Presentation of the 2013 UFI Education Award: Stanley Chu (left), Adsale Chairman, and Nichapa Yoswee (right), Member of the UFI Education Committe
Rubber Polyurethanes

Adsale Group wins 2013 UFI Education Award

According to the Adsale Group, in recent years companies around the world have faced a number of difficulties in their operations, such as the rising price of petroleum, the shortage of energy, the Eurozone debt crisis, increasing labour costs, environmental pollution, etc. Apart from having a well-planned business strategy, a crucial factor in successfully tackling these problems is the quality of a company’s work team, says Adsale.

Dr. Jürgen K. L. Schneider
Thermoplastic Elastomers

SKZ invites to thermoplastic elastomers Conference

The German Plastics Center (SKZ) invites to the Thermoplastic Elastomers (Thermoplastische Elastomere – TPE) conference taking place in Würzburg, Germany, 5 - 6 June 2013. The event is an established meeting platform for suppliers and processors of TPEs in the German speaking countries.

Rubber Polyurethanes

KOREA (SOUTH): Big fines set for toxic chemical leaks

A parliamentary subcommittee passed a bill on Monday (6 May 2013) seeking to fine companies up to 5 % of their revenue for leaks of toxic substances.

Rubber Polyurethanes

CHINA: Formosa Plastics developing plans for petrochemical projects in Gulei

Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) is making plans for subsidiary Formosa Plastics Corp. (FPC) to undertake construction of joint venture naphtha crackers and downstream petrochemical facilities in Gulei, in China’s Fujian Province, according to the Taipei Times.

Polyurethanes Thermoplastic Elastomers

Lubrizol and Trexel enter partnership to promote foam technology

Trexel and the Lubrizol Corporation announced a new partnership for Lubrizol to be the preferred thermoplastic polyurethane supplier for Trexel’s MuCell microcellular foaming technology.

Boris Engelhardt
Thermoplastic Elastomers

German rubber industry association wdk establishes TPE working group

The German rubber industry association wdk (Wirtschaftsverband der deutschen Kautschukindustrie) has announced the creation of a new working group dedicated to thermoplastic elastomers. The decision has been unanimously taken by the bureau and the general assembly of the wdk.

Thermoplastic Elastomers

Call for Papers: Smithers Rapra TPE 2013

Sixteen years ago Smithers Rapra launched its first TPE conference. The 2013 event Thermoplastic Elastomers 2013 will take place in Duesseldorf, 15-16 October 2013 in the run-up to K 2013 (16-23 October 2013). The programme will soon be finalised, but there is still time to submit a paper.

Rubber Polyurethanes

World flame retardants

According to a Freedonia market study, issued in February 2013, world demand for flame retardant additives will rise 5.4 % per year to 2.6 million t in 2016. According to the study, the Asia/Pacific region will continue to be largest and fastest growing market, accounting for over half of world demand in 2016. Advances will be fueled by over 8 % annual growth in the Chinese and Indian markets, strong increases in Thailand and other less developed countries in the region, and solid growth in major electronics-producing countries such as Taiwan and South Korea. Gains in North America will be driven by above average expansion of the markets in the US and Mexico. Central and South America will also see strong growth, driven by rapid gains in the Brazilian market. Demand in Western Europe will rise at a subdued pace, although it will rebound from the declines of the 2006-2011 period.

Rubber Polyurethanes

Dow to sell PP Licensing & Catalysts and Plastics Additives units

Dow Chemical recently announced it is planning to sell assets worth nearly USD 1.5 billion over the next 18 months and has already identified two business units that will be actively marketed for divestment: its Polypropylene Licensing and Catalysts unit as well as its Plastics Additives unit.

Kjell Fagerström
Thermoplastic Elastomers

Hexpol TPE to present at VDI TPE conference

Dr. Kjell Fagerström, managing director at Elasto Sweden AB will be presenting at the VDI TPE conference taking place in Nürnberg, 16-17 April 2013. The conference will focus on two component manufacturing and the role of TPEs in multi-component applications.

