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2009 Stimulus Program

MOST-READ STORIES

NPE moving to Orlando for 2012 and 2015 November 17, 2009
Study claims prenatal exposure to certain phthalates affects boys' behavior November 16, 2009
Berry buying Md. plant from Superfos November 16, 2009
Medical-device tax would cost millions November 16, 2009
Coke rolling out bottles made from plant materials November 16, 2009

MOST E-MAILED STORIES

NPE moving to Orlando for 2012 and 2015 November 17, 2009
Polypropylene, polystyrene, PVC and PET resin prices rise in November November 19, 2009
Report: Onex planning IPO for Husky November 15, 2009
Berry buying Md. plant from Superfos November 16, 2009
Foodservice packaging firm announces new acquisition November 16, 2009

Viewpoints

And now, for something completely different

Plastics News Managing Editor Don Loepp shares his thoughts on the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc.’s decision to move the 2012 and 2015 NPE shows to Orlando, Fla.

Can Chicago change enough to keep NPE?

Pressure is building on Chicago to find a way to keep the 2012 and 2015 NPE shows. On Nov. 11, news leaked out that the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society will hold its 2012 gathering in Las Vegas instead of Chicago, because of the high cost of labor at Chicago’s McCormick Place.

IP piracy undermines China's home market

Chinese leaders talk a lot about developing an innovation economy, but at least one expert on intellectual property policy believes that won’t happen unless China develops and enforces stronger laws to protect innovation.

Get ready for more machinery consolidation

In plastics, screw and barrel sales are a leading economic indicator for broader capital spending. I think there’s another predictive relationship between screws and barrels and consolidation in industries suffering from overcapacity.

North, South make plays for NPE show

Will the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. vote to move the NPE 2012 and 2015 shows to Orlando, Fla.? Or will Chicago manage to keep the show in McCormick Place? Not surprisingly, this story is getting a lot of attention. Almost everyone seems to have an opinion.

Plastics do a 180 during wild '09 ride

Investors skilled at buying “on the dip” profited handsomely from the plastics market this year. Once Wall Street decided that the world wasn’t going to end in early March, the market began a steady climb that peaked in mid-September and remains well above its earlier depths.

There's a method to resin-pricing madness

It’s time once again to pull back the curtain and reveal the mysteries of how Plastics News generates the prices on its resin pricing chart. This is an update of a column I’ve written twice since joining PN in 1997, but it remains a topic that I’m asked about fairly often.

Small number of Asian suppliers leaves void at show

Recently I attended a big aviation trade show in Hong Kong, and saw China unveil its latest attempt to move into high-tech markets — the C919 passenger jetliner it hopes will challenge the two global giants in the industry, America’s Boeing Co. and Europe’s Airbus. But that same trade show also brought home some of the real shortcomings China has in going into these technologically intensive markets.

The real M&A work begins at deal's end

At a time when caravans of affluent Chinese buy homes in the U.S. with cash, the nation’s corporate overseas buying spree continues with a new level of global mergers and acquisitions knowledge and sophistication. But unlike a real estate deal, cross-border M&A demands harder work after the transaction is completed.

Is plastics recycling a cynical strategy?

Lisa Kaas Boyle, co-founder of the Plastic Pollution Coalition and a board chair at Heal the Bay — a Southern California environmental lobbying group — contributed a column last week blasting the plastics industry on HuffingtonPost.com. Boyle calls ACC’s effort a “cynical strategy.” Her description sounds awfully cynical to me.

Ocean’s vortex offers tough lesson in 3 R’s

Project Kaisei, one of this summer’s missions to study the plastics vortex in the Pacific Ocean, is back in California. The trip offers the plastics industry an opportunity to learn more about marine debris, a problem that’s been driving bans and taxes on bags and food-service disposables on the West Coast — a trend that we’ve seen gain foothold elsewhere in North America.

SPE comments recall a more collegial time

The Society of Plastics Engineers is struggling. Plastics industry layoffs, globalization and how to lure young people to join the society are all formidable challenges. That’s why it was so uplifting to hear new members of the Plastics Hall of Fame publicly praise SPE during the hall induction ceremony at NPE.

Ohio awaits Tikes' decision; Ranking reflects rotomolders' 2008

What is the future of Little Tikes Co. in Hudson, Ohio? The city and state have done their part, offering an attractive financial package to keep the company in its hometown — including tax credits and a low-interest loan.

Huntsman unpacking in ambassador's suite

A face familiar to the plastics industry has become the face of the U.S. government in China. Jon Huntsman Jr., a member of the family that owns part of The Woodlands, Texas-based chemical and plastics supplier Huntsman Corp., arrives in Beijing this month as the new U.S. ambassador.

Plastics falls short at automotive event

At one of the most important automotive industry events, the plastics industry continually takes a back seat to a competitor: the metal benders. The American Iron & Steel Institute is far more visible to reporters than the plastics industry at the Center for Automotive Research’s Management Briefing Seminars.

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