news Fewer plastic pipe sites in Europe


The number of plastic pipe extrusion sites in Europe has fallen by nearly a quarter in the last 15 years. According to AMI’s


directory of plastic pipe extruders in Europe, there were 625 sites in 2001 and just 480 today – an overall reduction of 23%. In 2008, the total was 559


The worst affected areas


have been Spain, Italy, France and the UK – which accounted for 60-70% of the site


Window maker sells division


AmesburyTruth, a US-based manufacturer of window and door components, is to sell its non-fenestration custom extrusion business to VIP Rubber and Plastic Products.


The 72,000 sq ft facility,


in Ontario, California, employs 50 people and makes both fenestration and non- fenestration products. The company will now move its fenestration opeations to a facility in Minnesota. “Our goal is to be North


America’s number one supplier of window and door components,” said AmesburyTruth president Jeff Graby.


AmesburyTruth is a subsidiary of UK-based Tyman.  www.amesburytruth.com


8


Distribution of plastic pipe production in Europe, 2014 Source: AMI, 2015


Other Central


Eastern Europe 11%


Other


West Europe 10%


Benelux 6%


Nordic 7%


sites – around 12% higher that today.


Spain 7%


UK 8%


France 9%


Italy 13%


Poland 9%


Germany 20%


reduction in Europe. The most common reason for plant closures has been either


group rationalisation within a country or the transfer of production abroad.


However, there have also been many bankruptcies and acquisitions resulting


from liquidation. Germany is still Europe’s


largest producer of plastic pipes, with 20% of production in 2014. This has increased over recent years as it is the only West European country that has seen output recover to 2007


levels of demand. European production of


plastics pipes is still around 20% below that of 2007. A second AMI report, a


review of the market’s top 50 players, puts Wavin (now part of Mexichem), Pipelife and Russia’s rapidly expanding Polyplastic in the top three positions. The top 10 companies


account for 40% of production by volume. AMI estimates that


the industry is worth around €7.5bn.  www.amiplastics.com


Fullerenes shown to protect plastics insulation in cables


Researchers from Borealis and the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have demonstrated the use of fullerenes to protect plastics insulation in high- voltage cables. They say that the nanometre-sized carbon balls enable polyethylene to withstand a 26% higher voltage, which could increase the effi ciency of power grids in the future. The research work involved the addition of very small amounts of different variants of the C60


carbon ball, a


nanomaterial in the fullerene molecular group that is also known as a buckminsterfuller- ene or bucky-ball. Such materials have already been tested in the conductive parts of high-voltage cables, but it is


PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | March 2015


Fullerenes can help to prevent the formation of


electrical trees in high-voltage cable insulation


believed that this is the fi rst time that it has


been shown they can bring benefi ts to the insulation material.


The Chalmers researchers say that fullerenes are the best voltage stabilizers identifi ed for insulation plastics thus far. They help to capture electrons, preventing them from destroying other molecules and forming electrical trees


within the plastic. A paper on the initial


research, entitled “A new application area for fullerenes: voltage stabilizers for power cable insulation”, has recently been published in the Advanced Materials journal. The next stage of the project will involve testing the technology on a large scale in complete high-voltage cables with both alternating current and direct current.  www.chalmers.se


www.pipeandprofi le.com


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