Fledgling Australian company Plastream, a division of Ribloc Australia Pty. Ltd., will launch its steel-reinforced plastic pipe technology globally.
The pipe is made from high density polyethylene. Plastream has already secured A$8 million (US$6 million) export contracts in Argentina and the United Arab Emirates.
Gulcay Uysal, Plastream's general manager, said the company, headquartered in Adelaide, was negotiating with pipe producers in the United States, Latin America and Western Europe to supply the turnkey pipe production machinery to them.
Uysal said she was also holding discussions with pipe producers in China, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
``Plastream's goal is to have commercial plants in all continents by 2007, a milestone we are well on our way to securing. The global potential of the company's technology is unlimited,'' she said.
``Industry sources estimate the international market for machinery to produce industrial pipe is conservatively worth A$225 million (US$169 million) a year and growing as governments struggle to develop new public infrastructure or modernize existing pipeline grids. There is significant [potential] in under-developed countries where new pipe manufacturing operations can be achieved quickly and efficiently.''
Plastream was formed in October 2004 to export the pipe technology worldwide. Uysal said the product is 50 percent cheaper to manufacture than traditional pipe, had low tooling costs, and the flexibility to change diameters ``on the run'' in 30 minutes. It is patented in 70 countries and Uysal said companies from 60 countries had expressed interest in the technology. Plastream's technology this month won the Australian Government Engineering Innovation Award.