CLEVELAND (July 7, 4 p.m. EDT) — The following items were reported from Plastics Encounter Midwest, held June 22-24 in Cleveland.
Polymer Resources to install new line
Engineering resins compounder Polymer Resources Ltd. will add an extrusion line in Connecticut or New York by the end of the year.
The line most likely will be a twin-screw and will be installed in Farmington, Conn., or Rochester, N.Y., said Stephen Bruno, market development manager for Farmington-based Polymer Resources.
“The new line will add to our existing base and help us with new orders and growth,” Bruno said.
Recently, Polymer Resources has done more work in nylon compounds. The firm also added a sales rep in the Chicago area, bringing its companywide total to 10.
Bruno added that Polymer Resources' sales are on track to finish 2004 up 25 percent over 2003.
Texas Encore makes sheet debut
Texas Encore Materials has entered the sheet extrusion market with a commercial line in Belmont, N.C.
The Romulus, Mich.-based firm plans to add a second line in Belmont in early 2005, sales manager Eric Seath said. Texas Encore will produce sheet made of a proprietary thermoplastic elastomer for the automotive, construction and sporting goods markets.
The firm also makes TPE compounds for its own use and for limited commercial sales at a site in Holland, Mich. The 3-year-old firm expects to employ 40 by the end of the year.
Next Specialty links with engineers in India
Next Specialty Resins Inc. now is offering tooling and engineering services provided by a staff of 12 engineers in Mumbai, India.
Addison, Mich.-based Next Specialty operates a pair of compounding lines and seven recycling machines in Addison, where it also does some injection molding work for the automotive market, said Mukund Patankar, one of the firm's U.S.-based engineers.
The company employs more than 50 and posted 2003 sales of about $30 million.
Capco Polymer opens new office
Resin distributor and recycler Capco Polymer Industries Inc. recently opened a new office and leased part of a facility with rail access in Columbiana, Ohio.
President Doug Green said his firm moved into the 2,500-square-foot office in May. The rail-access site will allow Capco to begin unloading railroad cars of resin in July.
Capco also added two new sales representatives earlier this year and will add two more in August, bringing its total to seven.
Through the first half of 2004, Capco was on track to post sales growth of 20 percent this year. Green said recent growth has been in distributing prime and wide-spec grades of polyethylene, polypropylene and high-impact polystyrene.
Carolina Color adds equipment
Carolina Color Co., a color compounder in Salisbury, N.C., has added five new extrusion lines in North Carolina and Ohio and installed new blending equipment in Texas since early 2003.
In Salisbury, Carolina Color has added two lines, while three new lines are in place at the firm's plant in Delaware, Ohio, President Matt Barr said. The blending equipment was added in Lancaster, Texas. The firm now operates a total of 18 extrusion lines.
Carolina Color also has added rigid PVC and acetal to its product mix this year. Both of those materials are being compounded in Lancaster. The firm is on track to produce 12 million pounds of material this year, a jump of 10-15 percent from 2003, Barr said.
Packaging remains Carolina Color's largest end market, with strong recent growth coming from the building products sector.
“The number of opportunities and the quality of those opportunities is improving for us,” Barr said.
New lab on tap for Plastics Group
Plastics Group of America Inc. is opening a new lab in Woonsocket, R.I.
National sales manager Matt Maskell said the lab is needed to allow the Woonsocket-based firm to achieve a higher lab rating required to test materials for the automotive market.
Plastics Group compounds, recycles and distributes a range of resins. The firm employs 70 and operates production sites in Woonsocket and in Blairsville, Ga.
