The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry plans to seek a budget of more than THB 10 billion to help rubber growers and tappers cope with the dropping price of rubber.

Elastomer-based electronics components and accessories, cables and wires, industrial equipment, safety wear, tires, and many other specific rubber and silicone applications stretch the requirements and expectations for conductive additives. But the issue of how to combine conductivity with improvements in the mechanical properties of elastomers remained difficult for the industry until recently.

The Indian Rubber Technology Center invites to a Short Term Course on Recent Advances in Rubber Technology 2019. The event will take place on 12-16 February 2019 in Kharagpur and will be coordinated by Dr. Narayan Ch. Das and Prof. Kinsuk Naskar.

The Lehvoss Group is taking the next steps to expand its production capacities for Luvocom compounds. October has already seen an additional line for high-temperature compounds go into operation in Germany. Due to the outstanding level of acceptance and the exceptional success of Luvocom compounds in China, another compounding line is set to be installed in January 2019, just one and a half years after the opening of the local production plant. In North America, too, the Hamburg, Germany based group is expanding its capacities and commissioning an additional line at the location in Pawcatuck, CT, USA.

Invista‘s site in Orange, TX, USA set a 12-month production record for adiponitrile (ADN), a key ingredient for nylon 6,6 plastics and fibres. ADN is also a key precursor to hexamethylenediamine (HMDA) production. According to IHS Markit about 90 % of HMDA is consumed in the nylon 66 chain, with non-nylon use mostly in hexamethylene diisocyanate for high-performance polyurethane paints, coatings, and epoxy curing agents.

Era Polymers announced that they are now distributors for Saip Machinery in Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.

The European diisocyanate and polyol producers association Isopa and the European aliphatic isocyanates producers association Alipa have launched a new website on the safe use of diisocyanates: www.safeusediisocyanates.eu. The new website aims at informing about the regulatory process on the proposed restriction on diisocyanates under REACH.

The Primary Industries Ministry will conduct a study on the Rubber Production Incentive (IPG) floor price, which is currently set at MYR 2.20 per kg. Its Minister, Teresa Kok, said the government has proposed to allocate MYR 50 million under the 2019 Budget to implement the IPG to help smallholders and rubber tappers, but has yet to determine its floor price. “The problem is the quantum; the floor price, which is MYR 2.20, and the ministry will be conducting a study to see if it should remain at MYR 2.20 or increase it.

Rampf Polymer Solutions is presenting its range of silicone, polyurethane, and epoxy casting resins with high thermal conductivity at electronica 2018 (hall A5, stand 224) from 13 – 16 November 2018 in Munich, Germany.

Carcoustics announced that it has established a polyurethane box foaming plant in Bludenz, Austria, about 30 km from its existing production site in Klaus. At the new facility, polyurethane box foam blocks are produced on an area of about 800 m2. These are then further processed at the site in Klaus, which specialises in thermoforming technology.