7 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 12/23 www.petpla.net NPE’s academic programme redesigned The Plastics Industry Association (Plastics) officially unveiled over 90 Educational Sessions for NPE 2024. The event is scheduled to take place from May 6-10, 2024, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, USA. The trade show is redefining the education experience for attendees through a new learning journey on key topics in the plastics industry, such as workforce development, circularity and artificial intelligence, among many others. Produced by Plastics, the educational program with more than 100 sessions total was designed to help businesses tackle the ever-changing challenges of the industry, with exclusive opportunities to gain insights from plastics experts around the world. Attendees with expo pass registrations will have access to over 75 education sessions on the show floor, located in the allnew Spark Stages. Highlighting advanced artificial intelligence applications, the future of plastics, business productivity & profitability, sustainability & advancement of the circular economy and more, attendees are encouraged to tailor their education schedules to meet their personal business needs. The three Spark Stages are as follows: Bottling Stage: Attendees will discover advancements in technologies for the beverage and non-food segments. Innovation Stage, sponsored by the Plastics Hall of Fame: Participants will witness the latest in electrification, Industry 4.0, thermoplastic alchemy, UV blockers, engineered thermoplastics and other exciting topics. Sustainability Stage: Explore how the entire plastics supply chain is developing solutions to improve efficiency, reduce materials loss, use less power and more. Off the show floor, NPE will host some of the industry’s biggest and brightest speakers including: Industry briefings featuring thought leaders in the automotive, building and construction, consumer goods, and medical and packaging industries. Comprehensive plastics industry briefing that will include timely business updates from every market segment, including global insights on the economic impact of plastics, market trends, future forecasts on recycling and a review of the Global Plastics Treaty. Market Trends sessions with insights into the U.S. recycled plastics industry, the future of polyethylene and polypropylene and other leading topics. To attend these new off-floor sessions, an Expo Plus registration is required to unlock Market Trends with Icis, while Expo Premier gives attendees complete access to tailored industry insights and on-demand post-show recordings. www.npe.org Indorama Ventures reports stable quarterly earnings Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), a global chemical producer, reported stable third-quarter earnings as the company’s management focuses on conserving cash and improving competitiveness to bolster performance in a continued period of weakness in the global chemical industry. Indorama Ventures achieved EBITDA of $324 million in 3Q23, an increase of 1% QoQ and a decline of 37% YoY, impacted by a weak economic environment, geopolitical tensions, and continued postpandemic disruptions in global markets. Sales volumes dropped 5% from a year ago to 3.6 million tons as China recovers from the pandemic more slowly than expected and an extended period of destocking in the manufacturing and chemical sectors continues to normalise from unprecedented levels last year. Management continues to focus on conserving cash, realising efficiency improvements, and optimising the company’s operational footprint to boost profitability. These efforts resulted in positive operating cash flow of US$410 million in the quarter, positive free cash flow of $79 million year to date, and room for further reductions in working capital going forward. The company’s AA- rating was maintained by TRIS in the quarter, with a stable outlook. The company expects the operating environment to improve in 2024 as customer destocking continues to ease across all three of Indorama Ventures’ segments. The ramp up of PET and fibres expansion projects operations in India and the U.S. will also contribute to increased volumes. Combined PET posted EBITDA of $146 million, a 25% decline QoQ, amid historically low benchmark PET margins, increased feedstock prices in Western markets, and lingering effects of destocking. www.indoramaventures.com Krones records strong growth in first three quarters of 2023 After a successful first half of the year, the third quarter of 2023 also went well for Krones. Although the overall economic outlook has clouded over, the company’s international customers in the food and beverage industry continue to show high levels of market activity and willingness to invest. This reflects the fact that demand for packaged beverages is robust to economic cycles and continues to grow at a steady rate. In the third quarter of 2023, order intake improved by 4.3% on the previous quarter to €1,327.7 million (Q3 2022: 1,493.3 million). Krones’ revenue developed well between January and September, despite the tight supply of electrical components, rising by 14.5% to €3,485.6 million. The company improved profitability in a challenging environment in the first three quarters of 2023. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) went up by 23.0% to €332.3 million. The EBITDA margin rose to 9.5% (previous year: 8.9%). Krones confirms its full-year guidance for 2023. The Executive Board expects revenue growth of 11% to 13%. In addition, the company aims to further improve profitability and forecasts an EBITDA margin of 9% to 10% in 2023. For return on capital employed (ROCE), Krones expects an increase to between 15% and 17%. Krones received €4,113.6 million in new orders in the first nine months of 2023 (previous year: €4,599.7 million). The sustained strong demand for Krones products and services is also reflected in the order backlog. Despite higher output, the contract value of orders exceeded the €4 billion mark for the first time in the third quarter of 2023. At the end of September 2023, the order backlog stood at €4,094.4 million, up 18.7% on the already very high prioryear figure (€3,449.0 million). This comfortable order backlog is claimed to ensure production capacity utilisation in plant and project business through to 2025. www.krones.com
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