Recyclers MBA, European Metal form JV
RICHMOND, CALIF. — Worksop, England, will be the site of a new joint venture plant for recycling automotive shredder residue.
The plant, formerly used for glass production, will have the capacity to reprocess 176 million pounds of recycled plastic a year.
Co-owners of the venture are MBA Polymers Inc. of Richmond and European Metal Recycling Ltd. of Warrington, England. MBA already has recycling plants in Kematen/Ybbs, Austria, and Guangzhou, China.
The Worksop plant will recycle polypropylene, ABS and polystyrene, the same materials produced at the other plants, said MBA founder and President Michael Biddle. Other plastics may be added later.
Site selection took longer than expected for the project, which was first announced a year ago. ``It was important to find the right location to maximize the benefits of lower logistic costs with suitable markets for the finished goods,'' said David Ireland, EMR's technical services director, in a news release.
The release said the Worksop site is well-positioned to serve customers throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.
Biddle said the plant's sales ideally will be to U.K. customers in automotive and electronics sectors, among others. Those sectors are showing more demand for recycled plastics, he said.
Sealed Air to close down Iowa plant
Elmwood Park, N.J. — Sealed Air Corp. plans to close its Cedar Rapids, Iowa, food packaging plant in six to 10 months.
The Elmwood Park-based firm said in a statement that it will relocate the work to other plants in North America. The closure is part of a move to improve productivity and efficiency.
Sealed Air said it looked at several criteria in its decision to close Cedar Rapids, including operating costs, location, proximity to other facilities and technology level.
The plant employs about 257, according to a report in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Workers are represented by Teamsters Local 238. The factory is 57 years old, the report said. Plants making food packaging in Arkansas, South Carolina and Mexico are expected to get the bulk of the relocated work.
Viking diversifies with CP Plastics buy
CORRY, PA. — Viking Plastics Inc. is integrating its recently acquired CP Plastics Group Inc. business.
Viking bought CP Plastics for undisclosed terms late last year. Viking had 2007 sales of about $12.5 million, while CP Plastics' turnover was about $2.6 million, according to data from Plastics News' ranking of North American injection molders.
CP Plastics fits well with Viking's strengths and also diversifies Viking, said Viking's sales and marketing vice president, Peter Kraus. Like Viking, CP Plastics does a good deal of high-cavitation molding and threaded products like fasteners. Unlike Viking, it is not heavily reliant on automotive work.
The recession has hit the auto industry hard and diversification should help Viking weather it, Krause said. The purchase also will boost capacity utilization at Viking's Corry headquarters plant by moving some work from CP's Falconer, N.Y., plant.
Viking's vehicle-heavy product lineup includes sealing and fluid-flow components, fuel-system parts, mobile air-conditioning components and brackets and clips. Other products are caps and protective closures and high-temperature masking products for chemical, paint and other applications.
CP Plastics' molding includes various fasteners, and custom molded products using commodity and engineering resins. The company's former owner, Marc Turner, said he sold the business ``to pursue other interests.''
Krones hopes buyback ups stock value
NEUTRAUBLING, GERMANY — Faced with a stock price officials say is too low, Krones AG has repurchased up to 3.1 million of the firm's shares — or 10 percent of its stock equity capitalization.
The Krones executive board voted Jan. 21 to buy the stock. In a news release, the firm said its executive board ``is convinced that the price of the Krones stock, against the background of the crisis on the financial markets, does not adequately reflect the profitability and the future prospects of Krones AG.''
Krones said the buyback will be funded from Krones' own resources, ``in view of the company's good liquidity situation.''
Krones, based in Neutraubling, makes equipment for filling and packaging, including PET blow molding machinery. Its stock is traded on all German exchanges, as well as the Xetra electronic trading system run by the Deutsch Börse.