Compounding report spotlights N. America
HOUSTON - Phillip Townsend Associates of Houston has shed some light on the North American compounding market with the fifth edition if its North American Thermoplastic Compounding study.
The study, compiled by Townsend analysts Kevin Smith and Depak Shenoy, spotlights a number of trends among the 225 companies and 385 compounding plants that it covers. Those trends include:
* An 8 percent increase in the size of the average North American compounding plant, from 50 million to 54 million pounds, since Townsend last updated the study in 1997.
* The number of sites offering small lots of between 5,000 and 20,000 pounds increased from 20 to 45.
* The sites had a total of 18 billion pounds of capacity, with 10 billion pounds of that total being used for toll compounding at least part time.
* Among resins, polycarbonate had the highest growth rate.
* Average loading of concentrates was 20 percent.
Smith said he was somewhat surprised by the number of compounders that also are doing business via reselling or resin distribution.
``It seems [compounders] are less concerned about competing with their customers [in reselling and distribution],'' he said. ``More [compounders] are looking to be full-service providers.''
Schulman to open facility in Poland
FAIRLAWN, OHIO - A. Schulman Inc. of Fairlawn plans to open a color concentrates plant near Warsaw, Poland, by mid-2004.
Schulman has extensive operations in Europe, but the plant will be its first in Poland, said Terry Haines, Schulman president and chief executive officer.
Currently, Schulman's Polish customers are supplied from plants in Germany.
The 40,000-square-foot plant will employ 20 and is expected to produce specialty color concentrates for several industries, including Poland's growing automotive market, according to Haines.
AMI updates study of PP compounders
WYOMISSING, PA. - Applied Market Information LLC of Wyomissing has updated its multiclient study of the North American polypropylene compounding market, which AMI now estimates at more than $2 billion in annual sales.
The study profiles 80 North American PP compounders that each do more than $1 million in annual sales. The 10 largest North American PP compounders accounted for $1.2 billion in sales in 2002, AMI President John Jones said.
The market is expected to grow at a 6 percent annual rate in the near future, Jones added. Mineral-filled PP compounds had the largest market share with almost 45 percent of the industry's $2.1 billion sales total, although impact-modified and glass-filled grades had the highest growth rates.