NEWS
NEWS IN BRIEF...
US-based plumbing specialist Mueller Industries has acquired Die-Mold Tool, a Canadian manufacturer of plastic PEX and other plumbing related fittings. The takeover supports Mueller’s plan to grow its flow control product offerings in the area of pressure plastics. Mueller entered the PEX market last year when it acquired PexCor and HeatLink. HeatLink designs and makes radiant heating systems, while PexCor manufactures PEX-a tubing.
www.muellerindustries.com
Signet Industries, a pipe manufacturer based in India, has won a large order to supply PE100 pipe for the huge AMRUT infrastructure project. The order, for more than INR800m (US$12m) came from engineering contrac- tor Larsen & Toubro. Saurabh Sangla, executive director at Signet Indus- tries, said: “This order will boost revenues, resulting in increased capacity utilisation, and is expected to be executed in the next nine months.”
www.groupsignet.com
Eurocell grows sales while profits stay flat
UK-based Eurocell, a leading manufacturer of PVC profiles, grew sales by 10% in 2017. The company reported
sales of almost £225m (US$314m) for the full year. However, pre-tax profits were flat at around £24m (US$33m), which the company said was caused by raw material price rises. “Profit was impacted by
raw material cost inflation and a subdued RMI [repair, maintenance and improve- ment] market, especially in the second half,” said Mark Kelly, CEO. “However, I expect the investments we are making to deliver further gains in market share and allow us to take more control of material costs in the future.”
Kelly: “Profit was impacted by raw material cost inflation”
He added that sales in the first two months of the year were “in line with expectations” although “markets remain challeng- ing and raw material price inflation continues”. In 2017, the company
produced more than 44,000
tonnes of rigid and foam PVC profiles at its primary extrusion facilities, an increase on 9% on the previous year. At the same time, it increased the proportion of recycled material in its rigid PVC products by around 2,000 tonnes – so that recyclate now accounts for 17% of material consumption (up from 14% the previous year). This was partly due to collections of material for recycling rising by 15% -- something the company is looking to continue. “Looking ahead, our focus for 2018 will be on optimising our existing branch network and expand- ing further our recycling capability,” said Kelly. �
www.eurocell.co.uk
Pipes perform for Tessenderlo
Tessenderlo, the Belgian industrial group, saw increased sales but gener- ally lower profits in 2017. Its Industrial Systems division grew sales by nearly 4% to €495m (US$604m), but saw a 12% dip in REBITDA to around €40m (US$49m).
However, the plastic pipe
extrusion business – which forms part of the division – had a ‘positive impact’ on activities.
At the same time, part of
the reason for the division’s dip in profits was down to higher raw materials in the pipes sector, according to
the company. Overall, the group expects
2018 profits to be in line with those of 2017 – though this is dependent on exchange rates between the Euro and US dollar, which dragged down results this year, according to Tessenderlo. �
www.tessenderlo.com
Rehau to close Canada windows plant
German window profile manufacturer Rehau is to close its manufacturing plant in Winnipeg, Canada this year. “The decision to cease operations at our window profile extrusion plant in Winnipeg was difficult but necessary,”
6 PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | May 2018
said Christian Fabian, CEO of Rehau Americas. “There is no realistic pros- pect for profitability, and therefore we have reached the unfortunate but inevitable decision to close this facility.” The plant employs 75 people and
provides profiles to suppliers of PVC windows in Canada and the USA. The decision will also affect a “small num- ber” of employees in the USA, accord- ing to a report in DWM magazine. �
www.rehau.com
www.pipeandprofile.com
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