Growing Pelican sets sights on new facility
BRATTLEBORO, N.C. - Recycler Pelican Packaging Co. is in the midst of a $4 million expansion that will let it build its own plant and give it room for future growth.
The scrap recycler plans to be in a new facility in Roanoke Rapids, N.C., by late summer, an expansion that reflects steady growth at the 10-year-old company, rather than a response to currently high pricing for recycled resin, said President Peter Roy.
The company now leases a 40,000-square-foot building in Brattleboro, but will own the 100,000-square-foot plant in Roanoke Rapids. Pelican will spend about $2.4 million for the building and another $1.8 million on improvements, including repelletizing equipment, Roy said.
``It's just continuous, steady growth,'' he said. ``This has been in the making for four years; we've had the building designed for four years.''
The Brattleboro facility would have required significant investment to add equipment and electrical connections, Roy said. Pelican, which mainly handles poly- ethylene and polypropylene, has annual sales of about $6.8 million and processes 28 million pounds of plastic a year, he said.
Arrk Corp. acquires British mold maker
OSAKA, JAPAN - Arrk Corp. has purchased British mold maker Jordans (Toolmakers) Ltd. in a move that will strengthen its European capabilities.
Jordans founder Geoff Holden, who established the company in 1986 in Havant, England, and will continue as a managing director, said the new ownership will allow the business to keep thriving.
``It is apparent that to continue to compete in the future, whether in the automotive or nonautomotive markets, particularly for larger turnkey projects, suppliers like Jordans need to be much larger,'' Holden said in a Dec. 21 news release.
``Joining the Arrk group gives us the platform from which to compete and win new business,'' he said.
The existing management group and the 53 employees will remain with Jordans. The companies did not release the purchase price.
Arrk, headquartered in Osaka, has a range of mold-making, prototype production and rapid-product-design operations worldwide, including nearly 20 facilities in Europe.
Solvay buys polymer unit of India company
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - European plastics and specialty chemicals maker Solvay SA has bought the polymers unit of Gharda Chemicals Ltd. of Mumbai, India.
No price was disclosed in the deal, which includes a 180-employee production plant and research and development center in Panoli, India.
The plant makes polyetheretherketone, high-performance sulfones and other specialty materials and has annual sales of about $10 million.
In a news release, officials with Brussels-based Solvay said their firm plans to expand PEEK production in Panoli, but provided no further details. The Gharda business will be run as part of Solvay Advanced Polymers, a unit based in Alpharetta, Ga.
``This move is part of our renewed interest in the Indian market for the entire range of our specialty polymers, including barrier polymers and fluoropolymers, where we see strong local growth,'' said specialty polymers General Manager Vincenzo Morici.
Materials produced at the Panoli site are used in such industries as semiconductors, electronics, aircraft, medical and automotive.
In the first nine months of 2005, Solvay posted sales of more than 6.2 billion euros ($7.4 billion), an increase of 15 percent vs. the same period in 2004.