Rubber Polyurethanes

IRAN: Chabahar Petrochemical Complex to attract USD 20 billion investment

Iran--one of the world's major petrochemical producers--plans to build a new petrochemical hub in the southeastern port city of Chabahar, Deputy Oil Minister Mohsen Khojasteh Mehr said. "Only those companies will be given permit for establishing petrochemical plants which are able to complete their value chain," he said.

Rubber Polyurethanes

KOREA (SOUTH): Chemical accidents face tough sanctions

The government said Thursday (4 Apr. 2013) that it will introduce a “three strikes and you’re out” regulation on chemical accidents, urging companies to tighten their safety control of toxic substances.

Rubber Thermoplastic Elastomers

EGYPT: TOYO awarded polyethylene plant of Ethydco

Toyo Engineering Corporation has been jointly awarded with ENPPI, an engineering company under the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum, a contract to build a 400,000 t/y polyethylene plant as part of Ethydco's petrochemical complex to be established in Alexandria, Egypt, and owned by Ethydco, the Egyptian Ethylene and Derivatives Company. This will be the largest polyethylene plant in Egypt.

Rubber Polyurethanes

BRUNEI: UOP technology selected for petrochemicals complex

UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced 2 Apr. 2013 that its technology has been selected to produce key petrochemicals in a new complex in Brunei.

Rubber Polyurethanes

SAUDI ARABIA: Sadara sukuk oversubscribed 2.6 times

Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara) announced the successful closing of the sukuk (Islamic bonds) issued through its subsidiary Sadara Basic Services Company (SBSC). The sukuk has received strong investor demand, resulting in 2.6 times oversubscription based on the initial offering size of SR 5.25 billion. In keeping with this demand, Sadara has up-sized the issuance to SR 7.5 billion.

The new structure was introduced a few weeks ago to distributors and agents during an event entitled “Change on Air”.
Thermoplastic Elastomers

Organisational change at API

The Italian compounder API has announced that it has embarked upon a radical process of organisational change. The company based in Mussolente near Vicenza said that it wants to be prepared to adequately respond to the challenges arising from the great change that is affecting the economy, finance and international markets.

Rubber Polyurethanes

Ter Hell signs distribution agreement with Evonik Industries AG

Ter Hell & Co. GmbH has signed a distribution agreement with Evonik Industries AG. This agreement names Ter Hell as Evonik’s exclusive distributor for the Vestoplast, Vestowax, and Dynacoll product range in selected countries all over Europe.

Rubber Polyurethanes

THAILAND: Push for bioplastics industry

Thai state-owned oil and gas company, PTT, will propose to the Energy Ministry and the Cabinet that promotion of the bioplastics industry be made a national agenda item to stimulate domestic demand for the products.

Rubber Polyurethanes

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Fujairah's fortune rises with petrochemicals

Fujairah's economic development could be boosted by a petrochemical industry feeding on a refinery being built by an Abu Dhabi investor.

This photograph – showing the origins of the Maffei works in the Hirschau district of Munich – dates from about 1910.
Georg von Krauss took over the bankrupt Maffei business empire and relocated the inner-city works to the western outskirts of Munich. Aerial view, taken in about 1937, of the production and office buildings at the Munich-Allach site.
In the late 1950's, KraussMaffei made the transition to injection moulding machine manufacturing. This was followed a few years later by extrusion technology and reaction process machinery.
Today, the group manufactures machines and systems for processing plastics and rubber on synchronised assembly lines in the Allach district of Munich and at nine other production sites
Rubber Polyurethanes

KraussMaffei celebrates its 175th birthday

On 20 March 2013, the mechanical engineering firm KraussMaffei celebrated its 175th birthday. Domiciled in Munich, Germany, since its founding in 1838, the company today exclusively manufactures with its more than 4,000 employees machines and systems for the production and processing of plastics, polyurethane, and rubber – and caters, e. g. to clients in the automotive, packaging, medicine, and construction industries as well as to manufacturers of electrical and electronic products and household appliances.

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