Welcome to our last issue before we hit the halfway point of 2023. Be sure to sign up for our breaking news alerts to keep in the loop over the upcoming long holiday weekend.
Coming up this week is Economics Editor Bill Wood's Numbers That Matter Live on Tuesday, June 27, at 2 p.m. EDT. Bill and Editor Don Loepp will review the results of the debt ceiling talks and the impact on the economy, plus look at materials and machinery sales trends and the outlook for key plastics end markets.
We will be accepting nominations for Women Breaking the Mold through June 30, learn more here. Nominations are now open for our 2023 Processor of the Year.
This week features our top 2023 injection molders ranking and special report. Read more here from Hollee Keller. One of the companies featured, Otto Engineering Inc., a specialty switch maker, built a 25,000-square-foot molding shop and will equip it with seven new presses to meet growing demand expected to boost annual sales to $145 million.
Joshua Baca, the head of the American Chemistry Council’s plastics division, has left the organization, a spokesman said June 22. Details were not immediately available but the ACC confirmed Lee Salamone, senior director of product advocacy, will take over as interim head of the plastics division while a search for Baca’s successor is underway.
Also from our front page: Sweden’s Nefab Group AB is growing its already-sizeable presence in North America with a just-announced purchase of PolyFlex Products Inc.
Elsewhere in this issue:
- Summer slump: Prices for PET bottle resin, PP and PVC slid in June. Senior Reporter Frank Esposito teased some of the changes in his monthly Polymer Points Live program. Read more or find the changes reflected in our new resin price pages.
- Reeling in recycling: A recent U.S. Department of Energy workshop examined the circularity of plastics in Seattle. And while the discussions aren’t finished, it’s clear that ‘not all recycling is the same and not all recycling is beneficial,’ according to David Allaway, senior policy analyst with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
- An EPS home: Canadian company Polystyvert Inc. is spending $30.2 million (C$40M) to commercialize solvent-based expanded polystyrene recycling in the Montreal area.
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Covestro has rejected an $11 billion offer by ADNOC to purchase the company.
- Bioplastics maker Verde Bioresins Inc. is going public through a special purpose acquisition or SPAC.
- Genas, France-based Clayens NP Group has acquired plastics manufacturing facilities in Providence, R.I., and Wallingford, Conn., from Paragon Medical Group.
- Scottsdale, Ariz.-based contract manufacturer Arterex Medical Device Inc. has agreed to acquire NextPhast Medical Devices LLC.
- Four rapid manufacturing businesses have been merged to create a new one called Uptive that will offer a wide variety of 3D manufacturing technologies aimed at “creating a disruptive moment in a field that prioritizes volume over customer service.”
Next week, on July 3, will be our Mid-Year Report on Mergers & Acquisitions.