Alpla continues expansion with acquisition of Italian firm Propack

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Austrian packaging company Alpla has acquired a 100% stake in Italian plastic bottle producer Propack, said the company on its website.

Headquartered in Ostellato, Propack specialises in the production of HDPE and PET bottles for home care. The deal sees Alpla expand its production capacities in north-east Italy with its eighth plant in the country.

Alpla was drawn to Propack due to its complementing product portfolio and its proximity to potential new customers in one of the most industrialised areas of the country.

Alpla CEO Gunther Lehner said: "We are gaining access to a strong distribution network. Propack is a good strategic partner which will help us to achieve our targets in Italy, where we are involved since 1985."

The announcement marks the latest in a succession of acquisitions by Alpla as it aims to expand its production capacity across the globe. Earlier this month it bought the West Bend bottle manufacturing plant in Wisconsin from Gehl Foods.

Propack was founded in 2002 under the leadership of Gianni Scapoli who developed the company as an exclusive supplier of bottles for Biochimica, a leading producer of detergents in Italy. The company employs about 20 people.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Plastic packaging could face greater regulation over its use of the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA), after the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) supported a French proposal to regard it ‘as a substance of very high concern’, said Foodbev.

The ECHA said that the compound has ‘endocrine-disrupting properties which cause probable serious effects to human health’. The compound – found in plastic packaging such as water bottles – has been variously linked to a risk of behavioural problems in children, reduced thyroid function and even an increased risk of cancer in later life.

The ECHA agreed that BPA gave rise to an equal level of risk to that of carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic substances. It had already included BPA in its list of high-concern chemicals because of potential consequences to fertility and the development of unborn babies.

The ECHA has also added perfluorohexane-1-sulphonic acid and its salts to the candidate list due to their very persistent and very bioaccumulative properties.

But the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is yet to act on the latest development. It had previously refused to ban use of BPAs in plastic packaging, arguing that the consequences of BPA exposure were yet to be comprehensively investigated.

Indeed, EFSA ruled in January 2015 that exposure from all sources is very low and well below a new safe limit for all age groups.

"The fact that any realistic exposure to BPA is well below even the conservative safety threshold established by EFSA shows that blanket restrictions being applied at national level, in particular in France, are unjustified and should be withdrawn," said Jasmin Bird of the PC/BPA Group of PlasticsEurope.

Of the latest ECHA move, she added: "We do not understand the decision of the Member State Committee [of the ECHA] to support the dossier on BPA put forward by the French authorities. We believe that this weakens the strong principle of science-based regulatory decisions in the EU, and will result in further uncertainty without providing benefit to the safety of consumers."

Claims about BPA’s impact on obesity, diabetes and ADHD have never been proven. Wary of growing concern around BPA and other materials, like epoxy, Dow has developed an ultra-thin thermoplastic film coating comprising a specially designed mix of speciality polyolefin polymers in an aqueous dispersion. Canvera Polyolefin Dispersions help eliminate bisphenol A (BPA) and other materials of concern for brand owners and consumers.

Jan Weernink, global marketing director for Dow Coating Materials, said: "Materials such as epoxy and BPA have come under increasing regulatory pressure across the globe in recent years, following health concerns. This has created a growing need for a safe and durable alternative for metal food and drink cans."
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has announced its investment to build its first regional Automotive Application Center in Asia Pacific, to be located at the BASF Innovation Campus Asia Pacific (Shanghai), China, as per the company's press release.

Start of operations is planned for the end of 2018, pending relevant approvals by authorities.

As an integrated part of BASF’s existing research and development (R&D) facilities for coatings solutions within the Innovation Campus, the EUR33.7 million investment will include an automotive application center - equipped with a state-of-the-art spray booth for electrostatic applications, a physical testing lab, and the 3-D robot - as well as process catalyst research and development laboratories. These facilities, occupying a combined floor space of 5,000 square meters, are designed to enable customer oriented R&D activities, and perform an accurate simulation of OEM paint shops.

With 48.6 million light vehicle units produced in 2016, Asia Pacific is by far the world’s largest automotive market, covering 52% of global production. China is already the world’s largest car producer, with 27 million light vehicle units produced in 2016. "This investment is a significant milestone in our effort to strengthen our R&D footprint in Asia Pacific and improve our proximity to customers in the fastest growing region for our automotive coatings solutions," said Dirk Bremm, President, Coatings division, BASF. "With this new automotive application center, we aim not only to continue our successful investment in automotive OEM coatings in China, but also to address long-term competitiveness in this important automotive market."

"Our R&D capabilities in Asia Pacific will be further strengthened by integrating the new facilities and teams at the Innovation Campus in Shanghai," said Harald Lauke, President, Advanced Materials & Systems Research and Regional Research Representative for Asia Pacific, BASF. "Technology leadership is a key enabler to support growth in China and to increase our competitiveness in the long run."

