CHICAGO (July 3, 11:50 a.m. EDT) — Resin distributor Kal-Trading Inc. moved into the compounding arena earlier this year when it bought a former Newell Rubbermaid Co. site in Mississauga, Ontario.
Kal-Trading had been distributing wide-spec material from a 35,000-square-foot site in Mississauga since 1992. It moved into the 135,000-square-foot Rubbermaid site in January. Kal-Trading also began distributing prime resin in early 2003, President Gobi Saha said at NPE 2003, held June 23-27 in Chicago.
Kal-Trading now compounds polypropylene, polycarbonate, ABS, nylon and polyphenylene oxide on a pair of extrusion lines at the plant, which it acquired for about $5 million. The 30-employee firm plans to add a blender and shredder by the end of the year, Saha said.
Rubbermaid's Intercraft unit had employed 150 at the site, producing frames and other products before closing in early 2002, a Rubbermaid employee said. The Intercraft business still has a sales and marketing office in Mississauga, and Rubbermaid continues to operate a second site there, where it makes storage containers, trash cans and other products.
All of the Rubbermaid equipment — with the exception of the compounding-related machinery — was transferred to other company sites, Saha said.
Kal-Trading distributes wide-spec grades of PP, high-impact PS, polyethylene, PVC, PC, ABS, PC/ABS, nylon, polybutylene terephthalate, ethylene vinyl acetate and acrylic. It also does prime business in PP, HIPS, ABS and nylon.
In 2003, Saha said Kal-Trading hopes to expand its presence in the automotive market through a series of inexpensive “alternate” compounds based on wide-spec grades of engineering resins. Those compounds can offer savings of 15-20 percent, said Saha. Kal-Trading also hopes to increase its annual sales to $10 million. The firm posted sales of $7.5 million in 2002.
Kal-Trading is a licensed distributor of prime PP for Chevron Phillips Sumika Polypropylene Co. Saha said he hopes to add more licensed deals in the future.