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A Schulman reveals new masterbatches for mulch films, reports 24% rise in annual profit
MATERIALS
lens-shaped blanks. Nearly all selected colours have been refined with special effect pigments and implemented in both opaque and transparent versions, the company says. In another development, the collaboration with industrial colour standards organization RAL has been extended, with the addition of a further 200 colours in the form of the RAL P2 series. The RAL colour standard for plastics, RAL P1, was launched at K 2010 [ADPO, December 2010] and comprises the 100 internationally most frequently requested colours from the RAL CLASSIC series. RAL P2 PLASTICS contains 160 opaque colours and 40 transparent colours to opens up ‘new creative possibilities for precise colour communication in the field of plastics’. The colour standards come from RAL while GabrielChemie was responsible for the technical implementation in 3-mm thick polypropylene. The colours are offered in the form of precise colour charts for plastic, and all colours are also available as single flat DIN-A6-size plastic blanks. According to the partners, the use of RAL P1 and RAL P2 removes the inaccuracies that used to occur when implementing RAL colours in plastics, saving plastics manufacturers and processors time, costs and raw materials. Contact: Gabriel-Chemie GmbH, Gumpoldskirchen, Austria. Tel: +43 2252 63630 0, Web: www.gabriel-chemie.com Or contact: RAL gGmbH, Sankt Augustin, Germany. Tel: +49 22 412 551660, Web: www.ral-farben.de
A Schulman reveals new masterbatches for mulch films, reports 24% rise in annual profit
O
hio-based masterbatch manufacturer A. Schulman, Inc has extended its Polybatch® masterbatch range with the addition of two new products to provide ‘higher agricultural yields with a natural look’. The new Polybatch EF 01258/10 and EF 38598/10 solutions are green and brown coloured masterbatches that allow ’visually unobtrusive mulch films to be used in environmentally sensitive areas’ as alternatives to black or white mulch films, the company says. Mulch films incorporating green or brown Polybatch significantly improve plant decomposition and help to ensure an optimal balance between the reflection and absorption
December 2012
of UV radiation, according to A. Schulman. The two new masterbatches are also said to be ideally suited for producing bags, toys and packaging materials. Polybatch EF 01258/10 and EF 38598/10 were introduced at the Fakuma 2012 International Trade Fair for Plastics Processing, held in October in Friedrichshafen, Germany. In other recent news from the company, A. Schulman has acquired privately owned ECM Plastics, Inc for US$36.5 million. Primarily a plastics compounder, the acquired company also offers expertise in speciality additive formulations and custom colour matching. Located in Worcester, MA, USA, ECM Plastics generates approximately $40 million in annual sales and employs around 140 staff. After expected synergies, operating margins are projected to exceed 10%. According to A. Schulman’s chairman, president and CEO Joseph M. Gingo, ECM Plastics is ‘an excellent strategic fit as we continue to focus on niche products’. ‘We expect ECM to provide strong synergies when combined with our current masterbatch and engineered plastics businesses allowing us to strengthen our position for long-term profitable growth in the USA’, he says. The acquisition will expand Schulman’s capabilities in a number of markets, especially personal care and cosmetics, where ECM has a strong presence, the company comments. For its fiscal year ended 31 August 2012, A Schulman reported net income of $50.9 million, up 24% from $41.0 million in fiscal 2011. Excluding certain items, net income for fiscal 2012 was $61.0 million compared with $58.0 million for the previous year. Fiscal 2012 net sales were $2.1 billion compared with $2.2 billion for fiscal 2011. Excluding the impact of foreign currency, net sales for fiscal 2012 were consistent with 2011 levels despite a volume decrease of 7.0%, the company says. Net sales for the fiscal 2012 fourth quarter were $524.4 million compared with $578.1 million for the same period last year, a decline of $53.7 million, or 9.3%. Volume declined 3.7% in the quarter compared with the same quarter last year. Excluding the translation effect of foreign currencies, net sales increased by $3.7 million in the fourth quarter compared with the same period last year. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 net income was $11.2 million, almost double the figure of $5.9 million for the comparable period the previous year. Excluding certain items, net income for the 2012 quarter was $14.1 million, compared with $15.0 million for 4Q FY 2011. A. Schulman’s sales in the Americas grew 8.1% to almost $559 million in fiscal 2012 as ‘a result of the
