Injection moulding machines to be made in China from 2014

MOSCOW (MRC) -- German plastics machinery maker KraussMaffei (KM, Munich) will start producing and supplying injection moulding machines from its plants in Haiyan, China, in the spring of 2014, said Plasteurope.

Production at the plant has recently doubled. One of the first machines to be supplied completely from Haiyan will be an MX 1300-8100 for Yanfeng USA Automotive Trim System (Harrison Township, Missouri). Yanfeng USA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yanfeng Visteon Automotive Trim System, headquartered in Shanghai / China. The machine will be equipped with the new "MuCell" system, a process for the physical foaming of plastic parts which makes them up to 35% lighter than comparable components.

KraussMaffei and Yanfeng have also agreed to cooperate further globally in the area of thermoplastic and duroplastic processing. Discussions are currently progressing on other machines. "We are delighted to provide our know-how to support Yanfeng as a strong supplier on the global automotive market and we see great potential for further cooperation,” said Frank Peters, vice president of sales at KraussMaffei. In addition to the expansion of its Chinese plants, Yanfeng said other production sites in North America and Europe are planned for 2014. The company currently operates plants in China, the US and India.

As MRC wrote before, two leading pipe manufacturers from Russia have recently chosen KraussMaffei Berstorff as a systems supplier for premium-quality technology and invested in PO pipe extrusion systems. Isoljazionny Trubny Zawod (ITZ) is seeking to enter into a long-term partnership with KraussMaffei Berstorff. Polyplastic Group is already a satisfied KraussMaffei Berstorff customer and, consequently, has placed a follow-up order.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, the world’s leading chemical company, will build a compounding plant for engineering plastics Ultramid (polyamide) and Ultradur (polybutylene terephthalate, PBT) compounds in Yesan, Chung Nam Province, Korea, according to the company's press release.

The new plant is expected to begin construction by first half of 2014 and operations from the end of 2015, and will create more than 30 new jobs.

With an initial annual capacity of 36,000 metric tons, the new plant will more than double the total compounding capacity of BASF’s engineering plastics in Korea.

With this project and the capacity expansion of BASF's compounding plant in Pudong/Shanghai (China), which has already been announced, BASF’s overall compounding capacities in Asia will increase from the current 130,000 to a total of 225,000 metric tons.

"As the leading producer and preferred business partner of engineering plastics, we continuously strengthen our position in the key markets. Our investment in Yesan is a milestone in Korea," said Mr. Raimar Jahn, President, Performance Materials, BASF.

"This is our first plant at the Yesan site in Korea and it is an important contribution to achieve our strategic targets. With its excellent infrastructure, Yesan offers a favorable environment for the further expansion of the plant in the future to meet the growing demand of our engineering plastic solutions for the automotive and electrical & electronic industry in Korea," said Mr. WooSung Shin, Managing Director, BASF Korea.

Similar to the compounding plant in Ansan, Korea and other Asian locations, the new plant in Yesan will produce Ultramid and Ultradur compounds. Ultramid and Ultradur are used, for example, in automotive parts as well as the electrical and electronics industry. Some innovative applications include seat structures, oil sump modules, sensors, engine mounts, connectors and highly integrated laser-structured electronic devices.

As MRC informed previously, BASF is building a new Ultramid polymerization plant with a capacity of 100,000 metric tons per year in Shanghai, China. The new plant is planned to start up in 2015.

BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of EUR72.1 billion in 2012.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Albis Plastic, global specialist for the distribution and compounding of technical thermoplasts located in Hamburg, is expanding its product portfolio to include the newly developed Purell grades PE 2220D and ACP 5531 B from LyondellBasell, according to the company's press release.

The low-density polyethyene (LDPE) Purell PE 2220D is the latest addition to the Albis packaging solution range in the tube segment and is available for applications in the cosmetics and food sector as well as pharmaceutical packaging and other applications.

The high-density polyethylene (HDPE) Purell ACP 5531B, which is specifically used in extrusion blow-moulding applications, supplements the product portfolio for industrial packaging in the pharmaceutical field, for instance, when used for dialysis applications or packaging of pharmaceutical ingredients on an industrial scale.

Mike Freudenstein, Director Marketing Healthcare at Albis Plastic, sums up the new distribution products as follows: "With these two new Purell types, our partner LyondellBasell has once again demonstrated its strong commitment to the healthcare sector and innovation leadership for polymers in this complex and demanding application field. We are very pleased that we can add these two types to our product range and supply them to large parts of Europe."

As MRC reported earlier, Albis Plastic has recently broadened its portfolio of distribution brands for the Spanish market to include Terluran standard ABS from Styrolution, which reflects how both companies are consistently expanding their sales cooperation for standard thermoplasts in Europe.

Albis Plastic, the Hamburg-based company, is one of the global operating companies in the distribution and compounding of technical thermoplastics. In addition to the product portfolio of well-known plastic manufacturers, Albis offers the plastic processing industry a diverse product range of high performance plastics, compound solutions and masterbatches.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- At hearing held today, the Commercial Court of Lyon was informed that two bids for the takeover of KEM ONE have been confirmed, said KEM ONE in its press release.

In order for the formalisation of the agreements reached with partners to be completed, and to enable the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) to give an opinion, the Commercial Court of Lyon called a further hearing, set for 18 December, at which their decision on the successful bid will be announced.

At a hearing held on 12th December, the Commercial Court of Lyon was informed of two confirmed takeover bids for KEM ONE SAS, submitted by the private buyout firm OpenGate Capital and the private individual Alain de Krassny. Discussions with KEM ONE’s partners have resulted in agreements that have allowed both candidates to confirm their takeover bids. The formalisation of these agreements will be completed in the coming days.

The members of the Joint Consultative Committee of KEM ONE SAS were informed that the conditions precedents for both offers had been lifted and requested time to give an opinion. In view of these elements, the Commercial Court of Lyon called a further hearing for 18 December, date at which the acquirer of the KEM ONE group will be designated.

The management of the company welcomes the fact that a positive outcome to their objective of business continuity for KEM ONE is now close, obtained though the strong commitment of all stakeholders.

KEM ONE SAS includes the company’s upstream sites inFrance: 1300 people based at the headquarters (Lyon) and 7 industrial sites: Balan (Ain), Saint-Fons (Rhone), Saint-Auban (Alpes de HauteProvence), Berre, Fos-sur-Mer, Lavera (Bouches du Rhone) and Vauvert (Gard).

KEM ONE, a fully integrated vinyl production company, was established mid-2012 following the acquisition of Arkema's vinyl products division by the Klesch Group. The company employs 2,600 people at 22 manufacturing sites, primarily in Europe but also in Asia and North America. Europe’s third-largest producer of PVC with revenues in excess of one billion euros, KEM ONE continues to grow and build on its numerous strengths with a view to becoming market leader for integrated vinyl solutions.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yisheng Petrochemical has shut a purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant for maintenance turnaround, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant was shut on December 10, 2013. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month.

Located in Ningbo, China, the plant has a production capacity of 650,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, China’s Xianglu Petrochemicals Co. Ltd. has planned the test run of its second purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in the end of December 2013. Currently, the plant is under the final phase of construction and test run is planned by the end of next month. The construction of second PTA plant, with production capacity of 1.5 mln tpa, began in November 2006.

Located in the South Haicang Industrial Area of Xiamen City, the first PTA plant of Xianglu came on stream in October 2002. The plant is capable of producing 900,000 tpa of PTA, which is the world’s largest single-line PTA production capacity.
MRC