NEWS
Orion adds new plant
in China Orion has completed its first greenfield project – a carbon black plant in eastern China, which it says will supply growing demand in Asia. The facility, in Huaibei
in Anhui province, will produce carbon black for a variety of applications including polymers. The site’s two production lines have a total capacity of 70,000 tonnes/year. “The Huaibei plant enables us to better support our Chinese customers with products that are made in China,” said Corning Painter, CEO of Orion. “Now we can reallocate production lines in the US and Europe so we can increase supply to customers in those markets.”
Orion has one other plant in China – in
Qingdao – which was built in 1994. It produces carbon black for tyres, rubber goods and other products. �
www.orioncarbons.com
North America machine sales fall in Q3 2023
Sales of primary plastics machinery in North America fell in the third quarter of this year – in comparison with the same period in 2022. The Plastics Industry
Association estimated sales at US$346 million in the period, a dip of around 2% compared to Q3 2022, and around 1.5% lower than the second quarter of this year. In Q3 of this year, single-screw extruder sales rose nearly 31% compared to the previous quarter – and 75% higher than Q3 2022.
Sales of twin- screw
extruders grew by 30% compared to the previous quarter, and by 3% com- pared to Q3 2022. For comparison, sales of injection moulding machin- ery fell by around 2% in comparison with the previous quarter, and by 8% compared to Q3 2022. “At the start of this year,
there was a double-digit decline in primary plastics machinery shipments,” said Perc Pineda, chief econo-
500 400 300 200 100 0
2022-Q3 2022-Q4 2023-Q1 2023-Q2 2023-Q3
Primary plastics machinery sales, North America Source: Plastics Industry Association, 2023
mist at the association. “This decline seems to have moderated on both a quarterly and year-over-year basis, aligning with rising economic output from the first to the third quarter of this year.”
Machinery exports rose to US$271m in Q3 2023 – 7% higher than the previous quarter and 36% higher than Q3 2022. More than half the exports went to Mexico and Canada. Imports decreased by nearly 17% to US$383m in the period. In the association’s
quarterly survey of suppliers
– which assesses market conditions and future expectations – 56% of respondents expected market conditions to improve or remain steady over the next 12 months. Plastics machinery will continue to be affected by high interest rates, said the association. “While demand for plastics is anticipated to remain steady, fluctuations in manufacturing could impact business investment decisions,” according to Pineda. �
www.plasticsindustry.org
New research centre will help cut carbon
Saica has unveiled a new research, development and innovation (R&D&I) centre at its El Burgo de Ebro plant in Zaragoza, Spain. The centre will service Saica’s four divisions globally, including its flexible
packaging segment, Saica Flex. It will allow teams to develop new products, improve raw material efficiency and offer advanced characterisation services of materials and processes to clients and other Saica departments. The R&D&I centre has been designed to boost two strategic company objectives: reducing Saica’s carbon footprint; and achieving ‘zero waste to landfill’ in all Saica plants. It currently employs more than 50 people, who make up multidisciplinary teams made up of engineers and technicians. �
www.saica.com
6 FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION | December 2023
www.filmandsheet.com
IMAGE: SAICA
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