firm Frost & Sullivan forecasts a growth of 12.7% in 2012 for the medical device sector in Asia, twice that of the rest of the world. Taking this cue, an international sourcing event for medical device design, Medtec Southeast Asia, is making its way to Asia for the first time and will be held from 1-2 December at the Suntec convention centre in Singapore.
click here for full story 

Rubber Journal Asia

New SBS facility to meet growing Chinese demand
Chinese petrochemical products supplier Keyuan Petrochemicals will build a 70,000 tonnes/year styrene butadiene styrene (SBS) facility in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, by the end of 2011. To cost US$17.5 million, the facility will cater to China's current demand of 750,000 tonnes, which is more than the domestic supply of 600,000 tonnes/year
click here for full story

Work on NBR plant commences
Lanxess-TSRC (Nantong) Chemical Industrial, a 50:50 joint venture between Germany-based Lanxess and Taiwanese company TSRC Corporation, has broken ground for the construction of a nitrile rubber (NBR) plant in Nantong, Shanghai. The US$50 million plant is scheduled to start production in 2012 with an initial annual capacity of 30,000 tonnes.
click here for full story

French rubber chemical company sold to Omnova
US-based emulsions chemicals supplier Omnova Solutions will purchase rubber chemicals supplier Eliokem from its parent company AXA Private Equity for US$300 million. One of the reasons given for the purchase is for Omnova to enter the Asian market where Eliokem generates 40% of its sales and where it has facilities, in China and India.
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In Brief

Bridgestone to expand Thai plant
Bridgestone's subsidiary in Thailand is investing 21.3 billion yen to expand its Nong Khae plant and increase its daily production capacity of passenger car radial and light truck radial tyres by 13,500 units to 50,000 units by the end of 2014. Started in 1995, this is the company's second production plant that caters to both the domestic and overseas markets, including Asia, US and Europe. It also started an expansion project to increase capacity by 6,000 units, which is scheduled to be completed by 2011. However, with global demand expected to grow, Bridgestone is undertaking further expansion of the plant.

Malaysian/Indian tie-up
Malaysian technical and retreading compounds company, Goodway Integrated Industries, has entered into an agreement with Indag Rubber to consider joint opportunities in the rubber compounding and retreading industry. India-based Indag is involved in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of rubber compounds and tyre retreads.

Evonik to sell carbon blacks unit
In line with its plan to focus on the speciality chemicals sector, Evonik Industries has decided to divest its carbon blacks business. The business ranks second in the world and has 1,700 employees in 12 countries and sales of around EUR1 billion. Following the sharp market downturn during the 2009 crisis, this year earnings will rebound to high levels registered in 2008. Together with the increasing consolidation of the sector and the rising significance of Asian markets, Evonik sees better perspectives for the business outside the group. The carbon black unit is no longer defined as part of Evonik's core business and is now a separate legal entity. Since the start of this year, Evonik has been intensively examining the options for the value-oriented development of this business. It has now engaged an investment bank to prepare the divestment.

. Injection Moulding Asia

Cooperation for PU seals
KraussMaffei Technologies and RAMPF Giessharze are teaming up to offer process solutions for injection moulded PU seals. KraussMaffei contributes the mixing head for high-pressure metering of small output volumes, injection moulding and RIM process technology while RAMPF supplies the high-pressure sealing foams.
click here for full story

Resin for eco-friendly meters
Styron's Emerge PC 8701HH advanced resin, introduced in Europe and Asia-Pacific, is targeted at smart meters, which are electronic devices that enable consumers to monitor their energy use and increase their energy efficiency, thus reducing carbon emissions. With more than 250 million smart meters expected to be installed worldwide by 2015, their impact will be significant in the future.
click here for full story

Sumitomo expands hydraulic machine size
Sumitomo (SHI) Demag has expanded its Systec hydraulic injection moulding machine to offer tonnages from 25 tonnes to a maximum of 1,000 tonnes.
click here for full story

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