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This site is published by Plastics News, Crain Communications' international newspaper for the plastics industry.
  
Thermoforming
S. China plastics firms struggling, but eye modernization

Au
GUANGZHOU (September 30, 2008) -- By some estimates, thousands of factories in the Pearl River Delta manufacturing area between Guangzhou and Hong Kong have closed down, as China kicked in tough new tax and labor laws designed to push local industry to modernize. Plastics News interviewed a number of attendees about the subject at the recent AsiaMold exhibition in Guangzhou, including Alfred Au, vice chairman of the Hong Kong Mold and Die Council. Au said, “I think the challenging time will be the coming year.”

Re-evaluating China, from across the Taiwan strait
TAIPEI, TAIWAN (September 30, 2008) -- With costs quickly climbing across the Taiwan strait, many of the island’s companies are reassessing their relationship with mainland China, a region that is both its biggest market and its fiercest competitor. Plastics News spoke with several Taiwanese firms on the subject at the Taipei Plas show, which was held earlier this month.

German machinery maker touts new thermoforming tech

Thermoformed bottles using new Illig tech
HEILBRONN, GERMANY (August 5, 2008) -- German machinery maker Illig Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG is touting its newly developed bottle thermoforming technology, which is designed to produce small polystyrene bottles for applications such as yogurt, juice and isotonic drinks. The Heilbronn-based company claims that its thermoformed bottles are less expensive to make, weigh less, have improved wall thickness control and are virtually indistinguishable from blow molded alternatives.

International plastics mergers, acquisitions on rise


Blaige
AKRON, OHIO (July 22, 2008) -- International players are big on the mergers and acquisitions scene this year, and, in certain plastics sectors, that’s likely to pick up. Spurring the activity are, in part, the weak U.S. dollar and protectionism, as companies in North America and emerging markets compete for global advantage. Several analysts interviewed by Plastics News noted increases in the numbers of plastics mergers and acquisitions deals in the first half of 2008 versus the same period in 2007. For instance, Tom Blaige, president of Blaige & Co. in Chicago predicts pipe, profile and tube extrusion mergers and acquisitions will increase by nearly 60 percent, driven primarily by cross-border sales of privately held niche companies.

Has China lost its ‘low-cost workshop’ status?

Franz
GUANGZHOU (July 15, 2008) -- Many Chinese manufacturing plants are feeling the pinch from rising costs and a stronger Chinese yuan. And some manufacturers are moving work to Vietnam and other cheaper manufacturing locations. Plastics News interviewed several companies for their take on the situation, including Helmar Franz, executive vice president of Chinese press maker Ningbo Haitian Group Ltd., who said the situation is complex, with some of the company’s customers greatly impacted by China’s rising costs.

Design competition goes international for NPE 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 15, 2008) -- In a break with tradition, the Washington-based Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. (SPI) will make its next design competition an international event and will add new design categories. The competition will be held in conjunction with NPE 2009, scheduled for June 22 to 26 in Chicago, Illinois. In the past, the National Plastics Design Competition was mostly restricted to U.S. entries and limited to load-bearing parts, enclosures and structural parts. The upcoming competition will be open to virtually any type of design, including packaging products, bioplastics, nanocomposites, and products that address energy efficiency and sustainability.

Opinion: Design center gala full of surprises

Grace
Plastics News editor Robert Grace recently returned from a trip to China where he was a part of the opening ceremonies of the International Design Center, a joint-venture undertaking between Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Design and Zhejiang University. The joint venture has been a year in the making, and the Zhenhai district government of Ningbo city is offering strong support to help get it kick-started. The aim is to stimulate industrial design and product research and development. Grace shares his observation and experiences of the celebration through the eyes of a Westerner.

Malaysian thermoformer building Thai extrusion factory


Lee
GUANGZHOU, GUANGDONG (May 6, 2008) -- Malaysian thermoformer SCGM Bhd plans to build a factory in Thailand and expand its extrusion capacity in Malaysia, using some of the nearly 12.9 million Malaysian ringgits (28.5 million yuan) it raised from a February public offering. Andrew Lee Wee Teck, marketing executive with the company, said the Thai plant could eventually be larger than SCGM’s Malaysian operation. Lee spoke during an April 15 interview at the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou.

