Our Events | Industry Awards | Diary | Advertise with PRW | Subscribe | Reprints | List Rental | Crain Communications

Chemical company Wacker says 2011 Ebitda dropped 8% compared with 2010 because of a weak fourth quarter, especially in the semiconductor and solar divisions. 27 January 2012

European buyers faced higher standard thermoplastic prices in January for the first time since last autumn. 26 January 2012

UK technical plastics company Luxus has appointed Alex Clarke, one of its senior graduate apprentices, to manage its presence at the British Plastics Federation’s (BPF) trade mission to India next month. 25 January 2012

UK businesses could save up to £110m a year by taking simple, low- and no-cost actions to improve their compressed air systems and processes, according to new guidance published today by the Carbon Trust. 25 January 2012

DuPont’s Q4 figures beat expectations despite slipping slightly as a result of declining volume. 25 January 2012

The latest insolvency figures from Experian show only slight rise in the total from 2010 to 2011. A total of 21,070 UK businesses, 1.1% of the total business population, failed in 2011. This represented a marginal increase on the 19,818 failures recorded in 2010. 25 January 2012

Linpac Packaging says it will be developing lower cost products in order to help offset the recent rises in materials prices. 24 January 2012

Four more businesses have secured government support through the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) to create new jobs and boost growth in their local communities. 24 January 2012

Dodgy end to the year for some as trading performance polarises between stars and zombies 23 January 2012

Icon Polymer Group has launched its new website [www.iconpolymer.com], which the company says offers an insight into its “highly engineered products for the aerospace, transport, energy and industrial markets”. 20 January 2012

Regain Polymers, a plastics recycler based in Castleford, West Yorkshire, has announced growth plans backed by a £1m-plus investment in additional capacity and the acquisition of a competitor. 19 January 2012

Spanish automotive parts maker Maier has signed a partnership deal with the Indian industrial firm UM Group creating a joint production company in India. 18 January 2012

Business is looking good for Wittmann Battenfeld’s UK operation according to managing director Barry Hill, who predicts that 2012 will see the Wellingborough-based subsidiary land new business. 18 January 2012

Croydon-based group says higher selling prices and better cost management helped offset raw material increases 18 January 2012

UK packaging major D S Smith is buying Sweden’s SCA Packaging for €1.6bn (£1.3bn). The acquisition is one-third funded by a rights issue, the remainder by debt. 17 January 2012

• Plastics recycler seeks cross-party support for industry 1 February 2012
• ECO Plastics wraps up a £1.15m investment 2 February 2012
• Dow earnings hurt by Performance Plastics unit 3 February 2012
• Petainer’s ‘greenest ever’ refillable bottle 2 February 2012
• Door opens to natural fibres in PUR 3 February 2012

more

• Eastman buys Solutia for $3.4bn 30 January 2012
• Welsh plastics recycler in administration 3 February 2012
• British Vita sells its Elian business for €48m 31 January 2012
• Superfos doing a super job for RPC Group 30 January 2012
• Dow additive keeps PC from scratching 1 February 2012

more