Additives for Polymers
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MATERIALS
improved mix in all product families’, the company says. Operating income more than doubled to $28.9 million. Net sales in the Asia Pacific increased by 1.8% year on year to $144.7 million despite a reduction in volume of 8.1%; however, the company noted a ‘significant volume increase’ for its masterbatch and engineered plastics product families in higher technical component products compared with the previous year. Regional operating income increased 81.6% to $10.1 million. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), sales for the year fell 8% to $1.4 billion, as a result of the problems in the European economy. Volume declined by 8.3% year on year. Operating income in the region fell 17% to $71.8 million. However, EMEA continued to be the company’s primary sales region in fiscal 2012, contributing 67% of sales and almost 65% of operating income. The Americas accounted for almost 27% of sales and just over 25% of operating income. Commenting on the results, Gingo says that the company will continue to focus on growth opportunities in the Americas and Asia Pacific ‘while maintaining its leadership position in Europe’. Contact: A. Schulman, Inc, Akron, OH, USA. Tel: +1 330 666 3751, Web: www.aschulman.com
AGY introduces new sizing systems for a wide range of thermoplastics
G
lass fibre specialist AGY has introduced new sizing systems. These are designed to give the company’s full family of rovings and yarns compatibility with a wide range of thermoplastic resins, from engineering materials including polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polycarbonate (PC) and polyamides 6 and 6.6 (PA6 and PA 6.6), to high-performance materials such as polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyetherketoneketone (PEKK), polyamides 11 and 12 (PA11 and PA12), and polyetherimide (PEI). Based on the company’s experience with direct sizing of its S-2 Glass yarns and rovings, the new sizing compositions are designed to be used as directly sized for rovings or yarns for the manufacture of products such as tapes, or as chopped fibres in 0.125 in (3.2 mm) and 0.25 in (6.4 mm) lengths for
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Additives for Polymers
compounding into thermoplastic materials. The sizings have been evaluated on a range of different AGY products, from low diameter E-Glass to S-2 Glass fibres, and have proven to offer increased mechanical and impact performances compared with traditional chopped fibres, the company reports. The new sizings were developed for applications where a range of different thermoplastic resins are used and where the added mechanical performance of an AGY highperformance glass solution brings new opportunities, the company says. These new opportunities ‘include metal replacement with thermoplastic composites and thermoplastic compounds, or alternatively as a way to remove weight from traditional thermoplastic composite products’, explains AGY president Drew Walker. For example, the use of these sizings with an S-2 Glass fibre product could allow a reduction of the glass fibres added to a given thermoplastic compound to enhance the aesthetics, reduce weight or even a combination of both, according to Walker. Using the same volume of glass fibres, they could also add a significant mechanical advantage over the traditional filled compound, he continues. ‘We expect these sizings, combined with our S-2 Glass technologies, to open up new applications in the automotive, aerospace and industrial markets’, Walker asserts. Sizings can be supplied on S-2 Glass and E-Glass fibres directly from AGY in either chopped or continuous forms. They can also be provided on fibres outside the traditional sphere of chopped fibre diameters, ‘offering additional performance advantages’ over traditional chopped or roving solutions, according to AGY. Contact: AGY, Aiken, SC, USA. Tel: +1 803 643 1501, Web: www.agy.com
Proviron and Reverdia collaborate to develop bio-based DMS
A
collaboration between fine chemicals producer Proviron and bio-based succinic acid specialist Reverdia has resulted in the introduction of Provichem® 2511 Eco, a di-methyl-succinate (DMS) that can be used as a solvent and as a raw material for fine chemicals such as pigments and UV stabilizers. Reverdia’s Biosuccinium™ product, from which Provichem 2511 Eco is derived, is made from renewable resources and has a much better carbon footprint than its petrochemically
