Century Extrusion, a U.S. maker of twin-screw extruders, is finding a fertile market in far-flung places.
Bob Urtel, president of the Traverse City, Mich.-based company, said in an April 20 interview at Chinaplas 2012 in Shanghai that “the activity level of this market continues to be just superior.”
Halfway through the show, Urtel said Century already had sold two extrusion lines — a 35-millimeter Apex-brand line to a customer in North Africa, and a TSE two-stage, tandem-series PVC line to someone in Russia. The latter features a twin-screw extruder that feeds into a single-screw extruder, for processing shear-sensitive materials. He valued those two deals, including related equipment such as feeders and pelletizers, at about $500,000.
Before the show, an Apex 70mm line dubbed the CX70 that was on display at Century's booth was sold along with a second, identical line, to a multinational compounding customer in China. That customer, which Urtel declined to identify, already runs four of Century's large 133 models.
Century also has three of its mid-market Apex lines going to customers in Algeria, Egypt and Morocco. All those machines are made in Nanjing, China.
Urtel said the firm's sales, from both its Chinese and Michigan plants, total about 150 full extrusion lines per year.
