Plastics News - Thermoforming

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008

Thermoforming

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Octal ups investment in integrated APET site

Barenberg

DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY (Aug. 21, 3:15 p.m. EDT) -- Octal Holding & Co. SAOC is launching its $300 million integrated PET resin and sheet plant in Oman this month. Chief Operating Officer Joe Barenberg said the plant will have initial capacity of about 396 million pounds of APET sheet and 330 million pounds of its own PET resin. By 2010, the site should have another 1.1 billion pounds of capacity.

Myers to consolidate lawn & garden operations
AKRON, OHIO (Aug. 18, 2:15 p.m. EDT) -- Myers Industries Inc. plans to consolidate in order to better position itself in the lawn and garden markets. The company did not give details in an Aug. 18 news release, but said that the changes will be phased in over the next 12 months to avoid disruptions during customers’ peak season.

Curwood planning major expansion
FREMONT, OHIO (Aug. 15, 1:45 p.m. EDT) -- Packaging supplier Bemis Co. Inc. will expand its Curwood Inc. thermoforming and extrusion plant, taking advantage of an upswing in flexible packaging that’s related to clients’ cost-cutting efforts.

Illig develops bottle thermoforming process
HEILBRONN, GERMANY (Aug. 14, 2:20 p.m. EDT) -- Reduced manufacturing cost, reduced weight and improved wall-thickness control are all among the claimed benefits for a new bottle thermoforming technology developed by Illig Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG.

Encore expanding again, opening Utah site

C. Rathbun

CAMBRIDGE, OHIO (Aug. 8, 6:40 p.m. EDT) -- About 40 years ago, while visiting the former Foster Grant Co. thermoforming plant near Sandusky, Ohio, young Craig Rathbun asked the plant manager, “Dad, what’s that smell?” John Rathbun replied, “That’s the smell of money.” Fast-forward to the present: Craig Rathbun is president of Encore Plastics Corp., a $32 million paint sundries supplier.

Utz spending $15M to target US markets
EDINBURGH, IND. (Aug. 8, 6:25 p.m. EDT) -- Plastic material-handling-container maker Georg Utz Inc. is breaking ground on an 80,000-square-foot facility in Edinburgh on Aug. 19 as part of $15 million project to increase production and expand its markets.

College finds backers for thermoforming R&D

White

WILLIAMSPORT, PA. (Aug. 8, 6:10 p.m. EDT) -- Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport is planning a thermoforming center that backers say will be the first of its kind in the country. “We have endeavored to cover the plastics industry in terms of our teaching,” said Hank White, director of the college’s plastics manufacturing center. “The one piece that´s missing ... is thermoforming.”

Murder trial to start for Poly Vac´s Brooks
BRENTWOOD, N.H. (Aug. 8, 9:30 a.m. EDT) -- Hundreds are being screened for possible jury service. Prosecutors have compiled a list of 410 potential witnesses. And now the main event — a capital murder trial — begins for John A. Brooks, 56. Brooks is accused in the slaying of Jack Reid Sr., who officials say was beaten with a hammer.

Sealed Air to eliminate about 1,000 jobs
ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. (Aug. 1, 10 a.m. EDT) -- High raw material and energy costs are forcing Sealed Air Corp. to cut 900-1,000 employees — about 5 percent of the company’s workforce — and will result in some facility closures or consolidations, company officials said.

Thermoformer InnoWare growing in hometown
THOMASTON, GA. (July 30, 4:50 p.m. EDT) -- Disposable tableware and food container maker InnoWare Plastics Inc. will keep 134 jobs and create 45 at its Thomaston plant as part of a $9.7 million investment.

Plastics help designs bring home IDSA gold
DULLES, VA. (July 28, 12:20 p.m. EDT) -- A low-cost laptop, a featherlike welding helmet and a customized baby bottle were among the products making good use of plastics in winning 2008 International Design Excellence Awards. The annual contest, co-sponsored by the Industrial Designers Society of America and BusinessWeek magazine, drew 1,517 entries from 33 countries.

Fabri-Kal gets tax break for investment
KALAMAZOO, MICH. (July 25, 6:55 p.m. EDT) -- Kalamazoo officials will grant a property tax abatement to Fabri-Kal Corp. to enable the Kalamazoo thermoformer to relocate part of its operations.

Analysts: Cross-border deals up in second half
AKRON, OHIO (July 25, 5:45 p.m. EDT) -- International players are big on the mergers and acquisitions scene this year — and in certain plastics sectors, that’s likely to pick up, in part spurred by the weak U.S. dollar, several analysts said.

Mergers, acquisitions up, but buyers picky

AKRON, OHIO (July 14, 10:50 a.m. EDT) -- Financial uncertainty has triggered a slowdown in global mergers and acquisitions, but a surprising number of plastics processor deals are happening and more will be announced before year’s end, industry watchers said.

Gage sells packaging business to Sabert
LAKE OSWEGO, ORE. (July 9, 3:20 p.m. EDT) -- Extruder and thermoformer Gage Industries Inc. of Lake Oswego has sold its packaging business to extruder and thermoformer Sabert Corp. of Sayreville, N.J. Sabert said the deal gives it a good position in dual-ovenable crystalline PET products.