Pigment maker Dominion Colour Corp., Canada has bought Compania Venezolana De Pigmentos (Cavenpi) of Valencia, Venezuela. The company produces azo organic pigments and lead chromates.
GE Plastics, USA intends to acquire major stakes in Commercial Plastics & Supply Corp., a worldwide fabricator and distributor of plastic sheet, rod, film, and tubing. The purchase would be its second acquisition of a semi-finished plastics product manufacturer. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval. Commercial Plastics & Supply will be managed separately from GE’s existing resins and sheet extrusion business.
Krupp Werner & Pfleiderer, Germany has launched the new twin-screw compounder MEGAcompact ZSK, based on the success of its former model MEGAcompounder ZSK. As the machine, drive and control are one compact unit now the compounder can be delivered within eight weeks (plus one day for start-up). The price has also been reduced by approx. 10% compared to the former model MEGAcompounder ZSK. The compounder is available in 40, 50, 58 and 70 mm.
Cargill Dow introduces two new and improved film grades of its NatureWorks polylactide (PLA) polymer. PLA 4041D is a general-purpose biaxially oriented film grade. It is said to combine excellent optics, twist, and deadfold properties. PLA 4031D is a new high-heat resin for biax film with a glass-transition temperature of 136 F and melting point of 320 F.Main applications are laminations and other packaging.
The chemicals and plastics producer Atofina, France intends to build a new PS plant on its Carling site in Moselle, France. It will add a capacity of 264 million lb/yr over the next few years. The current capacity there is 330 million lb/yr.
Pixargus GmbH, Germany has developed a new continous quality inspection system for almost all kinds of profiles. Typical system-application of the ProfilControl III are elastic profiles (sealings, tubes, cables), also with rough, textured or flocked surfaces and rigid profiles and pipes. The profile, which is to be inspected, runs through the center of an instrument-ring on which circumference up to four linescan-cameras are mounted. The camera-positions on the ring remain infinitely adjustable, thus allowing to scan single surface regions as well as the complete profile. The evaluation of the image data stream is managed by standard industrial computer systems based on Intel multi-processor architecture and the ProfilControl III-Software.
Epsilon-Opti Films Corp., USA has purchased a new extrusion line for making polyolefin shrink films. The company is developing new grades of film such as soft-shrink and anti-fog films for frozen-food packaging.
Enhance Packaging Technologies Inc., USA is expanding its nylon film capacity and will spend about US$ 673.000 to upgrade existing equipment and introduce process improvements. DuPont, parent company of Enhance, had planned to take the unit public by now, but said it is reconsidering while it watches market conditions.
Akcros Chemicals has launched two new types of “Lankromark” stabilizers for S-PVC. “LZC261″ is a stabilizer for floor coverings on CaZn-basis, “LCB259″ a BaZn-stabilizer for calandered boards.
Chemson Polymer-Additive AG, Austria has been taken over by its management and a private investment group. Chemson is a leading producer of stabilizers for PVC-U extrusion.