The new “Market Study: Insulation Material – Europe” from market research company Ceresana offers an overview of the European Market for insulation material, including forecasts until 2026. Data on revenues, volume of production and demand as well as on the five individual categories of insulation material – mineral wool (glass and stone wool), polystyrene-based insulation material (EPS and XPS) as well as polyurethane (PUR/PIR) – are given. The market development of 18 countries is analysed individually. Figures are given on demand and revenues as well as products and trade of the five insulation material categories.

Trinseo announced the opening of a new compounding factory at its Hoek Site in Terneuzen, the Netherlands, on 26 June 2019, which will replace the old compounding plant at Terneuzen Industrial Park.

The Oleshky-based Ukrainian company OSV Technology LLC announced that it has signed two agreements on the distribution of its equipment. In Southeast Asia – including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam – the company will now be represented by Advance Molding Chemicals. Furthermore, in Eastern Europe – including Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia – OSV machinery will be distributed by Smith&Partner company. OSV said it has already made a number of successful sales in Malaysia, Slovakia and Hungary in cooperation with both companies.

Texon announced the launch of Texon Vulcan, a product that can provide extra shape and enhanced levels of support in vulcanised shoes, and contains up to 50 % recycled fibre content. According to the company, the product is a non-woven polyester felt with strong performance properties that can be used as an alternative to traditional rubber heel reinforcements.

Borealis and the Erema Group have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to intensify their cooperation in the field of mechanical recycling. The shared goal is to advance mechanical recycling technologies in order to accelerate the transition to a circular economy of plastics. The companies also aim to enhance recycling processes in order to satisfy increasing market demand for higher-quality recyclate used in high-end applications.

Hyundai Oilbank Co., a refining unit of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, said Wednesday (3 July 2019) it will invest KRW 260 billion (USD 221 million) to beef up its petrochemicals production. Hyundai Oilbank said its affiliate Hyundai Chemical Co. will chip in KRW 100 billion to expand its production of mixed xylene, a core material for BTX (benzene, toluene and xylenes) production. The investment will increase the company’s mixed xylene output to 1.4 million tons from 1.2 million tons per year.

Hexpol announced that it has acquired Preferred Compounding from the Audax Group, a US-based private equity firm. The acquisition price amounts to approximately USD 232 million. The business will be consolidated from 1 July 2019.

On 29 June 2019, Arlanxeo hosted an event titled “Open-to-public Day & Transforming for Sustainable Community 2019” at its Changzhou EPDM plant. According to the company, under the theme of “Promoting Circular Economy & Building Safety Culture”, the open day facilitated an industry-wide discussion for the purpose of enhancing chemical companies’ safety awareness, building safety brand and culture, and realizing a sustainable future. On the day of the event, Arlanxeo received about 350 visitors, including Changzhou government officials, representatives from local universities and neighboring companies, nearby residents, Arlanxeo employees and their family members.

The K 2019 trade fair for plastics and rubber will take place from 16 – 23 October 2019 in Düsseldorf, Germany, where the VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association will shine the spotlight on the recycling sector and show how closed loops can work effectively. A series of interviews will shed light on why it is doing this and the significance of the "Circular Economy" for member companies of the association. In the second contribution, Thorsten Kühmann, Managing Director of the trade association, expresses his views on the subject. Kühmann is convinced that the plastics industry can offer solutions that help to eliminate the environmental problems caused by plastic waste. The guiding principle is circular economy. The global challenges for circular economy in the plastics industry are economic efficiency, political and regulatory constraints, quality standards and availability of recyclates and especially the establishment of functioning waste collection systems worldwide.

Sichuan Shengda has successfully started up a new purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in Nanchong, Sichuan Province, China. The PTA facility, which utilizes Invista's proprietary P7 PTA process technology, has a nameplate capacity of 1 million t/y. On-spec production was achieved on 24 May 2019.