Friday, 26-Jun-09

Conair drops lawsuit after Novatec changes wording

CHICAGO (June 26, 2009) -- The Conair-vs.-Novatec dryer lawsuit has ended with a mere change to product literature wording — but the war of words goes on. Conair Group Inc. has dropped its patent infringement lawsuit against Novatec Inc. after Novatec agreed to add a sentence to its product literature and Web site information about its Intelli PET Drying System.

Invista plans to start manufacturing nylon 6/6

CHICAGO (June 26, 2009) -- Invista is the newest player in the global engineering polymers market. The company has announced plans to begin production of nylon 6/6 resin at several locations, including Chattanooga, Tenn., and Kingston, Ontario.

Thursday, 25-Jun-09

India's trade group seeks to build training school

CHICAGO (June 25, 2009) -- Indian plastics industry officials are looking to build a management and technical training school, to combat what they say is a shortage of skilled business managers in the polymers business. The PlastIndia Foundation trade group is starting an effort to build a 100 crore (US$20.4 million) educational institute.

Natural fibers, shiny surfaces to grace future car interiors
DEARBORN, MICHIGAN (June 25, 2009) -- The next generation of car interiors are likely to have a completely different look from today. Whether it’s a stripped-down or glossed-up look is yet unclear, but either direction it takes will involve plastics. Traditionally, interior plastics have been disguised as something else, such as PVC or urethane given a grained texture to mimic leather. “If you look into product design, there is a move to use plastic that’s happy to be plastic,” said Dave Lyon with General Motors, at Ward’s Auto Interiors Conference in Dearborn.

China’s plastics industry to resume double-digit growth

CHICAGO (June 25, 2009) -- China’s plastic industry should resume double-digit growth in the second half of the year, after stumbling from the global economic crisis, according to the head of China’s largest plastics industry association.

Taiwan's Jenn Chong to double capacity

CHICAGO (June 25, 2009) -- Taiwanese equipment maker Jenn Chong Plastics Machinery Works Co. Ltd. showed a blown film line at NPE that was bound for a Canadian customer. The Tai Pao, Taiwan-based company also plans to add another 43,000 square feet to its existing facility, giving it about 75,000 square feet, as demand for its film extruders, monofilament extruders and strapping machines grows.

BASF expands specialty plastics portfolio at NPE

CHICAGO (June 25, 2006) -- BASF Corp. is broadening its specialty plastics lineup with new grades of thermoplastic polyurethane, nylon 6 and polybutylene terephthalate.

European plant closures are in LyondellBasell’s sights

CHICAGO (June 25, 2009) -- LyondellBasell Industries AF SCA has turned its attention to its European polyolefins operations as part of its plan to restructure and deal with a $23 billion debt burden. The Rotterdam, Netherlands-based company filed for Chapter 11 on Jan. 6, and although this covered U.S. operations and not those in Europe, its asset review is taking in global operations so that it can meet a restructuring target of cutting $700 million in fixed costs by the end of 2010.

India's Jyoti scouts for acquisitions, JV partners in U.S.

CHICAGO (June 25, 2009) -- Indian molder Jyoti Plastic Works Pvt. Ltd. has an NPE agenda a little broader than just making a sale: the firm is scouting for potential acquisitions or joint venture partners in the United States.

Wittmann Battenfeld eyes large press market, all-electrics

CHICAGO (June 25, 2009) -- Wittmann Battenfeld GmbH plans to reenter the large machine market and introduce its next generation all-electrics, as the company unveiled a series of new robots, equipment and manufacturing cells at NPE to take advantage of its year-old acquisition of Battenfeld’s press making operations.

Wednesday, 24-Jun-09

Fathead wall graphics’ popularity a slam dunk

Fathead graphic of U.S. basketball player LeBron James

LIVONIA, MICHIGAN (June 24, 2009) -- The personal mission statement of one of Fathead’s vice presidents: Cover the universe, one Fathead at a time. For the uninitiated, a Fathead is a large -- sometimes life-size -- wall graphic depicting a famous athlete or entertainment industry celebrity. The high-resolution images are digitally printed on thin, flexible vinyl sheets with a proprietary adhesive that allows them to stick to walls and be moved without losing its adhesive stickiness.

Group seeks moratorium on degradable PET containers
SONOMA, CALIFORNIA (June 24, 2009) -- The National Association for PET Container Resources called on brand owners and bottle makers to refrain from using PET containers with degradable additives. “We want the people making claims about bottles with degradable additives to first substantiate and document their claims” that there will be no adverse effect on the recycling stream or the next-life product, said the group’s executive director.

General Motors owes millions to plastics part suppliers
DETROIT, MICHIGAN (June 24, 2009) -- While bond holders and unions are on the hook as General Motors Corp.’s (GM) biggest creditors in bankruptcy, they are not alone. There are also suppliers owed millions of dollars, including major plastics firms. GM’s June 1 filing for Chapter 11 protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York lists more than US$170 billion (956.9 billion yuan) in debts.

Nova Chemicals to invest in Mideast polyethylene production

CHICAGO (June 24, 2009) -- Nova Chemicals Corp. plans to invest significantly in Mideast polyethylene production, including a 1.1 billion to 1.2 billion pound-per-year Advanced Sclair PE plant and a 10 percent smaller gas-phase PE plant, according to recently installed Nova CEO Chris Pappas.

Biodegradable PVC product draws interest at NPE

CHICAGO (June 24, 2009) -- An increased focus on sustainability is driving demand for Bioflex, a biodegradable PVC product made by Kenrich Petrochemicals Inc. and marketed by Biotech Products LLC. Bioflex uses Biochem, a nontoxic formula that enables landfill decomposition.

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