NEWS


Wienerberger sees H1 sales and profits decline


Wienerberger of Austria reported a fall in both sales profits for the first half of the year. It reported sales of €2.2 billion (US$2.3bn), a fall of around 14% compared to the same period in 2022. At the same time, profitability – in the form of EBITDA – de- clined by around 17%. The company said that high inflation, rising interest rates and reduced afford- ability were factors behind this. “Although operating in a


difficult market environ- ment, we held our ground in the first half of 2023,” said Heimo Scheuch, chairman of Wienerberger. He said the results were positive “in view of the slowdown in renovation and infrastructure as well as a significant downward trend


in new build, particularly in the UK, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and France. The Nordic coun- tries saw a decline in housing starts. The in-house pipe business was also affected by an overall decline in demand. Sales in Eastern Europe


Scheuch: “We held our ground in the first half of 2023”


in new construction in Central-East Europe”. Although European


markets were weak, those in North America remained robust, he said. Revenues in Western


Europe fell to around €1.2bn (US$1.3bn), a decline of 10%. The fall in demand was most evident


dropped by 23% to around €614m (US$650m). Rising interest rates and high inflation depressed real purchasing power in core markets. This led to a decline in sales volumes in both private- and public- sector business in all end markets. New residential construction, including Wienerberger’s in-house pipe business, was hit hardest by these develop- ments. Sales in North America fell by around 10%. � www.wienerberger.com


IN BRIEF...


BASF has broken ground on a new polyethylene (PE) plant at its Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China. Sched- uled to start up in 2025, the 500,000 tonnes/year plant will be backward- integrated and will serve fast-growing demand in the region for products such as pipes and films. www.basf.com


Private equity group INVL Baltic Sea has acquired a 70% stake in Polish PVC window recycler Metal- Plast. The Świebodzice- based company has an annual capacity of around 29,000 tonnes. www.metal-plast.pl


In its sustainability report for the 2023 fiscal year, US-based Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS) says that it purchased 540 million lbs (nearly 250 tonnes) of recyclate. � www.adspipe.com


Accurate calculation for buried pipe


Teppfa, the European Plastic Pipes and Fittings Association, has developed an interactive buried pipes calculator. The calculator promises to make the


calculation of long-term deflection and resistance against buckling of below- ground flexible plastic pipes accurate and relatively easy. It is expected to be in demand for non-pressure plastic pipes above 1000mm diameter, but also for smaller pipe diameters. The calculations were made after work by Swedish plastic pipes expert Jan Molin. Two calculators are avail- able: one for plastic pipes below 1000mm diameter; the other for larger pipes. These calculators will help those


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involved with designing and installing non-pressure pipe systems, by provid- ing accurate assessments of loading requirements once pipe information has been entered. The main benefits are speed, ease of use and accuracy, says Teppfa. Pipes below 1000mm diameter tends to be for smaller projects while the larger diameter calculator is aimed at larger infrastructure project requirements. “Excellent work by Jan Molin and other pipe industry experts has pro- duced this very accurate, easy-to-use calculator – which we hope will prove popular by those involved in all non-


PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | October 2023


pressure plastic pipe sectors,” said Peter Sejersen, technical manager at Teppfa. Molin’s report, Design of large diameter buried PE and PP pipes without internal pressure, was commis- sioned by Teppfa and acknowledges the previous Buried Pipes Project. The report is available on Teppfa’s website. The tool will be available on


Teppfa’s website, and those of several Teppfa members. It will calculate pipe tolerances in accordance with the European Standard EN 13476: ‘Plastics piping systems for non-pressure underground drainage and sewerage – Structured-wall piping systems.’ � www.teppfa.eu


www.pipeandprofile.com


IMAGE: WIENERBERGER


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