Engel opens physical foam moulding competence centre in Germany

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Engel’s German subsidiary, Engel Deutschland Technologieforum has opened a MuCell Competence Centre in Stuttgart to advance the company’s structural foam moulding technology, said Plasticsnewseurope.

The Austrian injection moulding machinery supplier said the centre was set up in response to growing lightweight trends, stating that structural foam moulding – MuCell – was one of the most important technologies available.

The microcellular foam injection moulding process for thermoplastics materials provides unique design flexibility and saves costs. The process allows for plastic part design with material wall thickness optimised for functionality and not for the injection moulding process.

Therefore, the combination of density reduction and design for functionality often results in material and weight savings of more than 20%. "As a competence centre, we are even better able to support our customers to more fully exploit the potential offered by the physical foaming process," explained Claus Wilde, managing director at Engel Deutschland in Stuttgart.

"We already have a number of major customers here in southwestern Germany who use the MuCell process in their factories worldwide," he noted.

As part of the project, a large manufacturing cell has been installed at the ENGEL technology centre in Stuttgart for customer trials, development work, application-specific consulting, training and small-lot production. Equipped with an Engel duo 350 injection moulding machine with a clamping force of 3500 kN, an integrated ENGEL easix multi-axis robot and a T-200 MuCell unit from the company’s technology partner Trexel, the cell covers a broad spectrum of applications.

Over the past months, Engel’s Lukas Neunzig has completed a number of MuCell projects with global customers at Engel’s headquarters in Schwertberg and at the large-scale machine plant in St. Valentin.

According to Engel, which held a MuCell technology event in mid-September, the process is not just for car manufacturers. "We are receiving a growing number of inquiries from other industries as well, such as technical injection moulding and medical technology," says Wilde.

Two main drivers of success, said Engel, are first the general lightweight trend and, second, the high quality of the components produced in the structural foam moulding process. Physical foaming involves the injection and homogeneous distribution of a blowing agent into the plastic melt during plastification.

After injection into the mould, the gas separates from the melt and creates a fine-cell foam structure. In this way, significantly less material is needed to fill the cavities compared to standard injection moulding and the component weight decreases.

MuCell is a brand owned by the company Trexel, located in Wilmington, Massachusetts. As a system supplier, ENGEL imports the MuCell systems for its customers and manages the integration of the controls and safety aspects into the injection moulding machine.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS Automotive has announced Projekt Grenadier's senior management team, updated the search for the site, and outlined the engine options currently under consideration, said the company on its website.

INEOS Automotive has also launched the Projekt Grenadier website, revealing exciting new details about the 'go-anywhere' off-roader. The launch of this interactive website marks the first milestone in the 600 million project to build the world's best and most uncompromising 4x4.

"Projekt Grenadier is starting to capture the public's imagination and this new website is the next milestone on the road", says Jim Ratcliffe, INEOS Chairman. "Our decision to build a brand new world- class 4x4 is an adventure story and we want everyone to share it." Projekt Grenadier – the name given by INEOS to its plan to build a world-class uncompromising 4 x 4 off-roader – reaches a new milestone today with the launch of an interactive website and social media channels.

The website profiles the go-anywhere off-roader’s new management team, as well as featuring a series of videos revealing the genesis of the project, initial thoughts on the vehicle design and the current search for a suitable manufacturing site. This and the new social feeds will provide a window on the project for the general public, sharing regular updates throughout the vehicle’s development – and will even invite followers to participate in the process by sharing their views and designs.

The website launch took place at The Grenadier pub in London’s Belgravia. It was here that Jim Ratcliffe, the chairman of INEOS, first came up with the idea of building a world-class uncompromising 4x4 off-roader to replace the discontinued Land Rover Defender.

INEOS has committed to spending ?600 million on the vehicle and expects to create up to 7,000 direct and indirect jobs. A range of models are planned for sale across the world including multiple wheel-base options, as well as diesel, petrol and hybrid engines to suit different markets.

Dirk Heilmann, the CEO of INEOS Automotive and leader of Projekt Grenadier, says, "Our job is to create the world’s best and most uncompromising 4x4, and we are steadily moving forward with the project. We have recruited a first-class management team, are making good progress in our search for a manufacturing site, and we are now launching the new Projekt Grenadier interactive website."

INEOS Automotive’s new off-roader will have the spirit and straightforward engineering of the old 4x4s but with a massive leap forward in reliability. It will appeal to explorers, farmers and off-road enthusiasts as well as city dwellers seeking adventure.

"The building of our new 4x4 is an adventure story in itself,” says Jim Ratcliffe, INEOS Chairman. “We are used to taking on big, innovative projects and delivering them safely on time and on budget. We have vast amounts of manufacturing and engineering expertise, and a proven track record of success, and we look forward to applying this to create a world-class 4x4."

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Polish chemical Company Ciech Group has started importing and distributing Iranian polyolefin to the European markets, said Tehrantimes.