December 2012
lens-shaped blanks. Nearly all selected colours have been refined with special effect pigments and implemented in both opaque and transparent versions, the company says. In another development, the collaboration with industrial colour standards organization RAL has been extended, with the addition of a further 200 colours in the form of the RAL P2 series. The RAL colour standard for plastics, RAL P1, was launched at K 2010 [ADPO, December 2010] and comprises the 100 internationally most frequently requested colours from the RAL CLASSIC series. RAL P2 PLASTICS contains 160 opaque colours and 40 transparent colours to opens up ‘new creative possibilities for precise colour communication in the field of plastics’. The colour standards come from RAL while GabrielChemie was responsible for the technical implementation in 3-mm thick polypropylene. The colours are offered in the form of precise colour charts for plastic, and all colours are also available as single flat DIN-A6-size plastic blanks. According to the partners, the use of RAL P1 and RAL P2 removes the inaccuracies that used to occur when implementing RAL colours in plastics, saving plastics manufacturers and processors time, costs and raw materials. Contact: Gabriel-Chemie GmbH, Gumpoldskirchen, Austria. Tel: +43 2252 63630 0, Web: www.gabriel-chemie.com Or contact: RAL gGmbH, Sankt Augustin, Germany. Tel: +49 22 412 551660, Web: www.ral-farben.de
A Schulman reveals new masterbatches for mulch films, reports 24% rise in annual profit
O
hio-based masterbatch manufacturer A. Schulman, Inc has extended its Polybatch® masterbatch range with the addition of two new products to provide ‘higher agricultural yields with a natural look’. The new Polybatch EF 01258/10 and EF 38598/10 solutions are green and brown coloured masterbatches that allow ’visually unobtrusive mulch films to be used in environmentally sensitive areas’ as alternatives to black or white mulch films, the company says. Mulch films incorporating green or brown Polybatch significantly improve plant decomposition and help to ensure an optimal balance between the reflection and absorption
December 2012
of UV radiation, according to A. Schulman. The two new masterbatches are also said to be ideally suited for producing bags, toys and packaging materials. Polybatch EF 01258/10 and EF 38598/10 were introduced at the Fakuma 2012 International Trade Fair for Plastics Processing, held in October in Friedrichshafen, Germany. In other recent news from the company, A. Schulman has acquired privately owned ECM Plastics, Inc for US$36.5 million. Primarily a plastics compounder, the acquired company also offers expertise in speciality additive formulations and custom colour matching. Located in Worcester, MA, USA, ECM Plastics generates approximately $40 million in annual sales and employs around 140 staff. After expected synergies, operating margins are projected to exceed 10%. According to A. Schulman’s chairman, president and CEO Joseph M. Gingo, ECM Plastics is ‘an excellent strategic fit as we continue to focus on niche products’. ‘We expect ECM to provide strong synergies when combined with our current masterbatch and engineered plastics businesses allowing us to strengthen our position for long-term profitable growth in the USA’, he says. The acquisition will expand Schulman’s capabilities in a number of markets, especially personal care and cosmetics, where ECM has a strong presence, the company comments. For its fiscal year ended 31 August 2012, A Schulman reported net income of $50.9 million, up 24% from $41.0 million in fiscal 2011. Excluding certain items, net income for fiscal 2012 was $61.0 million compared with $58.0 million for the previous year. Fiscal 2012 net sales were $2.1 billion compared with $2.2 billion for fiscal 2011. Excluding the impact of foreign currency, net sales for fiscal 2012 were consistent with 2011 levels despite a volume decrease of 7.0%, the company says. Net sales for the fiscal 2012 fourth quarter were $524.4 million compared with $578.1 million for the same period last year, a decline of $53.7 million, or 9.3%. Volume declined 3.7% in the quarter compared with the same quarter last year. Excluding the translation effect of foreign currencies, net sales increased by $3.7 million in the fourth quarter compared with the same period last year. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 net income was $11.2 million, almost double the figure of $5.9 million for the comparable period the previous year. Excluding certain items, net income for the 2012 quarter was $14.1 million, compared with $15.0 million for 4Q FY 2011. A. Schulman’s sales in the Americas grew 8.1% to almost $559 million in fiscal 2012 as ‘a result of the
