Countervailing duty on import of PET from Pakistan

(Business Recorder) -- Pakistan's Ambassador on WTO, Shahid Bashir, has opposed the government plan to file a case against EU for review of its decision of imposing indefinite countervailing duty on import of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from Pakistan, saying that any such move from Islamabad at a time when it was pushing forward a case to EC to seek GSP plus status for more market access to enhance exports to member countries could be extremely counterproductive.

EU has imposed 5.1 percent indefinite countervailing duty on import of polyethylene terephthalate from Pakistan recently. Seeing the EU step of imposing indefinite countervailing duty on its exportable items for which EU countries were considered a main market, the government of Pakistan started to work on a proposal to file a review case with EC and, in the first step, sought the views of Pakistan's Ambassador to WTO in Geneva.

Sources said that after strong opposition to the proposed case for review against the countervailing duty, the Commerce Ministry is considering to shelve the plan to contest the EU on the issue.

Now Pakistan is working on two parallel plans to get more market access from EU. One is to seek cut on import duty on various key items being exported from Pakistan to EU market, and the second is to take its long outstanding demand of having GSP plus status from EC to get across the board concessional tariff for all exports to EU under GSP plus status.

MRC

(Food Productiondaily) -- The ability to recycle food-grade polypropylene (PP) is moving closer to reality, according to the UK government-funded Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP). The organisation is aiming to reduce dependence on virgin PP in the manufacture of food packaging and divert waste from landfill while boosting the UK market for recycled PP.

⌠WRAP is continuing this project in a second stage looking at improving the cleaning efficiency of heavier contaminants and investigating ink removal from used PP packaging. Results are due to be published in early spring, said Paul Davidson, WRAP's head of sector specialists.

The ability to recycle food-grade PP would signal a revolution in the reuse of PP, similar to that of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) milk bottles a decade ago, according to the organisation.

Meanwhile, studies have revealed that food-grade recycled PP can be both thermoformed and injection moulded and so is suitable for use in the common PP conversion processes.

An important step in bringing recycled food-grade PP to realty will be industry investment to identify automated sorting processes.

MRC

About 30% of all investments for the period of eight months have been made in the German equipment by companies Veka Rus, Proplex, Plafen, Narodniy plastic and Docke Extrusion.

In the total structure of equipment supplies those from China are dominant, they make the third part of all supplies.

The positive dynamics of funds placement is stimulated by the growing demand for PVC-profiles products. Starting from July consumption of PVC-S in Russia exceeds the indices of 2008 and in September it made up 73 KT.


More detailed analysis of capacities of PVC processing and consumption in terms of sectors, markets and types of ready-made products concerning each converter, please, see in Annual report ⌠PVC in Russia-2010.

MRC

(Plastics Today) -- Dugdale Plc, a compounder of rigid and flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compounds, acquired the PVC compounding business of Berwin, but there was no transfer of equipment or personnel. The purchase only included intellectual property and customer base, according to a Dugdale spokesperson.

The acquisition is part of Dugdale's strategy to strengthen and grow its high-service PVC compounding activities and meets Berwin's desire to focus on developing its rubber compounding business.

Dugdale is targeting a double-figure increase in volume output over the next 12 months. Central to the strategy is a new compounding line commissioned in July 2010 that will be used to produce new flexible PVC compounds, including the additional grades from Berwin.

MRC

(Plastics Today) -- Pipe extruder Poloplast customers are the Vatican, Frankfurt Airport, and the Conference Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, and the new outlay will help the firm serve an even broader customer base, predicts the company's management.

The ┬20 million ($27.1 million) investment in the company's headquarters will be made in equal installments starting in 2011,according to Wolfgang Lux, the processor's managing director. The investment, funded entirely from cash flow, will be invested in new compounding and pipe extrusion equipment, injection molding lines for pipe fittings, and plant infrastructure.

Poloplast (Leonding, Austria) extrudes polypropylene pipe and tubing for the water and sewage lines as well as for home and building construction. This year Lux expects the company to reach sales of about ┬75 million, comparable to the sales it realized in 2009.

MRC