China's state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) organized illegal firework display that set fire to a new, vacant luxury hotel building the TV network built next to its headquarters. While public anger simmers over CCTV's spending and selective news coverage, some are questioning the quality of the plastic building products used in the tower.

"The fire started around the 30th floor and quickly gutted the entire building. If the builder had used flame-retardant plastic insulation boards, the blaze wouldn't have spread so fast," a B2B Web site commented. Others blame the plastic building products for generating huge amounts of toxic fumes that killed a firefighter and injured a handful of others.

After I posted the news in the Chinese-language version of the PN China Blog, a reader replied: "There's no industry standard or inspection system in place for plastic foam boards in China. Most plastic boards in the market used sub-par, recycled material. They either contain no flame-retardant additives what-so-ever, or use too little or low quality flame-retardant additives. ...The market is still focused on just the price point. We hope the authorities will establish and enforce standards. Don't leave fire hazards in homes and modern high-rises. ... This could become the 'melamine in construction materials.' (the reader was comparing the fire hazard to the melamine found in milk powder and baby formula products in China)"

Actually, China does have a "mandatory national standard for flame-retardant products in public buildings (GB20286)." But either there's no enforcement or people found loopholes. For example, the standard probably doesn't apply when the owner/builder opted for building materials without flame-retardant claims.

Last month, a bar fire caused by fireworks killed 15 and injured 22 in eastern China's Fujian province. Flammable decoration materials (plastic ceiling boards) caught fire and emitted heavy smoke and poisonous fumes, which knocked out the victims before they could escape.

Since the debate is so heated among economists, politicians and business people around the world, I'm not going to dive into propositions like whether this provision of the stimulus package will benefit or hurt the U.S. economy and/or the world economy.

I'm simply here to hear from you, our readers, about how this provision relates to and can possibly impact the plastics industry.

A fair amount of the construction materials to be purchased under the stimulus plan will be plastic products, right? Can anyone give some examples?

What quantity of plastic building products does America import every year? Mostly from which countries and regions? How much of imported plastic building products goes into governmental projects?

And, if we look into the details of the provision, waivers are allowed in cases where American-made products necessary for a project are not readily available. Are there any such plastic products?

Waivers are also allowed where total project cost is 25 percent more expensive than it would be if imports were used. This one looks tricky to me. How big of a price advantage do imported plastic pipes have over U.S.-made ones? Will American manufacturers be willing to lower their prices in order to beat the 25 percent qualifier?

Also, we know that countries like China, Russia, Brazil and India have not signed the World Trade Organization's 1995 agreement on governmental procurement and, therefore, do not enjoy the rights to the U.S. procurement purchases. But what about the 38 countries that have signed the WTO procurement code and have been exempted from the buy-American clause? Is it OK to buy from these countries? Doesn't it defy the whole purpose?

The overall Chinese real estate market is sluggish, but post-quake reconstruction investment in Sichuan province is boosting the need for plastic building materials as well as household items. In fact, Guangzhou, Sichuan officials will hold a procurement conference at the Plastic Building Materials Pavilion during the 2009 Chinaplas trade show, slated for May 18-21.

The Sichuan chapter of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade will present detailed procurement information to attendees and companies. The council will also display a show house featuring typical post-quake construction in Sichuan, including building materials and household plastic products.

At a February 18 Chinaplas press conference, Guangdong Liansu Technology Industrial Co. Ltd. said the company is planning to establish a manufacturing base in Sichuan, according to a report from West China City Daily. Foshan, Guangdong-based Liansu makes plastic pipes, profiles, wood-plastic composite building materials as well as plastic machinery such as extruders.

Sichuan has rolled out 898 post-quake reconstruction projects, with investment totaling 18 billion yuan (US$2.6 billion). Authorities have indicated that 80 percent of the projects are due to finish by the end of 2009. Quality control agencies in the province have launched a monthly random inspection of building materials.

Despite the global economic downturn, the world's top profile maker, Dalian Shide Plastic Industry Co. Ltd., continues to expand. The Dalian, Liaoning-based company has signed an investment agreement to build a large-scale profile manufacturing facility in Anyi County, Jiangxi province.

Total investment for the new, three-phase project is 1.2 billion yuan ($176 million). Phase one aims to build profile extrusion lines with annual capacity at 80,000 metric tons (176 million pounds), which will be doubled during phase two. The firm will add plastic board and sheet extrusion lines during the last phase.

The Anyi government said its preferential policies encourage investment from outside of the province. Beijing-based China Plastics Processing Industry Association has recognized Anyi as an "exemplary production base of plastic-alloy profile." So far this year, 18 construction product manufacturers have decided to open factories in Anyi.

Cangzhou Mingzhu Plastic Co. Ltd. announced last week plans to acquire Dezhou Dongli Plastic Co., whose main assets include two biaxially oriented nylon film extrusion lines with combined annual capacity of 9,000 metric tons. Mingzhu has one existing BOPA line and one under construction, each with 4,500 metric tons of annual capacity.