Additives for Polymers
3
MATERIALS
improved mix in all product families’, the company says. Operating income more than doubled to $28.9 million. Net sales in the Asia Pacific increased by 1.8% year on year to $144.7 million despite a reduction in volume of 8.1%; however, the company noted a ‘significant volume increase’ for its masterbatch and engineered plastics product families in higher technical component products compared with the previous year. Regional operating income increased 81.6% to $10.1 million. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), sales for the year fell 8% to $1.4 billion, as a result of the problems in the European economy. Volume declined by 8.3% year on year. Operating income in the region fell 17% to $71.8 million. However, EMEA continued to be the company’s primary sales region in fiscal 2012, contributing 67% of sales and almost 65% of operating income. The Americas accounted for almost 27% of sales and just over 25% of operating income. Commenting on the results, Gingo says that the company will continue to focus on growth opportunities in the Americas and Asia Pacific ‘while maintaining its leadership position in Europe’. Contact: A. Schulman, Inc, Akron, OH, USA. Tel: +1 330 666 3751, Web: www.aschulman.com
AGY introduces new sizing systems for a wide range of thermoplastics
G
lass fibre specialist AGY has introduced new sizing systems. These are designed to give the company’s full family of rovings and yarns compatibility with a wide range of thermoplastic resins, from engineering materials including polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polycarbonate (PC) and polyamides 6 and 6.6 (PA6 and PA 6.6), to high-performance materials such as polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyetherketoneketone (PEKK), polyamides 11 and 12 (PA11 and PA12), and polyetherimide (PEI). Based on the company’s experience with direct sizing of its S-2 Glass yarns and rovings, the new sizing compositions are designed to be used as directly sized for rovings or yarns for the manufacture of products such as tapes, or as chopped fibres in 0.125 in (3.2 mm) and 0.25 in (6.4 mm) lengths for
4
Additives for Polymers
compounding into thermoplastic materials. The sizings have been evaluated on a range of different AGY products, from low diameter E-Glass to S-2 Glass fibres, and have proven to offer increased mechanical and impact performances compared with traditional chopped fibres, the company reports. The new sizings were developed for applications where a range of different thermoplastic resins are used and where the added mechanical performance of an AGY highperformance glass solution brings new opportunities, the company says. These new opportunities ‘include metal replacement with thermoplastic composites and thermoplastic compounds, or alternatively as a way to remove weight from traditional thermoplastic composite products’, explains AGY president Drew Walker. For example, the use of these sizings with an S-2 Glass fibre product could allow a reduction of the glass fibres added to a given thermoplastic compound to enhance the aesthetics, reduce weight or even a combination of both, according to Walker. Using the same volume of glass fibres, they could also add a significant mechanical advantage over the traditional filled compound, he continues. ‘We expect these sizings, combined with our S-2 Glass technologies, to open up new applications in the automotive, aerospace and industrial markets’, Walker asserts. Sizings can be supplied on S-2 Glass and E-Glass fibres directly from AGY in either chopped or continuous forms. They can also be provided on fibres outside the traditional sphere of chopped fibre diameters, ‘offering additional performance advantages’ over traditional chopped or roving solutions, according to AGY. Contact: AGY, Aiken, SC, USA. Tel: +1 803 643 1501, Web: www.agy.com
Proviron and Reverdia collaborate to develop bio-based DMS
A
collaboration between fine chemicals producer Proviron and bio-based succinic acid specialist Reverdia has resulted in the introduction of Provichem® 2511 Eco, a di-methyl-succinate (DMS) that can be used as a solvent and as a raw material for fine chemicals such as pigments and UV stabilizers. Reverdia’s Biosuccinium™ product, from which Provichem 2511 Eco is derived, is made from renewable resources and has a much better carbon footprint than its petrochemically
December 2012