In addition to the new facilities for automotive coatings solutions, this investment also includes the new Process Catalyst R&D Center, focusing on the development of new process catalyst to meet specific needs in Asia. With strong research competencies in catalyst preparation, scaling up and performance evaluation, this R&D Center will further strengthen the collaboration with partners in the region, and provide support to BASF’s world-scale process catalyst manufacturing site which is under construction in Caojing, Shanghai.

The 3-D robot can simulate nearly any situation at a paint line anywhere in the world, which enables the new center to optimize application processes and products. It can apply the automotive coatings not only on horizontal and vertical surfaces, but also on three-dimensional objects, for instance, car doors and bumpers. The 3-D robot will allow BASF to develop new products for its automotive customers, and will also provide design solutions for OEM products as well as new developments specifically to the automotive coatings industry. The application unit of the robot consists of control software which is specifically designed and developed only for BASF. The 3-D robot will be in housed in a large state-of-the-art spray booth and will have its own oven room.

As MRC wrote before, in July 2016, BASF announced that it would strengthen its local production capability for waterborne and solventborne coatings in Thailand by building a new manufacturing facility at its Bangpoo site. The new production facility complements the facilities at the new Coatings Technical Competence Center ASEAN, which was opened in September 2015 and includes a laboratory for product development, performance testing, color design, as well as a small batch production unit. The expansion will better serve the strong demand from the expanding automotive industry in ASEAN.

BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF generated sales of about EUR58 billion in 2016.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp may not export any diesel in the spot market until the fourth quarter of this year, potentially boosting margins for the fuel, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to industry sources.

The refiner has not exported any diesel in the spot market since January, while overall diesel exports from Taiwan have fallen by about 10%, according to the sources and trade data.

Formosa has had more refining unit shutdowns this year than last year, including planned maintenance at several units from mid-March to late April.

It also had an unexpected technical issue at a crude distillation unit in May, which forced the refiner to lower its operating rates and eventually shut the unit for maintenance in July.

Overall diesel exports from Taiwan, Asia's fifth largest diesel exporter, fell to about 19.7 MMbbl in the four months to end-April, down 10.1% from the same period last year, latest available government data shows.

This came despite a 4.8% decline in domestic demand for the fuel used in the marine, transportation and power generation sectors for the period.

Taiwan's monthly diesel exports in April were the lowest since at least January 2016, which is as far back as government data goes.

Taiwan’s only other exporter, CPC Corp, has kept its diesel export volumes steady, an industry source familiar with the matter said.

Formosa last sold two diesel cargoes totaling 600,000 bbl for loading in mid-January, a second industry source said.

"(Formosa) just committed to term liftings and sometimes had to allocate between months," the source said, referring to term volumes allocated to regular buyers every year.

Spot cargoes for overseas sales were only likely to resume after Formosa completed maintenance at its 80,000-bpd residue desulfurizer unit in October, he added. The unit removes sulfur from crude oil to make oil products like low sulfur diesel.

Formosa may have also allocated more term cargoes to one of its regular buyers due to demand, a third industry source said.

A Formosa spokesman could not be reached for comment.

As MRC informed before, Formosa Plastics Corporation, U.S.A., part of Formosa Petrochemical, will build a new, state-of- the-art polypropylene (PP) production line at its Point Comfort, Texas site. This will be the first new PP production to be built in the US in many years. It continues the company’s longstanding commitments to its customers, its employees and the communities in which it operates.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company's plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel has today announced the acquisition of UK-based Flexcrete Technologies Ltd and an agreement to acquire French manufacturer Disa Technology (Disatech), said the company on its website.

The deals will further strengthen AkzoNobel’s global leadership position in supplying innovative industrial coatings and aerospace and automotive coatings.

Flexcrete Technologies manufactures products primarily used for the protection and repair of concrete substrates. The acquisition will allow AkzoNobel to expand its offering in several key industrial markets, including downstream oil and gas and chemical processing, commercial infrastructure, power, water and waste water, and mining and mineral processing.

Disatech supplies innovative adhesive films used in the aerospace, transportation and industrial equipment sectors. Headquartered in Limoges, the company specializes in the manufacture of self-adhesive vinyl, polyester and polycarbonate films used on aircraft, vehicles, agricultural machinery and other equipment, and is the leader in aerospace technical marking systems.

The deal will bring new technologies and services that complement AkzoNobel’s existing portfolio of coatings and films for aerospace and transport sectors.

Commenting on the agreements, AkzoNobel CEO Ton Buchner said: “Both acquisitions support our strategy of investing in growth and innovation and are strongly aligned with our growth strategy.

"They will expand our existing product and service offering, enabling us to deliver significant benefits to our customers. These deals also offer us great opportunities to pursue further coatings innovations in a number of our core markets."

The signed agreement between AkzoNobel and Disatech is subject to regulatory approvals.
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