Kickstart: A 'strategic review' in Europe for LyondellBasell

Another plastics industry company is looking at downsizing its operations in Europe.

LyondellBasell Industries has formally launched a "strategic review of the European assets of its olefins and polyolefins [business] and intermediates and dervatives business units," the Houston- and London-based materials supplier said in a May 8 news release.

The assessment will "evaluate the assets through the lens of the company's strategy" to grow and upgrade its core businesses, build a circular and low-carbon solutions business, and improve performance and culture.

It joins Trinseo in materials-related divestments, although a year after Trinseo said it would sell its styrenics business, it still hasn't seen any success.

European companies have faced stronger headwinds than competitors in other regions due to disruptions from the war in Ukraine, which have also have led to rising energy prices and higher inflation rates. Conditions are difficult enough that officials with machinery supplier Wittmann Group said during NPE2024 that the Vienna-based company is rethinking its manufacturing footprint. It is already moving some operations to lower-cost facilities outside Austria, including Hungary and Turkey.

"It is certainly not something I wanted to do, but it is a necessary response," President Michael Wittmann said during NPE.

Norfolk Southern Corp. shareholders have decided to stay on track with current leadership.

Activist investor Ancora Holdings Group has been seeking momentum for a proxy fight to replace most of the NS board of directors, but it fell short in May 9 voting at the rail company's annual meeting.

Ten director appointees backed by the company — including CEO Alan Shaw — came out on top during voting, although Ancora did manage to get three of its representatives onto the board.

Ancora and its supporters have been critical about how NS handled a derailment in February 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio, that led to a burnoff of vinyl chloride monomer, forcing an evacuation in the small town and prompting big payouts from the rail carrier.

Bloomberg writes that Ancora said after the vote it would "continue to hold … Shaw to account and push for the appointment of a qualified operator who can actually drive shareholder value."

Mold making requires a lot of investments in equipment, mold bases, training and staffing before production even begins. Add in a tendency for customers to delay payments and it's even hard to compete.

Scott Phipps, the owner of United Tool & Mold in Liberty, S.C., decided the best way to respond was simple: stop making new tools and instead specialize in repairing them.

Since making the switch, United has grown from 30 employees to 80, and Phipps just picked up the Society of Plastics Engineers' mold division's Mold Repair Technician of the Year Award during NPE2024.

"Everybody said it was almost impossible to do," Phipps told Plastics News' Steve Toloken.

Other SPE winners were: Gabe English of Western Carolina Tool and Mold in Mills River, N.C., for Mold Maker of the Year; Keith LeSage of Westminster Tool in Plainfield, Conn., for Mold Designer of the Year; and Adam Conley of Omega Tool Inc. in Menomonee Falls, Wis., for Apprentice of the Year.