Packaging makes up 42 percent of the plastics market in Western Europe, according to the latest statistics from Applied Market Information Ltd. From 1993-94, the raw material situation in West Europe went from stagnant demand, ample supplies and the lowest plastics prices in 15 years to booming growth, shortages and high prices for nearly all materials, according to AMI's West European Plastics Industry Handbook. Over-all demand for plastics rose 8.6 percent during that period.
The book offers both an overview of West Europe's plastics industry - materials consumption and capacity, plastics processing segments, manufacturing sites and end-use applications-as well as a look at individual countries. The paperback is priced at 175 (about US$268).
For more information, contact AMI in Bristol England, at tel. 44 (0)117 924 9442 or fax 44 (0)117 989 2128.
n*The Elm Guide to Japanese Affiliated Suppliers in North America covers plant expansions, mergers and employment levels at Japanese North American-based auto parts companies. The new, fifth edition, published by Elm International Inc. in East Lansing, Mich., reports that 175 of these firms supply parts to Big Three automakers. The book costs $300. Tel. (517) 332-4900.
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Packaging Sourcebook, from North American Publishing Co. of Philadelphia, includes a list of packaging buyers; machinery and materials suppliers; converters; consultants, designers and contract packagers; and more than 300 U.S. packaging producers. The $295 book also has sections on marketplace analysis and regulatory issues. Credit card and check orders pay a discounted price of $255. Tel. (800) 777-8074.
Plastics /D/I/G/E/S/T/, from International Plastics Selector of Englewood, Colo., is available in hard copy and CD-ROM and gives users access to 22,600 plastic materials, including properties and chemical and environmental resistance data and machinability. Tel. (303) 397-2586.
Rapra Technology Ltd. has published a new work on materials selection, called Plastics Compendium: Key Properties and Sources. The book, the first in three volumes, offers properties and processability of 351 generic and modified material types. It costs 210 (about US$322), including shipping. Tel. 44 (0) 1939 250383.
Plastics Design Library, headquartered in Norwich, N.Y., has released Rheology and its Role in Plastics Processing and Molecular Weight Characterisatio