PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2010

NEWS 7 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 01+02/10 www.petpla.net Eastman sues Indorama over Integrex PET manu- facturing technology Eastman Chemical Company, headquartered in Kingsport, Tenn., USA, filed a lawsuit in December 2009 against Indorama companies located in the United States, Europe, and Thai- land, which alleges unauthorised use of Eastman’s IntegRex PET manufacturing technology. In its announcement, East- man said that it will “vigorously defend these intellectual property assets”. The patent infringement claims relate to PET manufacturing technology and Indo- rama’s alleged unauthorised disclosure and use of infor- mation covered by a license agreement between Eastman and several European Indo- rama entities. Beer market keeps growing despite downturn The global beer market has continued to grow despite upheavals in the world’s finan- cial markets in 2008, accord- ing to a report from beverage research agency Canadean. However, the rate of growth slowed from 6% in 2007 to 2% in 2008. The report anticipates that 2009 results will show continuing slow- down, before demand begins to accelerate in 2010. Asia saw volumes increase 5% in 2008 and now accounts for around 1/3 of all beer sales. China accounts for 70% of all sales in the region and grew by 6%. Latin America saw sales up 3%, led by Brazil (4%). Western Europe has not seen growth since 2006; the Russian market saw its first decline in a decade, with sales anticipated to get worse. The picture in Europe is expected to be similar. The North American market is vir- tually flat. The fastest growth in the world has been in North Africa/Middle East but this market accounts for less than 1% of global sales. www.canadean.com Sports cap with optimised flow, wet and dry decontamination Cap manufacturer Bericap has started production of its new ‘Next Gen- eration’ Push Pull sports cap, for launch to the marketing Q1 2010. The first version available will be for PCO1810 standard necks; PCO1881 and 38mm necks will follow. It conforms to all requirements for aseptic filling of beverages and is suitable for both wet and dry decontamination. Bericap describes the new product as suitable for ‘on the go’ consumption, com- bining attractive design with technical developments designed to provide the consumer with optimum flow rate, but without the need for complex treatment of the closure during the filling and closing process. It features Bericap’s DoubleSeal technology, already established in the company’s standard 28mm neck PCO1881 and PCO1810 closures, which do not use aluminium seals. The 3-piece cap is suitable for both still and medium car- bonated drinks.