The deal is priced at 112 million yuan, which industry insiders say is a good bargain. "Mingzhu tried to rake up 108 million earlier this year for the 4,500-metric-ton new line," securities analysts said. Publicly-traded Mingzhu said Dongli's two lines are not running due to managerial and technical problems, which will be resolved with Mingzhu's expertise.

Mingzhou is a joint venture between Hebei Cangzhou Dongsu Group Co. Ltd. and Hong Kong Juhong Co. Ltd. It makes polyethylene pipeline systems as well as films. It claims annual processing capacity of 180,000 metric tons. Its second BOPA line is expected to be completed by summer 2010.

Local authorities in Guangzhou said last week that a spot check found more than half of the PVC pipes substandard. According to the news report from Guangzhou Daily, the quality inspection agency tested 47 lots of PVC pipes from 15 retailers in the city, and 25 lots failed to meet the standards in terms of gauage, density, strength, light transmittance, etc.

While one spot check may not be the most accurate, I've seen plenty of government, industrial and consumer reports confirming the same problem: the lack of quality and credibility in the Chinese market.
It makes the consumers' role more complicated and difficult, in a retail environment that neither guarantees quality/authenticity nor honors easy return/exchange.

But the key question relates to whether the Chinese consumers are ready to pay a premium for high quality. Last year, after the tainted-baby-milk scandal, many Chinese parents switched to imported formula (not made-in-China Western brands). At one point, when I went to a local post office in Akron, Ohio, to send some baby clothes to my nephew in China, I was asked by a friendly associate: "You are not sending any baby formula? We've seen a lot of that going to China lately."

See, if the Chinese consumers were willing to pay for imported plastic pipes, it would be a win-win. They will finally have the peace of mind, and the North American pipe extruders could make some money.

Don't tell me the shipping cost is the obstacle. If Chinese firms are already importing pipes to North American, it would only make economic sense to ship some made-in-U.S. pipes back across the Pacific in the same containers.

Or am I being too naïve?

Dow Chemical Co. has become an official and exclusive sponsor in chemical and material sciences for the USA Pavilion of World Expo 2010, to be held May 1 through Oct 31 in Shanghai.

According to the event Web site, Dow will offer sustainable products and solutions for the USA pavilion and other Expo projects and showcase its technologies and products such as insulation products, heat transfer fluid, and water purification systems.

Dow is an exclusive supplier of insulation boards to the Eco-House, a unique zero energy consumption building at the Shanghai Expo's Urban Best Practices Area. The Styrofoam will also be used in France's Rhone-Alpes region pavilion for roofing, basement and floor insulation.

According to Dow's corporate Web site, Dow was the first company to sign a contract with the Chinese government to be a volunteer base for the 2010 Expo Exhibition Center. More than 150 Dow employees will volunteer as information guides, among other positions.

The US government signed the official participation contract on July 10, and the steel structure of the 6,000-square-meter pavilion has been finished. Under the theme "Rise to the Challenge," the USA pavilion will present displays featuring sustainability, teamwork, health and more.

When Switzerland unveiled the model of its national pavilion for World Expo Shanghai, the highlights included the very unique exterior decoration - some call it the "interactive and intelligent facade" - to be made of biodegradable resins extracted from soybeans. But the designer has decided to change the material to polycarbonate and here is why.

Valentin Spiess, CEO of design firm iart interactive explains that after the accidental fire at the CCTV tower, China now is paying special attention to building materials' flame resistant properties. Since the CCTV fire was triggered by fireworks, which will be used at the Shanghai World Expo, all buildings are required to be "absolutely resistant to fire," he told www.swissinfo.ch, a Chinese-language Web site owned by SRG SSR idée suisse. For fire safety purposes, Spiess and his team decided to switch to polycarbonate.

(Rendering image by Swiss Pavilion official site)

The red polycarbonate plates will carry dye-sensitized solar cells that are capable of generating electricity and LED lights. These units, attached to a curtain of woven aluminum, will illuminate whenever triggered by surrounding energy, including camera flash.

The units will be protected by individual, clear housing.

625,000 is the number of plastics makeshift housing units that were built in Sichuan province after the magnitude 8.0 earthquake in 2008. As reconstruction progresses, these plastic structures have fulfilled their duties and are being taken down.

It costs 260 yuan (US$38.1) to dissemble a 20-square-meter (215.3-square-foot) unit and another 400 yuan (US$58.6) to reassemble it elsewhere, plus transport expenses, local authorities were quoted as saying in a report by the Chengdu Business Newspaper. It's also costly to warehouse and manage the unneeded ones. Therefore, it makes good sense to recycle the plastic homes.

Philanthropist Chen Guangbiao, who runs a recycling business -- Huangpu Group - in Jiangsu province, recently announced in Mianyang city that he has invested 30 million yuan (US$4.4 million) and put in place 20 mobile recycling stations, which combined can process 5,000 plastic housing units every day. Chen said the recycling service is free of charge.