Wavin division gains Uponor unit in Poland
ZWOLLE, NETHERLANDS - Wavin BV, a leading European plastics pipe and fittings manufacturer, has grown in the plumbing and heating sector with a new acquisition in Poland.
The Zwolle company reported that its Polish subsidiary, Wavin Metalplast-Buk, bought the Borplus polypropylene hot and cold water business from Uponor Polska Sp.zo.o. of Sochaczew, Poland.
The deal, completed in June for an undisclosed sum, includes the acquisition of the Borplus technology and brand name, a production plant at Sochaczew and 30 employees. Borplus has annual sales of 6 million euros ($7.3 million).
The modern Polish production unit was part of a major capital investment completed in 2000 by former parent company Uponor Oyj of Vantaa, Finland.
Earlier this year, Wavin concluded a deal to take over British plumbing and drainage pipe manufacturer Hepworth Building Products Ltd. from private heating technology company Vaillant GmbH of Remscheid, Germany.
In 2004, Wavin acquired Chemidro SpA of Udine, Italy, a leading manufacturer of floor heating, radiator connections and hot and cold water systems, as well as a 75 percent stake in indoor climate-control maker RCS GmbH & Co KEG of Ybbs an der Donau, Austria.
Brandenburger adds eight Engel presses
BARUTH, GERMANY - A German soft drink maker and bottled water supplier, Brandenburger Urstromquelle GmbH & Co. KG, has purchased eight MacPET injection presses from Engel Holding GmbH and now molds its own PET preforms.
The eight presses can mold about 1.5 billion preforms a year. BUQ then blow molds them into bottles on its nine stretch blow molding machines. The company ships beverages to large German discount chains.
Baruth-based BUQ had outsourced all its preforms until mid-2004. Bringing the preform molding in-house will help the company meet peak demands during the summer months.
Reinhold Julg, BUQ's technical director, said many German bottlers shy away from molding preforms because they fear that injection molding is too complex. But in-house molding saves transportation costs and ensures a reliable supply of preforms, he said.
The Engel presses have 72-cavity molds. BUQ located its central resin drying system in a separate room.
Engel is based in Schwertberg, Austria. Engel North America is based in Guelph, Ontario.
Lamson & Sessions reports record sales
BEACHWOOD, OHIO - Lamson & Sessions Co. reported record sales for its second quarter, the result of improvements in key markets and the ability to raise selling prices in the face of increasing resin costs.
The pipe and tubing extruder released results July 26, holding a conference call with shareholders the same day. After years of a lagging telecommunications-infrastructure market, officials reported Lamson's fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth in sales for telecom products. It primarily makes high density polyethylene conduit for that market.
Resin costs increased 24 percent in the past year, but were offset by improved inventory turns, which gave the firm less exposure to resin price fluctuations, said Jim Abel, chief financial officer. Officials also have been able to increase selling prices.
``Each of our three business segments increased their sales in excess of 19 percent from the previous year's second quarter,'' Abel said. The company's sales were $124 million, compared with $102 million in 2004.
The Beachwood firm had stronger demand in key markets, and reported 25 percent first-half growth in telecom products.
``Verizon, SBC and others have announced major investment programs for fiber-to-the-home projects; however, Verizon is the only one that is actively executing on their plans to date,'' Abel said. ``SBC has finally begun the bidding process on their contracts,'' which should result in additional demand for 2006.
Sirap Gema acquires new production line
VEROLANUOVA, ITALY - Sirap Gema Insulation Systems of Verolanuova recently doubled its production capacity for extruded polystyrene foam boards with the addition of a production line from Berstorff GmbH of Hanover, Germany.
The line can run 3,300 pounds an hour of the insulation board, used mainly for the Italian construction sector. Sirap also makes expanded PS insulation board.
The tandem line includes a co-rotating twin-screw extruder as the primary extruder. The secondary extruder is designed as a large, single-screw unit, the KE 400 model, to further mix the PS melt with the blowing agent and to cool it down.
Berstorff said the conventional method of combining two single-screw extruders cannot match its higher throughput rates and use of environmentally friendly blowing agents.
