NEWS IN BRIEF...


Ineos Styrolution has broken ground on its 600,000 tonnes/yr ABS plant at Ningbo in China. The site, which was selected for its access to feedstock supply options and connection to custom- ers, is expected to be operational by 2023. www.ineos-styrolution.com


Farrel Pomini is currently building an 18UM Con- tinuous Mixer with a nominal production rate of 40 tonnes/hr at its plant at Ansonia, CT, US, for installation at a major US producer of PE polymer. The 18UM model is said to be very well suited to mid-range HDPE and LLDPE finishing. www.farrel-pomini.com


Avient has announced plans to equip an existing facility in Singapore with a new production line to meet growing demand for speciality pre-coloured, medical grade Mevopur polymers in the Asia-Pacific region. The line will complement similar capabilities in North America and Europe when it goes onstream in Q2. www.avient.com


Swedish firm Polygiene, a specialist in soft material odour control technolo- gies, has acquired Add- master, the UK-based supplier of antimicrobial additives for plastic compounds sold under the Biomaster brand for SEK374m (€37m). www.polygiene.com www.addmaster.co.uk


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Plastics associations say market ‘on turn’


Germany’s plastics and rubber machinery industry association, VDMA, said in December this year’s downward trend in orders has flattened out with evidence of an upturn in September and October 2020 (the latest months for which figures are available). Like every other part of the economy, the plastics machinery industry was badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, VDMA said the situation began to improve in mid-2020 and, cumula- tively, from January to October 2020, incoming orders were just 3% below the first ten months of 2019. It said September saw a 13% year-on-year growth in incoming orders, with order books for October standing at twice the level of the same period in 2019. “This means the German


still expected to end up 10-15% down on 2019, as these lag well behind orders. However, for 2021 and 2022 the association expects to see respective sales growth of 5% and more than 10%, setting the industry on the path to return to pre-crisis levels in 2023. Meanwhile, Plastics-


VDMA Managing Director Thorsten Kühmann


plastics and rubber machin- ery industry is about to turn the corner,” said Thorsten Kühmann, VDMA Managing Director. “It gives us confidence to see that companies have adapted to the challenges better and better over the course of the pandemic. Business is up and running again.” Total sales for 2020 are


Europe’s latest annual report, ‘Plastics: The Facts 2020’, has identified similar trends in production and demand for materials. After a “sharp drop” in the first half, it said production started to recover in the second. “We expect the recovery to continue in the last quarter of 2020 and during 2021, while pre-crisis levels of production will probably not be reached before 2022,” the associa- tion said. � www.vdma.org � www.plasticseurope.org


European plan targets pellets


PlasticsEurope and EuPC (which represent European plastics resin producers and processors respectively) have agreed to jointly develop a certification aimed at controlling pellet loss across the plastic supply chain system by 2022. All signatories will be audited regularly by accred-


ited third parties to establish their compliance with the requirements of PlasticsEurope’s Operation Clean Sweep (OCS), developed to tackle pellet leakage. PlasticsEurope made OCS compliance compulsory for its entire membership as of 1 January 2020. Around 1,200 entities have signed up to it to date, including three major European ports that handle plastic pellets: Cartagena and Tarragona in Spain and Felixstowe in the UK. � www.opcleansweep.eu


COMPOUNDING WORLD | January 2021


New European pellet initiative could be in place by next year


www.compoundingworld.com


IMAGE: VDMA


IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK


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