news


Hexpol acquires müller Kunststoffe from rowa


Hexpol of Sweden is acquiring the german TpEs compounder Horst müller Kunststoffe from the rowa group for a total of E39 million when adjusted for acquired net debt. The deal is expected to be completed this month. müller employs around


90 people and has an annual turnover of approximately E46 million. it operates two compounding plants in lichtenfels, germany, producing TpE-S, TpE-V and TpE-u.


The acquisition is the latest


step in Hexpol’s TpEs growth strategy. it acquired the VTc TpE business from the uK’s


Müller Kunststoffe supplies TPEs for this range of children’s tableware produced by Ornamin


Vita group in April 2010 for E35 million and rebranded it


Elasto. The company is currently building a TpE


compounding plant in guangzhou, china. This is due to be commissioned in the second half of this year. “The market for TpE


compounding is undergoing great growth with interest- ing and increasing


customer applications within the field of medical,


consumer, general industry and automotive,” said georg Brunstam, president and cEo of Hexpol, adding: “müller Kunststoffe is a well-estab- lished and well-managed company with strong manage- ment and a strong brand.” ❙ www.hexpol.com ❙ www.mueller-kunststoffe.com


STF specifies Automatik pelletizer


STF recycling has taken delivery on a new Automatik pelletizer for use on the second bottle-to-bottle r-pET line at its plant in Aicha vorm wald, germany. The pelletizer uses Automatik’s combi-crystal-pET


technology for direct crystallisation. it combines pelletiz- ing, drying and crystallisation in a single process. STF has been successfully using Automatik’s cc-


pET technology on its existing line for Eco-rpET production since 2006. The company is one of more than 30 industrial users of the technology. ❙ www.stf-group.de ❙ www.maag.com


polymera starts up wpc plant


polymera has commis- sioned wood-plastic composite (wpc) com- pounding equipment with an annual capacity of 60 million lbs (27,000 tonnes) at its 160,000 ft2


plant in Hebron, ohio. The company was


formed just over a year ago with a management team boasting extensive wpc experience. polymera’s vice-


president, Herb Hutchison said: “our objective is to help extrusion, injection and compression moulding companies that would like to enter the wpc market but cannot justify the very large investment in upstream blending and material handling systems.” The company’s mera-


blend wood and natural fibre filled compounds can be based on HdpE, pVc or pp. its consultancy services are being marketed under the meraplast Technology Solutions name, and it is also producing wpc profiles under the mer- awood brand. ❙ www.polymera.com


concentrates event attracts major players


Ami’s Thermoplastics concen- trates 2012 conference, which takes place on 31 January to 2 February in coral Springs, Florida, uSA, is attracting a very influential audience. conference chairman


Andrew reynolds says that delegates that have already booked for the annual event include senior managers from masterbatch makers that account for uS$2.2 billion of annual production in north


compounding world | January 2012


America. This is more than two thirds of the total market. companies that will be


represented at a senior level include A. Schulman, Americhem, Ampacet, chroma, clariant, dominion, o’neil,


pcc, penn color, polyone, rTp, Spartech, Techmer pm, Teknor color and many more. Click here for details of the


conference line-up and a booking form. ❙ www.amiconferences.com


www.compoundingworld.com (15,000 m2 )


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