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ECC to distribute Swancor resins
Industry news
AGY boosts S-2 capacity
People DSM Composite Resins (www.dsmcompositeresins. com) of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, has appointed Dr Michael Effing as President of the DSM Composite Resins business unit. He has previously worked with companies such as Johns Manville, Owens Corning and DuPont. Effing joined DSM from Huntsman Materials & Effects, where he was Vice President & General Manager Textile Effects. Reichhold (www.reichhold.com) has announced the retirement of Executive Vice-President, Global Composites, Doug Frey. Frey first joined Reichhold of Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA, in 1985 as VP, Manufacturing for the Emulsion Polymers Division (EPD). He became Division President for EPD in 1993 and from 1996-1998, he served on the Executive Leadership Team before transferring to Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil, as President of Resana (later Reichhold do Brasil) until retiring in 2001. He rejoined Reichhold in 2004, first as Chief Operating Officer, before becoming Executive VP, Global Composites. Roberto Lazzari has joined German compounds producer Menzolit (www.menzolit.com) as a Sales Manager for Italy and South East Europe. He will be responsible for customers in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, focussing on growth markets including automotive, electrical, and building.
14
REINFORCEDplastics
AGY OF Aiken, South Carolina, USA, is increasing production of its S-2 Glass® products by a further 20% in response to continued robust demand for composite armour systems in US military vehicles. “This increase is in addition to the 50% increase we already announced earlier this year following the completion of our new manufacturing facility in Aiken, South Carolina,” says Drew Walker, AGY's Vice President of Sales and Marketing. According to Walker, the company shipped a record amount of S-2 Glass fibre products in 2008, far exceeding previous records set in 2005, 2006 and 2007. S-2 Glass is used in composite armour systems for vehicles such as the HighMobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (Humvee) and the Mine-Resistant AmbushProtected (MRAP) vehicles. The high demand is due to current programmes for providing US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan with armoured vehicles giving protection against roadside bombs, improvised explosive devices and explosively formed projectiles. S-2 Glass, which first hit the market in 1968, offers a tensile strength exceeding standardmodulus carbon fibre and most grades of aramid fibre, according to AGY. Its strain-to-failure capability of 5.7% compared to aramid’s 2.8% and carbon’s 1.5%, improves its ability to withstand ballistic and other types of impact. AGY; www.agy.com
January/February 2009
ECC to distribute Swancor resins US COMPANY Energy Composites Corp (ECC) and Swancor Industries Co Ltd of Taiwan have signed an agreement that gives ECC the exclusive right to distribute Swancor’s epoxy resins to manufacturers of composite wind turbine components in North and South America. The deal also provides ECC with access to a line of vinyl ester resins for its own use. ECC designs and manufactures composite structures for a range of applications at its facility in Wisconsin. Products include flue gas desulphurisation equipment for power plants, infrastructure for biofuel processing, components for wind energy systems, and storage systems for the petrochemical industry. “From alternative energy to environmental compliance to
water management, this product line fits ECC’s business plan to deploy highly-functional, cost-effective composites as an enabler of clean-tech,” says ECC’s CEO Sam Fairchild. “We are very excited to distribute these epoxy resin systems across the wind energy market, especially given the clear indication that market demand for mega-turbines off the East and West Coasts of the United States as well as in the Great Lakes and the Gulf is only now at the formative stage.” ECC says that the agreement does not affect Swancor’s existing supply relationships with certain Asian and European wind energy customers. Energy Composites Corp; www. energycompositescorp.com Swancor Industries; www.swancor.com
Zoltek denied rehearing of case ZOLTEK CORP has seen its petition for a rehearing of its case against Gurit’s subsidiary Structural Polymer Group, now Gurit (UK), denied by the United States Court of Appeals of the Eighth Circuit in St Louis, Missouri, USA. Zoltek of St Louis had asked the court to reconsider its earlier decision to affirm the jury verdict in Gurit’s favour of over US$21 million. Gurit has now filed a motion to collect the $21 million directly from a bond Zoltek was required to post in order to appeal the verdict rendered in a jury trial in November 2006. Gurit’s motion seeks to recover over $23 million from the bondholder, which includes the original jury verdict as well
as post-judgment interest and court costs. The original case arose from the 10-year supply agreement between the then Structural Polymer Group and Zoltek for the sale of large filament count carbon fibres, an agreement Gurit claims Zoltek repeatedly was in serious breach of. Gurit of Watwill, Switzerland, terminated the agreement, which led Zoltek to file a lawsuit alleging that Gurit’s termination was in breach of contract and amounted to fraud. Earlier this autumn, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed this second lawsuit. Gurit; www.gurit.com Zoltek; www.zoltek.com
AGY boosts S-2 capacity
People DSM Composite Resins (www.dsmcompositeresins. com) of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, has appointed Dr Michael Effing as President of the DSM Composite Resins business unit. He has previously worked with companies such as Johns Manville, Owens Corning and DuPont. Effing joined DSM from Huntsman Materials & Effects, where he was Vice President & General Manager Textile Effects. Reichhold (www.reichhold.com) has announced the retirement of Executive Vice-President, Global Composites, Doug Frey. Frey first joined Reichhold of Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA, in 1985 as VP, Manufacturing for the Emulsion Polymers Division (EPD). He became Division President for EPD in 1993 and from 1996-1998, he served on the Executive Leadership Team before transferring to Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil, as President of Resana (later Reichhold do Brasil) until retiring in 2001. He rejoined Reichhold in 2004, first as Chief Operating Officer, before becoming Executive VP, Global Composites. Roberto Lazzari has joined German compounds producer Menzolit (www.menzolit.com) as a Sales Manager for Italy and South East Europe. He will be responsible for customers in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, focussing on growth markets including automotive, electrical, and building.
