Kickstart: Starting up soon in Texas

A Texas TV station got a tour of the Gulf Coast Growth Ventures petrochemicals plant in San Patricio County, Texas, which could come on line by the end of this year.

"We're in the process of starting up our utilities," Plant Manager Paul Fritsch told station KHOU.

The $7 billion plant, a joint venture of Sabic and ExxonMobil, will include two production units for polyethylene resins, as well as a unit making monoethylene glycol feedstock and a massive ethane cracker with almost 4 billion pounds of annual capacity.

The companies first announced the GCGV project in 2018. When completed, it is expected to employ 600. About 4,500 construction workers are working at the site near Corpus Christi now to convert it from a cotton plantation to a cracker.

Fritsch said he expects the plant to begin starting up by the end of this year, which will be right on target with the original estimate that it would open in 2021 or 2022.

Add fishing and art projects to the list of items Americans invested in during the pandemic. The two activities have helped fuel sales for Wisconsin injection molder Flambeau Inc.

As Plastics News correspondent Jeannie Reall writes, the company is adding presses to three of its nine manufacturing sites in the U.S. to increase production capacity.

"The new machines will be used to make ... stock boxes and cases for Flambeau Outdoors, ArtBin and other packaging lines; and proprietary products including Brute toolboxes, gun cases and tackle boxes," Jeannie reports.

When the Society of Plastics Engineers thermoforming division meets again — in person — in Grand Rapids, Mich., Sept. 20-24, it will also resume its parts competition.

As you all know, it's hard to judge parts when you can't get your hands on them, so the biennial competition comes along at just the right time for judges to study the items up close.

This year, in addition to usual categories — roll-fed industrial, medical or food; heavy-gauge vacuum formed, pressure formed, twin sheet and thermoplastic polyolefin; parts made with recycled or sustainable materials; and parts made using automation and new technology — is a new category for production parts made using 3D printed tooling.

"While 3D printing was initially considered a competitor to thermoforming by some, the advantages of this technology offer new applications in our field," said Travis Kieffer, parts competition chair for the conference. "We are seeking part entries that decrease lead times for prototypes and low run production of parts, and streamline the end product's development time."

Find more information and an entry form here.