News
Alberta invests in trades training
BASF acquires Ciba in friendly takeover
SPI launches biopolymers council
Machining in US holds up
US Groups back recycling promotion
Changes
Movers and shakers in the Plastics industry
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Job Forum
Events
Coming Events
Coming Soon From Plastics In Canada Magazine - October
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News
Alberta invests in trades training
The government of Alberta has announced a $300-million dollar investment for the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Polytechnic to break ground next year on a Trades and Technology complex. This is expected to open up 3,600 new training spaces to students.
“This funding announcement is a tangible demonstration of the government's vision for the future and its clear, long-term plan to secure Alberta's continued success,” says Irene Lewis, SAIT's president and CEO. “Today's investment will provide increased educational options for future students and will be welcomed news for business and industry hungry for more skilled, knowledgeable workers.”
The complex will provide multi-disciplinary programming in high-demand sectors of energy, construction and manufacturing. When completed, the complex's 3,600 new spaces will engage 8,100 more students each year in hands-on, career-oriented training. This represents a 50 per cent increase in the number of apprenticeship spaces and a nearly 30 per cent increase for certificate, diploma and applied degree spaces.
It will be approximately 600,000 sq ft in size. The total estimated cost is $445-million. Major corporations have already invested more than $26-million in it.
www.sait.ab.ca
BASF acquires Ciba in friendly takeover
Ciba Holding AG is now part of BASF SE. The two additives and raw materials suppliers have announced their joining, forming a company offering many different stabiliser, plasticiser, antioxidant and other plastics additives. Together, they have international sales exceeding $90-billion.
BASF announced on September 15 it was offering 50 Swiss francs (just under $50) per share. The total value of the offer, which has to include Ciba's debt and pension provisions, is about $59-billion. This followed a disappointing first six months of 2008, when Ciba lost $550- million.
Ciba sells a broad selection of additives, though it does not supply plasticisers. BASF does produce these, as well as UV-protection additives.
“With the acquisition of Ciba, we are strengthening our portfolio and expanding our leading position in specialty chemicals with products and services for a variety of customer industries, in particular the plastics and coatings industries, as well as water treatment,” BASF chairman Jürgen Hambrecht said in a news release.
“We recognize the strength of broad areas of Ciba's portfolio, even if the company's performance has disappointed analysts and investors, especially in the second quarter of 2008,” Hambrecht said.
Added Ciba chairman Armin Meyer, “Against the backdrop of increasingly challenging conditions within our industry, this is a transaction that combines a fair price with an industrially compelling solution for Ciba.”
BASF SE, which changed its name this year from BASF AG, employs about 95,000 at 100 sites around the globe. Ciba employs about 13,000 people at 60 facilities.
www.plastics-portal.com
SPI launches biopolymers council
The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (Washington, DC) has launched a new special interest group, the Bioplastics Council. It aims to provide a forum for resin and additive suppliers, as well as processors and equipment suppliers, to promote development of bioplastics as an integral part of the plastics industry.
In announcing the group, SPI president Bill Carteaux said, "Bioplastics have been developed for a range of commercial applications and the market for products made from these materials continues to expand as retailer and consumer demand for them increases. SPI has always represented the full spectrum of the plastics industry, and the Bioplastics
Council serves the need for a place where interested stakeholders can collaborate on a variety of bioplastics initiatives."
The council aims to educate the plastics industry, government and value chain; articulate clear, consistent descriptions of the different bioplastics options; provide strategic advice to the plastics industry, government and the value chain; and promote harmonisation of environmental policies.
The six founding member companies of the new group are Arkema, BASF Corp., Cereplast Inc., DuPont, NatureWorks LLC and Telles (a Metabolix/ADM joint venture). New 2009 membership applications will be accepted as of October 1. Interested companies do not have to be an SPI member to join the Bioplastics Council.
www.bioplasticscouncil.org
Machining in US holds up
Despite economic and stock-market concerns in the US, work in the tooling and machining industry continues there at a steady pace. According to machinery supplier Agie-Charmilles (Lincolnshire, Ill.), in August machine shops grew and the delinquency rate on machine tool leases dropped. The delinquency rate on machine tool leases was about one-sixth of the delinquency rate on home mortgages.
“I'm writing this monthly press release on September 15,” noted company chairman Harry Moser. “After the Dow dropped 504 points and Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, I was relieved to review the data and see that manufacturing has held up amazingly well in the face of the turmoil in housing and finance.”
The company's Machining Business Activity Index increased to 62 in August from 59 in July. The Index is created by surveying machine tool users concerning their current business level versus three months earlier (i.e., May 2008). Any reading above 50 indicates that business activity has improved. Activity was strongest in the central region, and at medical and aerospace companies.
The related Agie Charmilles/USBEF Machining Industry Financial Strength Index strengthened to 417 in August 2008, from 400 in July 2008 and 55 in January 2002, the worst reading on record, but down from 588 in August 2007, the highest reading on record. The index has been slowly strengthening since 2007. Any reading above 100 indicates that US Bancorp Equipment Finance's (USBEF's) machine tool lease payment delinquencies (a good measure of machine tool users' liquidity and consistent profitability) are at a rate below the average rate of 1990 to 1999.
The approximately 126,000 U.S. companies that use machine tools have about 2 million machine tools and 750,000 to 1,000,000 directly related employees (toolmakers, machinists, operators, programmers, etc.).
http://us.gfac.com/newsroom/businessindex/index.cfm, www.AgieCharmilles.us
US Groups back recycling promotion
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) and The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) have formed a partnership for a Plastics Ambassador Program. This collaborative initiative builds upon recycling and other proactive industry promotion initiatives of both associations, and is designed to mobilise companies and their employees to promote the benefits of plastics and plastics recycling within their communities.
