BASF SE has announced plans for a significant expansion of its production plant for the biodegradable plastic Ecoflex at the company`s Ludwigshafen site. The move will raise Ecoflex production capacities from the current 14,000 by 60,000 metric tons per year. Production at the expanded plant will commence in the third quarter of 2010.
To help meet consumer demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles, the automotive industry is focusing on alternative glazing solutions that can lower vehicle weight and help improve fuel economy. Exatec LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of SABIC Innovative Plastics, is broadening its range of coating technologies to offer designers new capabilities in innovative vehicle glazing with Lexan polycarbonate (PC) resin.
The SABIC Innovative Plastics family of Noryl hydrostable resins, which are amorphous blends of PPO polyphenylene ether resin and polystyrene, offer best-in-class retention of properties when exposed to water. These resins provide high burst strength, and excellent chemical, fatigue, and creep resistance. They are used widely as replacements for traditional metals and other plastics, including acetal and polyamide. These resins are available in a variety of reinforced and unfilled grades.
BASF is expanding its production capacities for the innovative insulation product Neopor in Ludwigshafen and will start producing the material for the first time in South Korea. Neopor needs less material to achieve the same insulation quality as Styropor, thus making a key contribution to energy efficiency and climate protection.
SABIC Innovative Plastics launched new Lexan DMX polycarbonate (PC) films for portable electronics applications such as cell phone and laptop covers, palm rests, and keypads.
The German compounding specialist TechnoCompound, Bad Sobernheim, will be presenting its broad portfolio of engineering plastics for the automotive industry at the next international VDI conference "Plastics in Automotive Engeering", which will be taking place at Mannheim on 5th and 6th March 2008.
Just a few weeks before the International Tube and Pipe Trade Fair, Tube 2008, in Düsseldorf, another sector is reporting successful developments. In addition to the steel industry, which is currently posting one positive result after another, the German plastic tube industry is charting a course for significant growth. As Dr. Elmar Löckenhoff, Managing Director of the Kunststoffrohrverband e.V. (Plastic Tube Association), states in the preface of the KRV business report 2007, the German plastic tube industry is also benefiting from globalisation. - This is shown specifically by the opening of the Eastern European markets - he admits.
Borealis, a leading provider of innovative, value creating plastics solutions, will demonstrate the award-winning benefits of its pioneering polypropylene (PP) solutions to key decision makers in the automotive industry at the VDI "Plastics in Automotive Engineering" International Conference from March 5-6, 2008 in Mannheim, Germany.
Ensinger is launching the new TECAPEEK VF, offering outstanding thermal and chemical resistance.
With more than 270 exhibitors from 15 different countries, the second PaintExpo - Europe`s Leading Trade Fair for Industrial Coatings Technology - which will take place at the Karlsruhe (Germany) Exhibition Centre from 11 through 14 March 2008, will register 10.4 percent growth.
