news
Shanghai Pret Composites is the first Chinese compounder to make a major move into the US market
Ferro sells US polymer additives business
Chinese compounder to buy Wellman Plastics Recycling
Shanghai Pret Composites, a leading Chinese producer of automotive compounds, is to acquire the US compounder and recycler Wellman Plastics Recycling (WPR) for US$70.45 million. It is the first Chinese compounder to make a significant move into the US market. Its Chinese competi- tors Kingfa and China XD have US sales offices, but no local production. WPR operates a large-scale 2 million sqft (190,000 m2
)
plant in Johnsonville, South Carolina. It focuses on PA, PET and PP compounds, including EcoLon PA and EcoLene PP grades made from 100% post-consumer-recycled materials, primarily from
carpets. Its target markets include the automotive, lawn/ garden, consumer products and electronics industries. The company also offers toll compounding services for polyolefins, PA, PET and PBT. WPR was acquired by
investment companies in 2008 following the bankruptcy of Wellman. At that time, the Johnsonville plant had a compounding capacity of more than 70 million lbs (32,000 tonnes) for engineering plastics and 190 million lbs (86,000 tonnes) for PET bottle recycling. There have been investments in additional capacity since then. Shanghai Pret Composites specializes in engineered
compounds for automotive applications with a particular focus on interior applications. Customers include Yanfeng, Faurecia and Johnson Controls as well as OEMs such as BMW, VW, Ford, Great Wall and Chery. It is a major player in the
Chinese market with annual sales of around US$300milliion and three plants located in Jinshan, Jiaxing and Tongli- ang. Their total capacity is over 200,000 tonnes/year and they employ more than 900 people. The company produces compounds based on PP, ABS, PC/ABS, PA and LCP. Its product range also includes long-fibre compounds. ❙
www.pret.com.cn ❙
www.wellmanplastics.com
MTM Plastics plans major expansion
German plastics recycling company MTM Plastics has announced an €8 million two-year investment pro- gramme for its plant at Niedergebra in Thuringia. The company, which
currently produces some 8
30,000 tonnes of recycled polyolefin compounds from mixed waste, plans to add two new halls to increase its warehousing capacity, followed by a 20,000 m2
addition to its
production facility and a new administration building.
COMPOUNDING WORLD | January 2015
Staffing will be increased from 88 to around 110 employees. The investments are
expected to lift production capacity for its two key product lnes – Dipolen and Purpolen – to 40,000 tonnes/year by 2016. ❙
www.mtm-plastics.eu
Ferro has sold the majority of its Polymer Additives business to private equity firm HIG Capital for ap- proximately US$154 million in cash. The acquired business has been renamed Valerus Specialty Chemicals, and Paul Angus will continue to head up its operations as CEO.
The acquisition includes
Ferro’s four plants in the USA, which are located at Bridgeport in New Jersey, Fort Worth in Texas, plus Cleveland and Walton Hills in Ohio. It also includes a manufacturing operation at Newport in the UK, certain assets at Ferro’s former Baton Rouge plant in Louisiana and its polymer additives R&D lab in Independence, Ohio. The acquired businesses
produce a wide range of additives including polymer modifiers, flame retardants, lubricants and stabilizers. HIG’s acquisition
excludes Ferro’s Europe- based Polymer Additives assets, which are focused on plasticizers. These assets are currently being actively marketed by Ferro. Last year Ferro sold its
Specialty Plastics com- pounding business to A. Schulman for US$91 million. It is now focusing on its functional coatings and colour businesses. ❙
www.ferro.com
www.compoundingworld.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88