news Borealis starts new catalyst plant


Borealis inaugurated its €100m Sirius catalyst production facility at its plant at Linz in Austria in June. The new facility provides it with semi-commercial batch production for its proprietary BCL05P Ziegler-Natta PP catalyst and two parallel pilot lines for continuous production of single site catalysts. Borealis buys merchant


Bradley opts for Engel


The College of Engineering and Technology at Bradley University in Illinois in the US has taken delivery of a 30 tonne Engel tiebar-less e-Victory hybrid moulding machine for its new manufacturing laboratory. The machine will be


used in four engineering degree programmes run by the institution. ❙ www.bradley.edu


polyolefin catalysts on the open market and outsources manufacture of proprietary catalysts. The new investment will allow it to better control quality and supply while improving its control of intellectual property, the company said. “The new facility in Linz will


make it possible for us to build on the basic research carried


out at our Innovation Centre in Porvoo, Finland, by further refining catalysts developed there until they are market- ready. This is an essential step in the development of catalysts and determines the quality and versatility of the final product,” said Borealis executive vice president of polyolefins Alfred Stern (pictured). ❙ www.borealisgroup.com


So.f.ter to compound in US


So.f.ter of Italy is to build a new compounding plant in Lebanon, Tennessee, US. The company is investing €8.8 million in the facility which will compound polypropylene, polyamide and thermoplastic elastomers.


The initial 9,300 m2 plant on


the 21 acre site will have a production capacity of 23,000 tonnes/year and it will employ around 50 people. So.f.ter says that its ultimate plan is for a


23,000 m2 facility with a


capacity of more than 68,000 tonnes/year and over 150 employees.


The plant, which is being


constructed this year, will be So.f.ter’s first production facility in the US. Riccardo Meucci, the group’s commer- cial director said: “The US operation completes our presence in the Americas and complements our presence in Mexico and Brazil.”


People on the move


Professor Helmar Franz is stepping down from his position as CEO of Germany- based Zhafir Plastics Machinery, handing over to joint managing directors Steffen Franz and Zhang Bin (son of Haitian International CEO Zhang Jianming). Professor Franz remains a shareholder of Zhafir but will in future focus more on his role as chief strategy officer and board member of Haitian International.


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Borouge, replacing Marc Hubert who is leaving the company. Rochas has 20 years experience in the polymer industry and has previously held posts with Borealis and Borouge in south east Asia and Austria. He is an engineering graduate.


Gilles Rochas


Gilles Rochas has taken over the position of vice president of the energy and infrastructure application segment at


INJECTION WORLD | July/August 2013


Tim Peterson, vice president of US mouldmaker Industrial Molds Group, has been named 2013 mould designer of the year by the Moldmaking and


Mold Design Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers. The title was awarded at a special ceremony at the Amerimold Expo in Illinois.


Proto Labs has announced the promotion of Dr Robert Bodor to the post of chief technology officer. Bodor is a computer science graduate who worked with McKinsey and Honeywell in technology product development roles before joining Proto Labs.


www.injectionworld.com Mark Rodden has been


appointed managing director of the new US operation. He has more than 15 years of managerial experience in plastics compounding. Target markets for the new plant include the automotive, appliance, construction and electrical sectors. Headquartered in Forli,


Italy, So.f.ter posted a turnover of €250 million in 2012. ❙ www.softerspa.com


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