PN Forum speaker offers keys to unlock creativity

Innovation expert Ken Robinson
TAMPA, FLORIDA (April 1, 2008) -- “Innovation” is something every company wants. But not many managers know how to stimulate and nurture it. The key is fostering the imagination and creativity of all employees, according to an expert on the subject, Ken Robinson. Part of the problem is that most of us, from the chief executive officer to the cleaning person, take imagination for granted and “ignore its power,” Robinson said in the keynote speech at the Plastics News Executive Forum in Tampa.

Learning to embrace sustainability

Coleman-Kammula
TAMPA, FLORIDA (April 1, 2008) -- The message is clear: Sustainability is a mainstream issue. Companies that make petroleum-based plastic products should examine how they use energy and design products, Seetha Coleman-Kammula advised those at the Plastics News Executive Forum, held last month in Tampa. Coleman-Kammula, a former executive with Shell Chemical Co. and Basell North America, in 2005 co-founded Simply Sustain LLC, an environmentally focused consulting firm in Delaware.

A primer on supplying the global medical market

Avery
The medical market is not just another market. A whole range of special requirements must be met before a company qualifies to serve as a component supplier to this market. And to make things more interesting, global requirements differ depending on where you intend to set up manufacturing. In Jack Avery’s latest primer, he looks into approaches to entering this potentially lucrative market.

U.S. plastic package maker buys Sheng’an Packaging

AVC’s environmental rigid blister packaging
CHAOZHOU, GUANGDONG (February 5, 2008) -- A U.S. plastic package maker has bought a Chinese plastics company in Chaozhou with a mind to bringing more environmentally friendly packaging to the country, as big box retailers and consumer products makers try to go green. AVC Corp. bought a majority stake in Chaozhou Sheng’an Packaging and Printing Co. Ltd., a midsize molding and thermoforming company, in mid-2007, and has since invested in raising standards for the plant.

Fast Facts
  • About 15 percent of the PVC window and door profiles on the Chinese market are substandard, according to a recent spot check by China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. Some manufacturers use an excessive amount of filler to cut cost, compromising the strength of the material and causing poor fit. (Source: General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine)
  • Since China cut the export tax rebate for plastic products from 11 percent to 5 percent in July 2007, the plastics industry has seen a bite of US$1.2 billion off tax rebate revenues. That accounts for about 35 percent of the industry’s annual profits. (Source: 21st Century Business Herald)

    Opinion: Work conditions may affect China’s toy quality

    Toloken
    Judging from the just-ended Hong Kong Toy and Games Fair, the toy industry and governments are putting a lot of attention on improving toy safety and to correct problems that led to widespread recalls last year. But amid the efforts, some are asking: Can you really improve the safety of products from China without addressing the working conditions in the factories where they’re made? Plastics News staff reporter and Asia bureau chief Steve Toloken takes a look at what some reports on the topic are saying.

    Safety must come from within toy industry, says speaker

    O´Brien
    HONG KONG (January 22, 2008) -- A speaker at the Hong Kong Toys and Games Fair has called for 100 percent cooperation from the toy industry for a solution to product safety issues. Richard O’Brien, who is with the top U.S. government agency on product safety issues, told an audience in Hong Kong recently that there are limits to what government can do to solve problems like last year’s toy recalls. O’Brien also sat down with Plastics News to share his impressions as he wrapped up a two-week trip to China that included meetings with Chinese toy manufacturing groups and factory tours.

    Industry execs discuss state of toy making in China

    Keithley
    HONG KONG (January 22, 2008) -- The toy industry may talk about finding manufacturing alternatives to China, but some industry executives recently interviewed by Plastics News at the Hong Kong Toys and Games Fair say the chances of that really happening are not practical. For instance, Carter Keithley, president of the Toy Industry Association Inc. in the U.S., said he has heard such discussion but believes that the toy industry will work with Chinese suppliers to restore consumer confidence.

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