According to the company, three Iranian petrochemical producers, namely Jam Petrochemical Company (JPC), Jam Polypropylene Company (JPPC), and Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industry Commercial Company (PGPICC) will supply polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) to Ciech Group.

"We want the distribution of high-quality plastics on the European market to be a hallmark of Ciech Trading," said Artur Osuchowski, a management board member at Ciech.

Ciech Trading said it could now offer around 200 types of plastics, with products not only for the packaging industry but also for the automotive, agriculture, construction and electronics industries. "We have the very first good references from European customers who bought our polyolefins from Iran," said Urszula Ros, sales director at Ciech Trading.

By moving into the distribution of polyolefins in Europe, Ciech Group has become a competitor to state-controlled Polish oil, gas and petrochemicals group PKN Orlen and Orlen’s Czech subsidiary, Unipetrol.

Since the signing of the 2015 nuclear deal with six major powers, and the consequent lifting of economic sanctions, Iran has regained access to international oil, gas and petrochemical markets.

CIECH was established in 1945. Today, it is the leader on the Polish chemical market and one of the largest Polish enterprises with an international range. The Group is competitive and employs modern management solutions. It consists of 8 manufacturing sites, in addition to trade and service businesses. The CIECH Group offers high-end chemical products: soda ash (the second largest European provider), sodium bicarbonate, salt, polyester and epoxy resins, agricultural products and glass products, as well as other chemicals. They are used by glass, food and furniture industries, for detergent production, in agriculture and in construction.
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MOSCOW (MRC) - September shutdown of the two largest producers of high density polyethylene (HDPE) did not lead to another wave of price rise in the Russian market. On the contrary, prices of some HDPE grades remained without significant changes in comparison with August, according to the ICIS-MRC Price Report.

HDPE prices have begun to rise in Russia since August on the seasonal strong demand and turnaround at Gazprom neftekhim Salavat and Nizhnekamskneftekhim. PE prices continued to rise in September on the back of the shutdowns of the two largest producers. Stavrolen and Kazanorgsintez, but the price increase mostly affected film and pipe polyethylene, while changes in other segments were insignificant.

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat was shut much more longer than it was initially planned. The shutdown started from 1 July and aimed to be finished before the beginning of August, but, due to problems in the production of ethylene, the restart of HDPE production was only on 27 August.

The long shutdown of Gazprom neftekhim Salavat resulted in a shortage of natural pipe PE100 in the market, as the company is a key supplier of this PE grade. Despite the stable operation of Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat in September, the lack of supply of natural PE100 in the first month of autumn continued to be felt in the Russian market.

The deferred demand in August and the absence of a similar polyethylene offer by Nizhnekamskneftekhim have kept a small deficit on the market. Prices fro natural PE 100 in the late September increased to Rb98,000-100,000/tonne FCA, including VAT.

Prices for film HDPE have grown dynamically since August, with prices for some items exceeded the level of Rb100,000/tonne FCA, including VAT. The growth dynamics of film HDPE prices slowed in September, and by the end of the month the maximum price reached the level of Rb108,000/tonne FCA, including VAT.

Part of the situation in the film polyethylene market was saved by a serious increase in the volume of imports from Uzbekistan and Ukraine, and shutdown of Stavrolen and Kazanorgsintez did not affect prices significantly.

The markets of injection moulding and blow moulding HDPE reacted relatively calmly to the September shutdowns of the two plants. Sufficient stocks of both producers and traders helped to keep prices from sharp growth.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Covestro (part of Bayer) has recently celebrated the ten-year anniversary of the establishment of its thermoplastic polyurethane production site in Changhua, Taiwan, according to GV.

According to Covestro, Changhua is the largest site within its TPU production network and also houses the Asia Pacific TPU R+D center.

Over the past decade, the Changhua site has benefited its stakeholders in Taiwan and other countries in Asia Pacific by providing full-service solutions based on combining sustainable production and innovative solutions development, said Covestro.

Over the years, the site has expanded its product portfolio in line with the needs of the markets and industries served, including, e.g., footwear, textiles, wearable devices, soccer balls, mobile phones, and automobiles.

As MRC reported previously, in September 2017, German drugs and pesticides group Bayer further reduced its holding in Covestro to 31.5% from 40.9% by selling 19 million shares in the plastics business for a total of EUR1.2 billion (USD1.4 billion).

Earlier, on 1 September 2015, Bayer MaterialScience became known as Covestro. The plans for the carve-out of Bayer MaterialScience were announced in September 2014.

Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience) is an independent subgroup within Bayer. It was created as part of the restructuring of Bayer AG from the former business group Bayer Polymers, with certain of its activities being spun off to Lanxess AG. Covestro manufactures and develops materials such as coatings, adhesives and sealants, polycarbonates (CDs, DVDs), polyurethanes (automotive seating, insulation for refrigerating appliances) etc.
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