NEWS


Charlotte Pipe builds


in Kentucky Charlotte Pipe and Foundry – which makes both plastic and metal plumbing pipes and fittings – is to build a new US$80 million plant in Maize, Kansas.


It will be the company’s seventh plastics plant in the USA. Construction on the plant is expected to begin in January 2024 and finish in early 2025. The project is expected


to create around 50 jobs. “We are excited to


expand our operations in the Midwest,” said Hooper Hardison, CEO of Char- lotte Pipe. The company’s existing six plastics pipe facilities together account for more than 1 million sq ft of production space. The site was selected


partly for its access to the Kansas & Oklahoma (K&O) Railroad, according to the firm. � www.charlottepipe.com


Essen conference programme finalised


AMI has confirmed the conference programme for its Plastics World Expo event, which takes place on 14-15 June in Essen, Germany. The free conference sessions – which cover plastics recycling, compound- ing and testing – include business debates, technology talks, market forecasts and practical training seminars. “The sessions will help


attendees identify key market trends and opportu- nities, learn practical tips for making their operations more efficient, and discover innovative technologies to give their companies a


competitive edge,” said Eva Haak, senior conference producer at AMI. The Plastics Recycling


World Expo is hosting panel discussions on topics includ- ing regulatory issues, and the quality and availability of feedstock. Other speakers cover advances in sorting, recycling and additive technologies for improving the properties of recycled plastics. Elizabeth Carroll, recycling and sustainability consultant at AMI, will present European market trend data in mechanical and chemical recycling. Panel discussions at the


Compounding World Expo explore the future for plastics compounders and masterbatch makers, plus how the industry is respond- ing to regulatory and sustainability pressures. It includes contributions from Akro Compounds, Gabriel Chemie and Lati. Polymer Testing World Expo features presentations on recent advances in the testing and analysis of plastics, and includes speakers from Aimplas, Fraunhofer and Norner, Hitachi and Oxford Instruments. � https://eu.compounding- worldexpo.com/


Pipe development centre opens


Sabic has opened a Euro- pean pipe innovation centre near its manufacturing site in Geleen, The Netherlands. The company has similar facilities in Saudi Arabia and China.


The centre will allow customised pipe material development, testing, sampling and validation. Material testing facilities include full notch creep, strain hardening, tensile,


rheological and impact testing. Testing capacities include internal pressure, notched pipe and small- scale steady-state (S4) rapid crack propagation testing. � www.sabic.com


Italian machinery makers see sales rise 5%


Sales of Italian plastics and rubber processing machinery grew by 5% in 2022.


Amaplast, which represents Italian machinery makers, said that the sales of nearly €4.7 billion (US$5.1bn) was its second-highest performance of all time. The main driver for the growth was


exports, which rose nearly 9% to €3.25bn (US$3.56bn). Within this, exports to the European Union rose 8%, though sales to the UK were down by nearly 10% – taking it from sixth to


6


tenth on the table of largest export markets. Sales to the Americas rose 12% thanks mainly to a 33% rise in exports to South America. At the same time, sales to Asia rose by 9% – with India up 24% but China down 7%. Export sales of extruders rose by 23% while those of thermoforming machines fell by 22%. For comparison, injection moulding machinery sales were flat and blow moulding machines were down 19%. The domestic market remained


stable, with a growth of less than 1% to PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | May/June 2023


€2.54bn (US$2.78bn). Regarding the first quarter of 2023, Amaplast members expected to see an average 7% in orders (compared to Q1 of 2022) and a 6% increase in sales. “The outlook for the rest of 2023


remains uncertain, given the economic and political context,” said Amaplast. “While energy costs and the availability of raw materials and components have shown some improvement, troubles continue to be the order of the day – such as the recent bank crisis.” � www.amaplast.org


www.pipeandprofile.com


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