MATERIALS | SHEET MATERIALS
Above: Brett Martin has set up its first overseas factory, with its US distributor Amerilux
Trading as APC (American Polycarbonate
Company), the 48,000sq ft facility on a greenfield site is being established as a joint venture with Brett Martin’s main US distribution customer, Amerilux International. APC will make multiwall and corrugated polycarbonate roofing sheets for use in a wide range of sectors. To date, Brett Martin has made all its products at its Mallusk plant. It currently gets more than half of its sales from exports to around 70 countries. The new facility is an opportunity to further grow international sales by expanding its reach in the US market, it says. “We have been exporting to the US for more than 25 years,” said Paul Martin, group director at Brett Martin. “With Amerilux, we identified an opportunity to add a US manufacturing presence that that build on the success of our Mallusk operations.” The decision was taken well before recent US
tariffs were introduced, he says. “While tariffs are relevant for any exporter, our
motivation was driven by long-term market growth potential and the opportunities we see for Brett Martin products in North America,” he added.
Redesigned PET line SML has developed FlexiPET, a new production- scale demonstration line for thermoforming sheet. The sheet extrusion line has a redesigned machine architecture and includes SML’s new TSE 80 twin-screw extruder for polyester, a modernised roll stack and the new W650 winder. The FlexiPET is a co-extrusion sheet line configured for a classic three-layer structure (A/B/A), but which has the versatility to operate as a two-layer line (A/B). “At the heart of the line is the new TSE 80 – a
parallel co-rotating twin-screw extruder designed in-house by SML and optimised for PET,” said
18 FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION | May/June 2026
Martin Kastner, R&D engineer at SML. With a low-maintenance, water-cooled main drive delivering 348 kW, the TSE 80 achieves an output capacity of up to 1000 kg/h of PET. It is optimised for processing large volumes of materi- als with low bulk densities – such as flakes or regrind. The concept is also suitable for processing PET/PE flakes, as well as PETG and its post-industri- al flake stream. With its compact design, it ensures high energy efficiency, while the short residence time retains the natural, clear colour of PET. To ensure high melt quality for processing PET without pre-drying, it is combined with SML’s vacuum unit. This uses a roots vacuum pump for high volume flow rates with a dry-running rotary screw pump for low pressure levels. This configura- tion achieves absolute pressure levels as low as 1 mbar. Due to the dry-running vacuum pumps, the unit ensures high levels of energy efficiency and environmental compatibility. The co-extruder in the FlexiPET line is an SML single-screw extruder (ES 60/28D) powered by a 64kW main drive motor. It is designed for processing pre-dried material with an output of up to 200 kg/h of PET.
Roll stack addition More recently, SML supplied Fuhai Shandong Packaging Material of China with new roll stack technology for high-volume PET sheet production. It has built a new production plant for thermo-
formable A-PET sheets. With this, Fuhai, a fully integrated PET raw material manufacturer, is
extending its value-chain offering. With an high melting capacity of more than 35 tonnes per hour – spread across eight SML sheet lines – the facility is one of the largest for PET sheet in the world, it says. To cope with the throughput rates, SML provid-
ed its roll stack technology in two different configu- rations: inclined roll stacks with a roller width of 2,200mm for thick PET sheet production; and its new XL roll stacks with a roller width of 2,700mm for thinner sheets. Thickness distribution across the entire width of
the XL roll stack is ensured by a hydraulically adjustable pressure roller, which provides a uniform gap between the rollers.
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.exolongroup.com �
www.kydex.com �
https://plaskolite.com �
www.simona.de �
www.polyvantis.com �
www.brettmartin.com �
www.sml.at
www.filmandsheet.com
IMAGE: BRETT MARTIN
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