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Bright mood in Brighton
FOCUS ON P O LY V I N Y L C H L O R I D E A MONTHLY REPORT FROM GEOFFREY PRITCHARD
AN INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER MONITORING COMMERCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF PVC ISSN 1468–5736
JUNE 2002
BRIGHT MOOD IN BRIGHTON
In this issue
PRICES AND DEMAND 1-2 Injection mouldings, including PVC pipe fittings, lead the way LEGISLATION AND TAX 2-3 Slovak Republic bans PVC manufacture, import and export from 2008 ENVIRONMENT 3 UN brands PVC as toxic waste COMPANY NEWS 3-4 Private equity owners weigh up merger of Vinnolit and Vestolit PLANT CAPACITY REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
4-6 6
MARKETS AND APPLICATIONS
6
COMPETITION FOR PVC
7
INNOVATION
7
REPORTS
7
PATENTS EVENTS
7-8 8
The PVC industry gathers together every three years in Brighton, England, for a major technical and business conference. More than five hundred representatives of the PVC industry were there, with quite a few from outside Europe, including the US and Asia. This year the mood was optimistic, with business preparing to bounce back – or at least crawl back – after the difficulties of 2001, and some speakers declared that the peak of public opposition to the industry in Europe, apart from the Slovak Republic perhaps, has been passed. There has clearly been some deep thinking going on. Criticisms, it was stressed, should be squarely addressed, with no knee-jerk rebuttal. Sustainability should be the target, however far away it seemed. Eventually, when PVC’s competitors are forced to pass the same stringent tests of environmental compliance, as they surely must if there is any justice in the world, PVC will have strengthened its position by facing the music first. Leading environmentalists were around to help the PVC community to go down this route. There was much talk of the Natural Step approach. Jonathon Porritt, a leading UK environmental campaigner who has engaged in dialogue with both the PVC industry and its customers, urged the industry not to be content with just becoming marginally less dangerous. It would be much better, he said, to adopt a more radical approach and to work towards sustainability, with no lasting adverse effect on the planet, whether by net
resource depletion, watercourse contamination, atmospheric pollution or whatever. One or two delegates expressed concern privately that a long term perspective was all very well, but businesses needed to survive in the short term, and PVC was not getting fair and equal treatment from regulators and opinion formers. Numerous speakers later addressed the detail of how to survive, how to improve technologically, how to increase market share, and how to make PVC products more acceptable as well as cost-effective. There was even talk of PVC replacing other resins in certain markets. Measured optimism, based on realism, can be more convincing than bravado. Geoff Pritchard
PRICES AND DEMAND Injection mouldings, including PVC pipe fittings, lead the way North America’s output of injection moulded products is projected to climb by 7-8% in 2002, rebounding from production declines of 3% in 2000 and 2001. The segment for PVC pipe fittings is showing the strongest sign of recovery, posting a 30% increase in production in 3Q 2001 and an 80% surge in 4Q 2001. A bar graph shows the injection moulding business index from 1999 to 2002. Modern Plastics International, Apr 2002, 32 (4), 64
POLYVINYL CHLORIDE PVC POLYVINYL CHLORIDE PVC POLYVINYL CHLORIDE PVC
AN INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER MONITORING COMMERCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF PVC ISSN 1468–5736
JUNE 2002
BRIGHT MOOD IN BRIGHTON
In this issue
PRICES AND DEMAND 1-2 Injection mouldings, including PVC pipe fittings, lead the way LEGISLATION AND TAX 2-3 Slovak Republic bans PVC manufacture, import and export from 2008 ENVIRONMENT 3 UN brands PVC as toxic waste COMPANY NEWS 3-4 Private equity owners weigh up merger of Vinnolit and Vestolit PLANT CAPACITY REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
4-6 6
MARKETS AND APPLICATIONS
6
COMPETITION FOR PVC
7
INNOVATION
7
REPORTS
7
PATENTS EVENTS
7-8 8
The PVC industry gathers together every three years in Brighton, England, for a major technical and business conference. More than five hundred representatives of the PVC industry were there, with quite a few from outside Europe, including the US and Asia. This year the mood was optimistic, with business preparing to bounce back – or at least crawl back – after the difficulties of 2001, and some speakers declared that the peak of public opposition to the industry in Europe, apart from the Slovak Republic perhaps, has been passed. There has clearly been some deep thinking going on. Criticisms, it was stressed, should be squarely addressed, with no knee-jerk rebuttal. Sustainability should be the target, however far away it seemed. Eventually, when PVC’s competitors are forced to pass the same stringent tests of environmental compliance, as they surely must if there is any justice in the world, PVC will have strengthened its position by facing the music first. Leading environmentalists were around to help the PVC community to go down this route. There was much talk of the Natural Step approach. Jonathon Porritt, a leading UK environmental campaigner who has engaged in dialogue with both the PVC industry and its customers, urged the industry not to be content with just becoming marginally less dangerous. It would be much better, he said, to adopt a more radical approach and to work towards sustainability, with no lasting adverse effect on the planet, whether by net
resource depletion, watercourse contamination, atmospheric pollution or whatever. One or two delegates expressed concern privately that a long term perspective was all very well, but businesses needed to survive in the short term, and PVC was not getting fair and equal treatment from regulators and opinion formers. Numerous speakers later addressed the detail of how to survive, how to improve technologically, how to increase market share, and how to make PVC products more acceptable as well as cost-effective. There was even talk of PVC replacing other resins in certain markets. Measured optimism, based on realism, can be more convincing than bravado. Geoff Pritchard
PRICES AND DEMAND Injection mouldings, including PVC pipe fittings, lead the way North America’s output of injection moulded products is projected to climb by 7-8% in 2002, rebounding from production declines of 3% in 2000 and 2001. The segment for PVC pipe fittings is showing the strongest sign of recovery, posting a 30% increase in production in 3Q 2001 and an 80% surge in 4Q 2001. A bar graph shows the injection moulding business index from 1999 to 2002. Modern Plastics International, Apr 2002, 32 (4), 64
POLYVINYL CHLORIDE PVC POLYVINYL CHLORIDE PVC POLYVINYL CHLORIDE PVC