PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2013

NEWS 11 PET planet insider Vol. 14 No. 07+08/13 www.petpla.net Electrification of industry American plastic closures manufacturer Weatherchem Corporation, which was recently acquired by Mold Rite Plastics, has added an Engel e-motion 550 US injection moulding machine to its production capacity. Weatherchem says that the machine provides it with a combination of high efficiency and low energy consumption. Engel has installed a total of nine all-electric e-motion injection mould- ing machines at Weatherchem’s 45,000 square foot plant in Twinsburg, Ohio, in sizes ranging from 310 to 550 US tons. Weatherchem decided to change from hydraulic to all- electric injection moulding machines in 2008 and adopted a partnership approach with Engel. Comparative internal test- ing with one of their applications, first on a hydraulic press and then on the Engel e-motion, demonstrated energy sav- ings of over 70%. www.engelglobal.com www.weatherchem.com Manjushree’s money Manjushree Technopack Ltd, has registered a growth of 17% in its consolidated revenue for the year ended March 31, 2013 at Rs.36,122 lacs (€500 million/ US$650 million) as against Rs. 30,978 lacs (€428 m / $557 m) for the same period last year. Profit Before Tax (PBT) grew by 25% and Profit After Tax (PAT) by 18%. The fully diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter stood at Rs17.82 (€0.23 / $0.30) as against Rs.15.13 (€0.20 / $0.26) for the same period last year. Exports rose up by 55% during the finan- cial year. The company has committed to investments total- ling Rs150 Crores (€2.1 million / $2.7 million) for two new green-field facilities in Harohalli and Bidadi. The Bidadi facil- ity is the single largest PET preform manufacturing plant in South Asia and was commissioned during the year 2012-13. It has raised the company’s total capacity from 50,000t/a to 80,000t/a – equivalent to 15% of total PET consumption in India. Manjushree Technopack manufactures speciality plastic packaging products for domestic and export markets and supplies companies in the FMCG, pharma and food & beverage sectors including Coca Cola, PepsiCo, GSK, Nestle, Unilever, Pfizer, DelMonte, Tata Tea and Mondelez International (formerly known as Cadbury). The company has expanded into the liquor, personal care, dairy and edible oils segments. Companies including United Spirits, Reckitt Benckiser, Bacardi, Diageo and Big Cola have been added to the client portfolio for the PET Bottles and PET Preforms businesses. www.manjushreeindia.com Mitsubishi sets higher PET barrier Mitsubishi Plastics, Inc. has announced that it is to establish a new production line for high-barrier PET bottles at its plant in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The intention is to meet a growing demand for the high- barrier PET bottles that are increasingly being used for packaging alcoholic beverages, cooking oils and season- ing agents. The new production line is expected to begin operation by November 2013 and will more than double the plant’s production capacity. The Company will be investing approximately one billion yen (€7.7 million / US$10 m) in the project. High-barrier PET bottles developed by Mitil- lionsubishi Plastics are based on the diamond-like carbon (DLC) technology, which deposits a thin carbon film on the inner wall of the PET bottle. This is done by placing the bottle in a vacuum, filling it with acetylene gas and gen- erating a plasma. The process significantly increases the ability of the wall to prevent permeation of gases such as oxygen by a factor of 10, compared to standard bottles. The process also makes the bottles seven times better at preventing carbon gas penetration, and five times better at inhibiting water permeation. Mitsubishi’s production of high- barrier PET bottles is currently conducted at its Azai Plant in Nagahama City. www.mpi.co.jp Bühler sells thermal processing unit Swiss private equity firm Cross has acquired a major- ity holding in Bühler Thermal Processes AG (BPAG), which was spun off into a separate company by Bühler in October 2012. The sale contract was signed on June 4, 2013 and is subject to the approval of the competition authorities and other agencies and interested parties. The new majority shareholder is taking over Bühler Thermal Processes with its management team and all its employees at its present location in Oberbüren and will add other industry experts to its Board of Directors. Bühler retains its link with the com- pany through a substantial minority holding. BPAG focuses on multifunctional large-scale plants and is a leader in post-condensation technology for PET, mainly used in food packaging and technical yarn. It designs and manufactures plant and equipment for the heat treatment of a variety of polymers, which are mainly used for the processing of PET. BPAG’s product range also includes plants for recycling used PET into materials for direct food contact. It employs around 80 staff and achieved revenues of CHF 88 mil- lion (€71.4 million / US$93 million) in 2012. Cross’ mission is stated to be the support of sustainable development of mid-sized companies in Switzerland, Germany and Austria through equity capital, industrial expertise and an extensive relationship network. www.buhlergroup.com