NEWS Italy machine sales improve in 2021


Italy’s machinery sector has moved ahead in the first half of 2021. Figures from trade association Amaplast show an 11% increase in sales. Domestic sales have remained high, while foreign sales are mainly for replacement parts, it said. Companies also saw improved


order books, recording a 46% growth compared to the first half of 2020. This has been driven mainly by demand from Italian customers (up by 134% in the last quarter alone) – but there is


Nordson takes over NDC


US-based Nordson has acquired NDC Technolo- gies – which supplies measurement systems for plastics extrusion. Nordson says the move


will expand its test and inspection capabilities into new end markets and adjacent technologies. The cash transaction is valued at around US$180 million. “NDC will bring new capabilities and expertise to our test and inspection platform,” said Jeffrey Pem- broke, executive vice president at Nordson Advanced Technology Solutions. Marti Nyman, president


of NDC Technologies, added: “We are excited to join the Nordson family. The combination will allow us to continue to deliver innovative measurement and process control solutions.” � www.nordson.com � www.ndc.com


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also positive demand from abroad, for both machinery and replacement parts (up by 58%). “Given this trend, an average of 6.4 months of production are already assured,” said Amaplast.


Amaplast has also completed a


national statistical survey among nearly 350 of its members. The companies employed 13,000 people and pro- duced revenues of €3.7 billion (US$4.2bn) in 2020. Most are small companies: three-quarters of them


generate less than €10m (US$12m) in revenues. Large companies, which represent 26% of the total by number, generate 77% of the turnover. For machine types, extruders


represent the largest turnover for the sector with 17% of the total. For comparison, this is followed by ancillar- ies (12%), injection moulding (11%) and blow moulding (7%). Recovery and recycling lines, and rubber processing machines, each account for around 6%. � www.amaplast.org


Pregis expands blown film with new $32m investment


US-based flexible packaging specialist Pregis is to invest US$32 million in blown film extrusion technology at its site in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The investment will add 55,000 sq ft of manu- facturing, warehousing and office space – taking the size of the facility to 205,000 sq ft. It comes on top of a previous US$37m capital expenditure programme between 2016 and 2020. Initially, it will house additional Windmoller & Holscher (W&H) lines, with room to add further equipment in future. The multi-layer polyethylene lines are expected to become operational by the end of September. “We are seeing increased demand for higher quality films, driven by our customers’ needs to meet more challenging flexible packaging applications,” said David Timm, president of Pregis’ performance flexibles operations. � www.pregis.com


Cosmo ups profits in first quarter


India-based Cosmo Films has reported increased sales and profits for the first quarter of this year. The company posted a


43% increase in sales, to INR6.9 billion (US$103 million). Profit (EBITDA) rose by 53% to INR1.4bn


FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION | September 2021


(US$21m). Higher sales of speciality products and better margins helped towards the profit rise, said the company. The company added that planned capacity expan- sions in specialised polyes- ter would help to drive


growth in future. “We are enhancing our speciality films portfolio and have launched many innovative products – making the product pipeline even stronger,” said Pankaj Poddar, CEO of Cosmo Films. � www.cosmofilms.com


www.filmandsheet.com


IMAGE: PREGI


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