Over the next twelve months ACC and SPI will conduct a pilot of the initiative, training employees and encouraging them to promote plastics recycling through community events such as PTA meetings and city council meetings, or by sponsoring a PlastiVan school visit. PlastiVans travel to schools and companies throughout North America, educating people of all ages about plastic's chemistry, history, processing, manufacturing, sustainability and application. Additionally, companies and employees will be encouraged to reach out to the media and their elected officials to communicate the benefits of plastic products and the sustainable innovations recycling supports.
www.plasticsindustry.org, www.americanchemistry.com
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Changes
JER Envirotech International Corp. (Vancouver) has received its first confirmed order for JERtech compounds for export to Asia. It has initiated sales of its JERtech PP 9030 H20 compound to G5 International of Singapore, to supply customers in Japan.
www.jerenvirotech.com
Mississauga, Ontario – Carlo Gavazzi (Canada) Inc. (Mississauga, Ont.) has named. Carlo Kong its sales representative for British Columbia. He has over 10 years of experience in industrial automation sales and in the electrical consulting business, and is a graduate of British Columbia Institute of Technology in electronics technology.
www.GavazziOnline.com
Carlo Kong
Michigan Plastics Machinery (MPM), the downstream extrusion equipment manufacturer acquired by the Conair Group a year ago, has moved to larger facilities in Bay City, Mich. In its new 18,000-sq-ft home, MPM has about three times more manufacturing and assembly space, with higher work bays and easier truck access. Increased office space is better organized to accommodate customer meetings and training sessions.
www.conair.net
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Coming Events
2008
September 30-October 2: Interplas 2008, Britain's national plastics show, at the Birmingham NEC, UK. (Contact: Graham Earl at 020-8910-7890 or graham.earl@reedexpo.co.uk).
October 7-10: Ausplas 2008, Australia 's leading plastics show. At Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre. (Contact: Robert Damcevski, 61-3-9699-4699 or rob@exhibitionmanagement.com).
October 20-21: Expoplast 2008, Quebec's triennial plastics show, at the Palais des Congrès in Montreal. (Contact: Tom Sockett at 905-678-7748 or tsockett@cpia.ca)
October 22: APAC international business development conference, at the Palais des Congrès in Montreal. (Contact: Tom Sockett at 905-678-7748 or tsockett@cpia.ca)
October 22-23: Rotoplas '08, the international rotational moulding show and conference, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, Ill. (Contact: Maria at 630-942-6589, or mariap@cmservnet.com)
November 5: The Basics of Plastics introductory seminar on industry practices and processes. With Paul Waller of The Plastics Touchpoint Group. At the World Trade & Convention Centre, Halifax. (Contact: Nick Passingham at 416-764-1527 or npassingham@plastics.rogers.com).
November 5-6: Canadian Waste & Recycling Expo. At the International Centre, Mississauga, Ont. (Contact: Arnie Gess, 403-638-4410 or arnie.gess@cwre.ca).
November 18-19: Canadian Association of Mold Makers' Trade Fair, at Caesar's Windsor. (Contact Diane Deslippe at 519-255-7863, or info@camm.ca).
November 18: One-day seminar on Blown and Cast Film Optimisation and Troubleshooting, sponsored by SPE Ontario and featuring Paul Waller of The Plastics Touchpoint Group. At the Delta Toronto Airport West Hotel. (Contact: Penny Perdis at 416-802-9565 or pennyperdis@sympatico.ca).
November 25: The Basics of Plastics introductory seminar on industry practices and processes. With Paul Waller of The Plastics Touchpoint Group. At the Rogers Inc. campus, Brampton, Ont. (Contact: Nick Passingham at 416-764-1527 or npassingham@plastics.rogers.com).
December 2: The Basics of Plastics introductory seminar on industry practices and processes. With Paul Waller of The Plastics Touchpoint Group. At the Rogers Campus, Brampton, Ont. (Contact: Nick Passingham at 416-764-1527 or npassingham@plastics.rogers.com).
2009
January 10-13: Arabplast 2009, at Dubai World Trade Centre - Dubai International Exhibition Centre, Dubai, Arabic Emirates. This show features approximately 540 exhibitors, and draws 14,500 visitors. (Contact: Stefan Egge at 416-598-1524, or messduesseldorf@germanchamber.ca).
January 27-30: Interplastica 2009, at ZAO Expocentr in Krasnaja Presnja, Moscow, Russia. This show features 530 exhibitors, and draws 24,000 visitors. (Contact: Stefan Egge at 416-598-1524, or messduesseldorf@germanchamber.ca).
February 4-9: Plastindia 2009, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. This show features 1,300 exhibitors, and draws 80,000 visitors. (Contact: Stefan Egge at 416-598-1524, or messduesseldorf@germanchamber.ca). TOP
Coming Soon From Plastics In Canada Magazine - October issue:
Plastics in automotive safety systems
The evolving world of hot-runners
Product Spotlight on Mould releases, purge compounds and lubricants
Extrusion report – Producing extruded pipe
Raw materials report – Innovations in resin technology, fillers and additives
Troubleshooting – Our regular look at what can go wrong, and how to be sure it doesn't
Processor profile – A visit to an innovative moulder, extruder or other manufacturer of finished plastic items
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