ADS installing 2 huge injection presses
HILLIARD, OHIO - Hilliard-based Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. is adding two large-tonnage injection molding presses in a move that will boost production of the corrugated pipe maker's sanitary leaching chamber.
One of the 2,300-ton Cincinnati Milacron presses is for ADS' Winchester, Ky., plant. The other is likely to be installed in its plant in Washougal, Wash., said Joe Chlapaty, ADS president and chief executive officer, in an April 26 telephone interview.
Both machines will be begin operating in 2007.
The machines will help expand the ARC product line - high density polyethylene leaching chambers for septic systems. The chambers are growing in popularity as they replace the traditional gravel and pipe setup in septic leach fields, because they are easier to install and have lower material costs, ADS said.
ADS has become a leader in the segment, along with the No. 1 firm, Infiltrator Systems Inc. in Old Saybrook, Conn.
``We're experiencing significant growth,'' Chlapaty said. ``This expansion is a reflection of that marketplace demand.''
The ARC leaching chamber has an integral articulating joint, which allows it to be used in straight or contoured septic leach field applications, the company said.
E&O buys 5 injection molding machines
ELK RIVER, MINN. - E&O Tool & Plastics Inc. has invested more than $1 million in five new injection presses installed in Monterrey, Mexico, and at its Elk River headquarters plant.
E&O installed its eighth and ninth injection presses at Monterrey in the past few months. The 120- and 160-ton electric Negri Bossi machines are helping E&O fill new contracts and meet expanded business from appliance, filtration and water-handling original equipment manufacturers, said E&O director of sales and marketing Rob Clarno.
The Monterrey operation opened in late 2005 with five presses and 20 employees. It now employs about 35 and recently expanded its office space and quality-control laboratory. Clarno said another press is slated for Monterrey by the end of April.
In Elk River, E&O added 250- and 500-ton Toshiba hydraulic presses and a 300-ton Negri Bossi electric in the past six weeks, Clarno said in a telephone interview. The company overall now has 41 injection presses with clamping forces of 40-500 tons.
Profile maker Celco closes, assets sold
SURREY, BRITISH COLUMBIA - Profile extruder Celco Plastics Ltd. of Surrey has closed.
Celco shut down March 9 and its assets and property have been sold, a Celco spokesman said. In an April 17 interview, the spokesman said the plastics business no longer fits the plans of its parent, Topre Corp. of Tokyo, which does metal stamping.
Topre America Corp. recently built a new metal-stamping plant in Cullman, Ala., initially to supply Honda and Nissan plants and eventually other automakers. Topre invested about $45.7 million in the 250,000-square-foot facility. An official there declined to discuss Celco's closure.
Celco was established in 1974. It had estimated sales of US$5 million in 2005 and ran 10 extrusion lines for a variety of markets. It processed a range of thermoplastics and its products included dual-durometer profiles.
Mexichem eyes PVC feedstock facility
MEXICO CITY - Mexichem SA de CV is looking to extend its shopping spree by purchasing a PVC feedstock plant in Mexico from state-run Pemex Petroquímica SA.
Mexico City-based Mexichem already supplies the plant with chlorine feedstock, officials said in an April 23 story from Platts news service. The facility is in Pajaritos, Mexico, and has annual capacity of about 460 million pounds of vinyl chloride monomer. Mexichem also buys most of the plant's VCM output.
But Mexichem's offer could be halted by a powerful labor union that employs 2,700 at the site, the report said. Officials with Mexichem could not be reached for comment.
Since early 2006, Mexichem has bought compounder Bayshore Vinyl Compounds Inc. of Tennent, N.J.; PVC pipe maker Grupo Amanco of São Paulo, Brazil; and a controlling stake in PVC resin maker Petroquímica Colombiana SA of Cartagena, Colombia.
Mexichem, which now ranks as Latin America's largest PVC maker, spent a total of almost $800 million on those three deals.