14
REINFORCEDplastics
AGY OF Aiken, South Carolina, USA, is increasing production of its S-2 Glass® products by a further 20% in response to continued robust demand for composite armour systems in US military vehicles. “This increase is in addition to the 50% increase we already announced earlier this year following the completion of our new manufacturing facility in Aiken, South Carolina,” says Drew Walker, AGY's Vice President of Sales and Marketing. According to Walker, the company shipped a record amount of S-2 Glass fibre products in 2008, far exceeding previous records set in 2005, 2006 and 2007. S-2 Glass is used in composite armour systems for vehicles such as the HighMobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (Humvee) and the Mine-Resistant AmbushProtected (MRAP) vehicles. The high demand is due to current programmes for providing US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan with armoured vehicles giving protection against roadside bombs, improvised explosive devices and explosively formed projectiles. S-2 Glass, which first hit the market in 1968, offers a tensile strength exceeding standardmodulus carbon fibre and most grades of aramid fibre, according to AGY. Its strain-to-failure capability of 5.7% compared to aramid’s 2.8% and carbon’s 1.5%, improves its ability to withstand ballistic and other types of impact. AGY; www.agy.com
January/February 2009
ECC to distribute Swancor resins US COMPANY Energy Composites Corp (ECC) and Swancor Industries Co Ltd of Taiwan have signed an agreement that gives ECC the exclusive right to distribute Swancor’s epoxy resins to manufacturers of composite wind turbine components in North and South America. The deal also provides ECC with access to a line of vinyl ester resins for its own use. ECC designs and manufactures composite structures for a range of applications at its facility in Wisconsin. Products include flue gas desulphurisation equipment for power plants, infrastructure for biofuel processing, components for wind energy systems, and storage systems for the petrochemical industry. “From alternative energy to environmental compliance to
water management, this product line fits ECC’s business plan to deploy highly-functional, cost-effective composites as an enabler of clean-tech,” says ECC’s CEO Sam Fairchild. “We are very excited to distribute these epoxy resin systems across the wind energy market, especially given the clear indication that market demand for mega-turbines off the East and West Coasts of the United States as well as in the Great Lakes and the Gulf is only now at the formative stage.” ECC says that the agreement does not affect Swancor’s existing supply relationships with certain Asian and European wind energy customers. Energy Composites Corp; www. energycompositescorp.com Swancor Industries; www.swancor.com
Zoltek denied rehearing of case ZOLTEK CORP has seen its petition for a rehearing of its case against Gurit’s subsidiary Structural Polymer Group, now Gurit (UK), denied by the United States Court of Appeals of the Eighth Circuit in St Louis, Missouri, USA. Zoltek of St Louis had asked the court to reconsider its earlier decision to affirm the jury verdict in Gurit’s favour of over US$21 million. Gurit has now filed a motion to collect the $21 million directly from a bond Zoltek was required to post in order to appeal the verdict rendered in a jury trial in November 2006. Gurit’s motion seeks to recover over $23 million from the bondholder, which includes the original jury verdict as well
as post-judgment interest and court costs. The original case arose from the 10-year supply agreement between the then Structural Polymer Group and Zoltek for the sale of large filament count carbon fibres, an agreement Gurit claims Zoltek repeatedly was in serious breach of. Gurit of Watwill, Switzerland, terminated the agreement, which led Zoltek to file a lawsuit alleging that Gurit’s termination was in breach of contract and amounted to fraud. Earlier this autumn, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed this second lawsuit. Gurit; www.gurit.com Zoltek; www.zoltek.com