NEWS | NPE REVIEW Elastron to make TPEs in US


Turkish TPE producer Elastron announced it is investing $10m in a 2,800m2 production plant and laboratory at Gainsville in Georgia in the US, its first overseas manufacturing plant. “The facility will open


around September and will be delivering commercial quantities in Q3,” said Dr Zev Gurion, General Manager of Elastron North America. “We have been in the US


for around seven years, supplying customers with product from Turkey, but it pays to be closer,” he said. Privately-owned Elastron has a 30-year track record in the TPEs business, produc- ing SBS and SEBS TPEs, EPDM/PP TPVs and TPOs in its 9,000m2


facility at Gebze,


Left: Elastron’s US facility will be modelled on its Turkish operation


around 45km south of Istanbul in Turkey. The company, which is growing at a rate of 10-15% a year, has just expanded capacity there with the installation of a new KraussMaffei Berstorff compounding line. “We know the [US]


market is crowded but we believe there is a place for a dedicated supplier that is willing to get into develop-


ing new applications. So our focus will be on providing a superior value proposition,” Gurion said. The Gainsville facility will be constructed to reflect the company’s premium positioning, he said. The entire production area will be finished in white inter- nally and the facility will be ISO9000 and ISO16949 approved.


Above: Visualisation of Elastron’s new plant at Gainsville in the US


Elastron’s Global Busi-


ness Director Yüksel Habip said the company was transferring existing compounding equipment from Turkey to the US to simplify start-up of the plant. He said the expansion into US manufacturing would likely be followed by a production investment in China “in a few years.” � www.elastron.com


Baerlocher targets compounders


Baerlocher used NPE to “relaunch” its recently introduced Baeropol RST resin stabilisation technology in the US market, placing a new focus on polyolefin compounders and recyclers and introducing an additional grade – Baeropol DRS 6812. The trend in polyolefin polymer


production is to one-pass stabilisa- tion, said Baerlocher USA Director of Baeropol Products Greg Andersen, meaning that the resin is stabilised with one processing step in mind. “Compounders give the resin that single heat history when they do their part of the process, that makes them a good fit for us,” he said. “We have a couple of ongoing


projects with major compounders. Their focus is on replacing phosphite


28 COMPOUNDING WORLD | June 2018


Baerlocher’s DRS 6812 stabiliser is pitched to replace phosphites


antioxidants or as a synergist to reduce phosphite loadings or allow the use of less costly grades. Aside from oxidation protection, the addi- tives also act as a lubricant and provide antacid properties, which is particularly useful where users are dealing with recycled content or catalysis products.


Andersen said the company continues to develop the RST technology and applications. Future developments will include an extension to other metal


in formulations as it presents a number of challenges - solubility is limited to 800ppm, if you want higher it comes out of solution as white powder.” Based on metal stearate technology,


RST stabilisers can be used as a direct 1:1 replacement for phosphite


stearates (current products are based on zinc). RST stabilisers are also suitable for applications beyond PO, with a number of customers already said to be using them in PS and PA formulations. � www.baerlocher.com


www.compoundingworld.com


PHOTO: ELASTRON PHOTO: BAERLOCHER


PHOTO: ELASTRON


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