GE to purchase sheet extrusion business
KLANG, MALAYSIA - GE Plastics has agreed to buy Carboron Sdn. Bhd.'s twin-wall sheet extrusion business, which can consume about 880,000 pounds of polycarbonate annually. The deal is GE Plastics' first investment in Malaysia.
GE Plastics will retain 34 employees, lease Carboron's Klang production site and maintain distribution on a nonexclusive basis through Carboron sister company CF Advance Marketing Sdn. Bhd. Product trademarks include Sinex, Arcolite and Poly-arch. Other terms were not disclosed.
``Expansion of the structured products business is part of our strategic growth plan in Asia,'' Wayne Hewett, president of GE Plastics Pacific in Tokyo, said in a March 20 news release.
The deal, which should close by the end of June, is in line with GE Plastics' acquisitions of LNP Engineering Plastics Inc. of Exton, Pa., in March; Commercial Plastics Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla., in early 2001; and Cadillac Plastics of Troy, Mich., in 2000.
GE Plastics employs about 1,400 in the Asia-Pacific region, with compounding facilities in Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and India.
Dow Corning buying French compounder
MIDLAND, MICH. - Dow Corning Corp. is branching out into plastics compounding by acquiring Multibase SA, a French firm with compounding plants in Ohio and India.
The move allows Midland-based Dow Corning ``to move beyond the market for silicon-based materials'' according to Stephanie Burns, executive vice president.
The price was not disclosed. Multibase, based in St.-Laurent-du-Pont, France, operates plants in St.-Laurent, Copley, Ohio, and Daman, India. Its 2001 sales were estimated at $90 million, with two-thirds of that amount coming from Europe.
In Copley, Multibase produces about 45 million pounds of compounds annually on 10 twin-screw extruders and four singe-screw extruders. About 80 percent of those compounds are based on Kraton-brand styrenic block copolymers, which Multibase produces via a licensing agreement.
Silver Line Vinyl building Mass. plant
NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Silver Line Vinyl Extrusion will begin construction this June on a 200,000-square-foot window manufacturing facility in Fall River, Mass.
The plant will be equipped with nearly 10 extrusion lines, said Andrew Karr, director of sales and marketing for the North Brunswick firm. Some of that equipment will be moved from the firm's facility in the Garden State. Karr added, however, that production in North Brunswick will not be affected. Officials would not disclose the investment.
Meanwhile, the company this month will kick up production at a new, 290,000-square-foot, $17.1 million facility in Marion, Ohio.
Silver Line has experienced significant growth, he said, anticipating 2002 sales of $154 million with 120 million pounds of throughput. In Plastics News' 2001 ranking, Silver Line reported $118 million in extrusion sales with throughput of 88 million pounds.
Karr highlighted several factors contributing to the firm's growth: gaining market share against other firms, a broader acceptance of vinyl windows and geographic expansion.
``We're now in 42 states, so that accounts for a lot of growth as well,'' he said.
The firm, a division of Silver Line Building Products Corp., also operates facilities in Lithia Springs, Ga.; Lansing, Ill.; and Dallas.
Comparison shopping lures press makers
ATLANTA - Six more plastics machinery manufacturers have signed on to the Omnexus online service that allows customers to comparison-shop injection presses.
Omnexus announced April 3 it has added Toshiba Machine Co. America; JSW Plastics Machinery Inc.; Milacron Inc.; Sumitomo Plastics Machinery of America LLC; Maruka U.S.A., which represents Toyo machines; and Ube Machinery Inc.
The Omnexus Web site does not offer machinery buying online. Instead, the site provides a single platform to compare machinery, by performance attributes.
Omnexus launched its machinery service in October with three companies: Engel Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH, Van Dorn Demag Corp. and Demag Ergotech GmbH. Omnexus' U.S. headquarters is in Atlanta.