PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2010

PET news 6 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 05/10 www.petpla.net Graham Packaging announces agreement to purchase China Roots Packaging Graham Packaging Company Inc. (NYSE:GRM), which is based in York, Pennsylvania, has announced that its subsidiary, Graham Packaging Com- pany, L.P., expects to acquire China Roots Packaging PTE Ltd., a plas- tic container manufacturing company located in Guangzhou, China. Its cus- tomers include several global consumer product marketers. The company has signed a Share Purchase Agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Roots Investment Holding Private Limited, which will be the sole equity holder of China Roots, from Malaysian company PCCS Group Berhad. This will be Graham Packag- ing’s first operation in China. The trans- action is expected to complete during the second quarter of 2010. Graham Packaging designs, manu- factures and sells customised blow moulded plastic containers for the branded food and beverage, household, personal care/speciality and automo- tive lubricants product categories. It produces more than 20 billion container units a year at 80 plants in North Amer- ica, Europe and South America. www.grahampackaging.com Engel management changes Hans Wobbe (57) is to leave the management of Engel Holding on July 31, 2010 for personal reasons. Mr Wobbe held responsibility for technol- ogy and production; his duties will now be assumed by Peter Neumann, CEO. The owning family and the management expressed regret at Mr Wobbe’s decision and their thanks to him for his work. www.engelglobal.com Invista Europe Polymer & Resins business reorganisation and management changes Invista Polymer & Resins’ primary European production facility, in Ger- sthofen, Germany, produces a wide-variety of DMT- and PTA-based polyesters for technical, textile, film and packaging applications. Invista is now offering an R&D service, based at Gersthofen, to the market. The company says that its continuous pilot-scale polyester polycondensation line at the R&D centre has the flexibility to produce customised polyesters via DMT or PTA. The line allows scaling-up of supply from small trial quantities to various bulk market quanti- ties from one source, depending on customer needs. The key focus areas for the business remain the provision of high-value packaging resins, like Poly- Shield resin, specialty polymers and DMT sales, as well as a portfolio renewal of technically-challenging polymers. At the end of 2009 Ottmar Schmidt was appointed to the role of general manager of the European Invista Polymer & Resins business. He has over 20 years of industry experience including more than 15 years in the DMT and polyester businesses. www.INVISTA.com Organisational restructuring at La Seda Spanish company La Seda de Barcelona, S.A. has announced that the company is to be restructured into two distinct operational units: packaging and recycled PET. Mr. Martin Hargreaves, who will be responsible for site perform- ance, operations and commercial functions, will lead the packaging division. The recycled PET division will be headed by Mr. José Antonio Alarcón, who will be responsible for PET production sites and the recycled PET sites in Balaguer and Italy. Mr. Abelardo López has been appointed as the new corporate and financial manager of the Group. As well as the financial area, he will be respon- sible for organisation, systems, and human resources and legal departments. www.laseda.es Krones reports loss for 2009; returns to profit in Q1 2010 Krones AG, the beverage filling and packaging company, reported a loss in the 2009 business year of €34.5 million but achieved increased sales and a return to profit in the first quarter of 2010, with earnings before tax (EBT) of €13.2 million (€9.1 million after tax). The executive and supervisory boards will propose to the AGM that no dividend is paid in respect of the 2009 trading year. Krones reported that demand in the packaging machinery market fell in 2009 by more than 25% worldwide and affected all geographic areas except China. Order bookings in 2009 were down by 17.6% from 2008, to €1,916.0 mil- lion; consolidated sales fell 21.7%. The executive board had, at the end of 2008, launched its ‘Conversions’ programme in order to adjust the company to the realities and effects of falling markets. The company increased its free cash flow during 2009 by around five per cent, to €82.5 million. As at December 31 2009, the Group had no debts with banks and held net liquidity of more than €135 million. Sales of €533.5 million in Q1 2010 were up 10.6% on the previous year’s. Bookings during 2009 rose in each quarter and accelerated during the first three months of 2010, during which time it received orders totalling €550.4 million – a rise of 32.8% over Q1 2009. Orders at the end of March totalled €905.3 million. Bookings during Q1 2010 were particularly good from Asia, China, Africa and the Middle and Near East. Demand remained weak in the USA, Eastern Europe and Russia but Central and Western Europe showed indications of gradual recovery. The executive board anticipates growth in sales of five to 15% in 2010 and expects a further uptrend in 2011, assuming no significant change in the situational framework. www.krones.com