Material Insights: Oct. 22, 2012

Trade-secret indictments against a South Korean materials firm are featured in this week's Material Insights video. The U.S. Department of Justice on Oct. 18 indicted Kolon Indistries and five of its employees for allegedly stealing trade secrets from DuPont Co. and Teijin Ltd. between 2002 and 2009. The information was connected to para-aramid fibers made by DuPont under the Kevlar name and by Teijin under the Twaron name. The indictments are seeking more than $200 million in forfeiture and more than $300,000 in payments made to former DuPont employees. The end of a styrenic block copolymer joint venture and the closing of a compounding plant also are featured in this week’s video. Kraton Performance Polymers and Formosa Petrochemical had planned to buid a SBC plant to gether in Taiwan, but Kraton now will build the plant by itself in a different location. In Stratford, Ontario, Spartech is closing an underutilized plant that made color and specialty compounds. The closing will eliminate 46 jobs. The vide wraps up with news that market watchers in Latin America are optimistic that shale-gas development in the U.S. will lead to more opportunities for Latin American processors. Consultant Rina Quijada said at a recent industry event that as much as 10 billion pounds of new capacity for olefins and derivatives could help meet ongoing Latin American demand for containers, film and plastic auto parts.