Alibaba has told the Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAT) it will provide an auction system for Chinese buyers of Thai rubber in China, anticipating annual sales of at least 200,000 tons. Nakorn Tangavirapat, deputy governor of the RAT, said on Wednesday (12 December 2018) that officials of Alibaba Group visited the RAT offices to ask it to gather and certify sources of natural rubber supply for its online auction project.

Innovative materials and technology have been a hallmark of all presentations staged at the K trade show in Düsseldorf, Germany, the international flagship fair for the plastics and rubber industry. K 2019, which will take place from 16 – 23 October 2019, will also revolve around the key issues of circular economy, resource conservation and digitisation, all of which will be addressed at exhibition stands and by the accompanying programme.

On 10 December 2018, Styrenics Circular Solutions (SCS) announced its incorporation as an independent legal entity and collaboration platform. SCS was founded in 2017 by leading styrenics manufacturers and is a joint industry initiative to drive the shift to a more circular economy for styrenics.

Bill Carteaux, President and CEO of Plastics Industry Association, has passed away on 10 December 2018, due to complications from acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

On 11 December 2018, Continental performed the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony in Pune, India, signalling the start of construction work on a plant to manufacture premium surface materials for the automotive industry.

Tobias Daniel has been appointed as Vice President of Global Sales for the Injection Moulding Division at KraussMaffei, effective from 1 December 2018. In this role, he will be responsible for incoming orders for new KraussMaffei and Netstal machines.

Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina and its Russian counterpart, Rosneft Oil Company, will build and operate a new oil refinery integrated with New Grass Root Refinery and Petrochemical in Tuban, East Java. "The government has determined the construction site of the refinery in Tuban District, East Java Province. The site was decided following comprehensive studies and considerations, in terms of location, topography, and geological studies," Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ignasius Jonan noted in a written statement received by ANTARA in Jakarta Wednesday (14 November 2018). However, the construction plan of the refinery is still facing constraints in the form of land acquisition.

The plastics machinery shipments in North America continued to increase in Q3 2018 according to the statistics compiled and reported by the Plastics Industry Association’s (PLASTICS) Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES).

Environmentalists and civic groups in Taiwan's southern port city of Kaohsiung on Sunday (11 November 2018) protested for cleaner air in the wake of air pollution caused by factory emissions. "The 2018 Anti-Air pollution Rally" was organized by a coalition of environmental and health groups, including Southern Taiwan Anti-Air Pollution Alliance and Air Clean Taiwan's Kaohsiung branch.

Lanxess announced that it is planning to invest approximately EUR 200 million until 2021 to expand its global asset base for flame retardant additives.