Big nylon makers announce price hikes
WILMINGTON, DEL.—DuPont Co., the leading nylon resin producer in North America, has announced a price increase of up to 6 percent for its Zytel and Minlon nylons, effective April 15.
The increase is needed because of extremely tight supply situations for adipic acid and caprolactam, two key nylon intermediates, said Michael Crickenberger, Zytel Americas business manager for Wilmington-based DuPont.
The amount of the increase will vary for specific grades.
AlliedSignal Inc. of Morristown, N.J., North America's second-largest nylon maker, had announced similar increases on its nylon 6, recycled nylon and recycled PET, effective Feb. 16.
No. 3 producer BASF Corp. of Mount Olive, N.J., also had announced price increases for its Ultramid nylon products effective March 1, ranging from 9-12 cents per pound.
Ticona of Summit, N.J., has not announced an increase. Officials at Solutia Inc. of St. Louis could not be reached at press time.
Zotefoams to build first U.S. facility
CROYDON, ENGLAND — Zotefoams plc, a leading cross-linked polyethylene block foam manufacturer, expects to name a site in the Midwest for its first U.S. plant later this year.
The new, £15 million ($24.6 million) facility should be in operation by 2000, according to Croydon-based Zotefoams.
The firm plans to build a 60,000- to 100,000-square-foot foam plant with initial capacity of 1.1 million to 1.2 million cubic feet per year on a 15-acre site, said managing director Bill Fairservice. The exact location has not been decided.
This year the firm plans to raise Croydon capacity to about 6 million cubic feet of foam per year. In 2000, Zotefoams expects capacity to reach about 7 million cubic feet per year.
Calif. bill would target plastics makers
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — The group Californians Against Waste is pushing a state bill that would require manufacturers to take responsibility for significantly reducing plastic packaging waste.
The bill, sponsored by Assembly member Dion Aroner, D-Berkeley, would require manufacturers to ensure that no more than 50 percent of plastic packaging becomes waste by 2003, and to cut that to 35 percent in 2006 and 20 percent in 2010.
Supporters of the bill, AB 2555, said in a CAW statement that they want industry and major manufacturers to develop markets for recycled plastics.
But Roger Bernstein, vice president of government affairs for the joint state unit of the Washington-based American Plastics Council and the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc., said the bill singles out plastics and does not recognize the source reduction and light-weighting benefits of plastics.
Kentucky bottle bill gets thumbs down
FRANKFORT, KY.—Kentucky legislators apparently have defeated a very broad bottle bill proposal, relegating what had been one of this year's biggest political fights over recycling to a two-year-long study committee.
The bill's powerful sponsor, House Majority Leader Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, conceded defeat during a committee hearing March 3, but he and legislators who opposed the bill warned industry to take stronger action, said a spokeswoman for Stumbo.
The bill would have put a 5 cent deposit on containers of less than 20 ounces and a 10 cent deposit on anything larger. It would have required distributors of all disposable cups to pay an advance disposal fee of one-fourth of 1 cent per cup, and put a 1 cent ADF on some containers.
But plastics officials and Kentucky business organizations said supporters did not define the problem, and most legislators were not comfortable moving so quickly on a major bill.
``I think [the study committee] may provide an opportunity to get all the information on the table to make a major decision,'' said Rudy Underwood, director of government affairs for the Southern Region of the joint Society of the Plastics Industry Inc./American Plastics Council state unit.
Sunbeam gains blow molding plants
DELRAY BEACH, FLA.—Sunbeam Corp. will acquire two blow molding plants in a recently announced, three-company buyout spree.
The Delray Beach consumer products major said March 2 it plans to buy Coleman Co. Inc.; Mr. Coffee maker Signature Brands USA Inc. of Glenwillow, Ohio; and safety products manufacturer First Alert Inc. of Aurora, Ill. The deals will total about $1.8 billion and involve assuming $700 million in debt.
Coleman makes coolers and jugs. A Coleman spokesman said Coleman blow molds the products in Wichita, Kan., and in nearby Maize, Kan. It had sales of $931.4 million and profit of $2.7 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30.
