Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • CEO Issue
    • Diversity
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2022 winners
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • BRICS and Plastics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
    • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Resin Prices
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
June 05, 2000 02:00 AM

H. Heller buys ATC from Phillips Petroleum

Frank Esposito
Senior Staff Reporter
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    H. Heller & Co. Inc. has nearly doubled its compounding capacity by acquiring American Thermoplastic Co., the Houston-based compounding unit of Phillips Petroleum Corp. The purchase adds 250 million pounds of capacity to White Plains, N.Y.-based Heller, which already operates a 170 million-pound-per-year plant in Visalia, Calif., a 75 million-pound-per-year plant in Channelview, Texas, and a 30 million-pound-per-year plant in Houston.

    The newly acquired ATC plant in Houston compounds high and linear low density polyethylene, as well as polypropylene, for use in high-pressure gas pipe, drip irrigation pipe, geomembranes and rotational molding applications.

    "This is a good move for us," Heller President Lloyd Heller said. "It adds synergy to our other facilities and gives us more volume."

    Phillips sold the plant because it was no longer one of the firm's core assets, Phillips spokesman Fred Ramos said. Heller will continue to do toll compounding for Phillips at the site, he added.

    ATC also will continue to be a supplier to Phillips' Driscopipe pipe-extruding unit, based in Richardson, Texas.

    ATC's product mix is similar to Heller's other two plants. The Visalia and Channelview sites also compound PS, while the Visalia plant compounds PVC as well. The firm has plans to add PVC compounding ability to all of its sites.

    Heller's other Houston plant is primarily devoted to toll compounding of rigid PVC. Heller does toll compounding in Visalia and Channelview as well, but a majority of capacity at those plants and at ATC will be used for proprietary compounds.

    Lloyd Heller declined to release the sale price of ATC or sales figures for his privately owned company. ATC will be operated as a separate company, although it will share ownership with H. Heller and the California and Texas plants, which also are operated as separate companies.

    The California plant does business as Heller Performance Polymers Inc., while the Texas plant is called as Gulf Performance Polymers Inc. The existing Houston plant operates as Polyscience Inc.

    The original H. Heller & Co. is a distributor of prime and off-spec resin grades, primarily commodity materials such as PE, PP, PS, PVC, ABS and PET.

    H. Heller was founded by Lloyd Heller's father Herbert in 1976 after Herbert wrapped up a 35-year career as part-owner of H. Muehlstein & Co., a resin distributor and broker based in Norwalk, Conn. Herbert Heller remains active with the company as its chairman and chief executive officer.

    The new firm made its big move into compounding in 1990 when it bought the California plant from British Petroleum plc. It then bought the Texas plant from Chevron Corp. in 1995.

    Heller is looking at adding capacity at ATC, which employs more than 100, as well as at its other sites. Expansion into other parts of the United States, as well as international opportunities, also are being evaluated.

    Heller is confident its distribution experience gives it an advantage in compounding commodity resins, even though many other compounders are trying to focus on higher-margin engineering resins.

    "We know the cost of the raw materials," Lloyd Heller said. "To compete in this business, you have to know the market, and we have that experience."

    The recent compounding megamerger proposed between M.A. Hanna Co. of Cleveland and Geon Co. of Avon Lake, Ohio, caught Heller's interest because the merged company would have a similar product mix to what H. Heller currently offers, Lloyd Heller said.

    "[Geon/Hanna] will be doing everything we're doing, but they'll be much larger," he said. "We're a leaner, meaner version of them."

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Polymer Points Live
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Material Insights: Shell plant nears completion; Mitsubishi closes Detroit-area compounding plant
    2
    Global shipping snarls likely to last for some time
    3
    20/20 adds Southern exposure with Vantage acquisition
    4
    Shell nearing completion of Pennsylvania PE facility
    5
    Mitsubishi Chemical closes Michigan compounding plant
    SIGN UP FOR TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS AND ENEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Diversity
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2022 winners
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • BRICS and Plastics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
        • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Resin Prices
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified