Argentina implements final anti-dumping measures on PVC products from China

According to the Ministry of Commerce, the Under-Secretariat of Foreign Trade of the Secretariat of State for Trade of the Ministry of Economy and Public Finance of Argentina, in a note dated July 16, decided to end the anti-dumping investigation on PVC profiles originating from China and Germany used in the manufacture of windows, doors and partitions, and imposed an anti-dumping duty of USD 0.88/kg, valid for five years.

It is understood that as early as August 30, 2012, the Secretariat of State for Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Economy and Public Finance of Argentina received a written request from its domestic industry to conduct an anti-dumping investigation on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) profiles originating from China and Germany used in the manufacture of windows, doors and partitions.

On December 3, 2012, Argentina initiated an anti-dumping investigation against polyvinyl chloride (PVC) profiles originating from China and Germany used in the manufacture of windows, doors and partitions.

On May 27 of this year, the Secretariat of State for Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Economy and Public Finance of Argentina sent a note to the Chinese Economic and Commercial Counselor’s Office in Argentina to continue the anti-dumping investigation on PVC profiles originating from China and Germany used in the manufacture of windows, doors and partitions, while imposing a temporary anti-dumping duty.

Futures market more upward trend plastic mild adjustment.

Overnight, EU economic affairs officials said that negotiations between Greece and banks on debt reduction will soon be reached. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde will meet in Berlin to discuss Greek issues. European stocks rose sharply. Yesterday’s after-hours Alcoa earnings report, which beat market expectations, boosted market sentiment. European and U.S. stock markets rose, which also drove the commodity market atmosphere.

Even the main contract 1205 plastic early today opened slightly higher after the price shock fall, the pace of adjustment is more gentle. Prices in the 9700 near there is support, so the futures price bottoming out during the day. Due to the recent high oil prices support role, overnight oil prices closed and closed up. So after the price rallies after a small shakeout. Midday 1205 mainly showed a weak narrow oscillation trend. The end of the day has rebounded. The final close at 9755, down 5, or 0.05%. k-line closed in a small negative with a long lower shadow. The recent plastic futures price retreat, the market believes that the rising market in the adjustment, the market can still rise, near 9700 buy up and hold. The turnover increased to 674,632 lots, and the position was 287,014 lots.

PVC main contract 1205 after the early opening high shock down, low narrow consolidation in the plate. Near the end of the afternoon session, the futures price rebounded back, but not strong enough. Finally closed at 6950, down 5, or 0.07%. k-line closed in a short negative line. Investors are bearish on the market, and today’s turnover shrank again to 23,584 lots, with a position of 53,742 lots. As of now, the price of calcium carbide market began to loosen, and downstream demand is still weak, PVC itself lacks the conditions to drive up the futures price, will remain low shock pattern mainly.

Japan’s Unigyco launches new biomass-based resin.

UNITIKA has developed a new biomass-based resin for injection molding that uses plant-based PLA as a raw material to increase the proportion of “TERRAMAC” to more than 80% and improve impact and heat resistance to the level of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resin.

PLA has lower impact and heat resistance, poorer molding processability, and is more susceptible to hydrolysis than the original petroleum-based resins, and we need to compensate for these disadvantages by various means. Unigyco has developed its own compound technology in combination with its long-established polylactic acid crystallization promotion technology and hydrolysis inhibition technology to achieve this resin for injection molding. By the way, the PLA of TERRAMAC is made of “ingeo” material from NatureWorks, USA, and the ratio of PLA in TERRAMAC is 80-90%.

The newly developed resins “TE-8005M” and “TE-8005MT9” have impact strengths of up to 23kJ/m2 and 11kJ/m2, respectively, compared to the approximate 2kJ/m2 of PLA. The impact resistance of TE-8005M is about the same as that of ABS resin of about 20kJ/m2. In addition, the load deflection temperature (0.45 MPa), which is an indicator of heat resistance, is at the same level as ABS resin at 100°C or higher.

Unigyco will promote this resin for office equipment, IT equipment, housings for electrical components, and automotive interior parts. The current price is two to three times higher than that of general-purpose ABS resin, but the company says the price can be reduced to the same level as general-purpose ABS resin as the use expands and mass production is advanced.

Italian machinery industry may rebound in the second half of 2014.

We are mostly an export-oriented company,” said Mario Maggiani, general manager of Assocomaplast. It’s basically at the same level as last year, but we expect a clear recovery in the second half of 2014, as the volume of new arrivals is increasing.”

He is also aware of the possible negative impact of the tense situation between Europe and Russia, one of the main export markets for Italian machinery.

The Italian domestic market is still not picking up, he said, but is expected to recover in the second half of this year. We are starting to see a glimmer of light,” he said. More than 50% of our machinery is exported to other European countries, so the improvement of the situation in Europe is quite important.”

Outside Europe, Maggiani sees Brazil remaining relatively flat, but Italian plastics machinery exports to China are down slightly. In 2013, Italy exported 121 million euros worth of plastic machinery to China, the 5th largest foreign market.

Maggiani believes that Italian extrusion machinery and molds are popular in the Chinese market, accounting for 15% and 10% of its total machinery exports, respectively.

BASF and Arburg join hands to showcase energy-efficient solutions.

During Fakuma 2011, BASF, a raw material manufacturer, and Arburg, an equipment manufacturer, worked together to demonstrate a multi-faceted energy-saving and efficient solution for visitors. The equipment chosen was the Arburg Allrounder 370E, which has an “energy metering” function that records the energy required for each process; two different materials were molded and compared, one of which was an ordinary plastic, while the other had a significant improvement in flow properties ( UltramidB3WG6HighSpeed, i.e., PA6 filled with 30% glass fiber).

The entire process of injection molding, from product design to production planning, was analyzed in detail for energy efficiency. The comparison clearly shows that the selection of energy-saving optimized equipment with raw materials with excellent flow properties can achieve energy-saving and efficient production. The ArburgAllrounder 370E with servo-electric drive and switchable clamping device and the energy recovery of the servo motor during the braking process also contribute to the energy saving, which is 25-50% compared to a standard hydraulic injection molding machine. The plan, the whole process of injection molding, has been analyzed in detail for energy efficiency. The comparison clearly shows that the selection of energy-saving optimized equipment with raw materials with excellent flow properties can lead to energy-saving and efficient production. The Arburg Allrounder 370E with servo-electric drive and switchable clamping device and the energy recovery of the servo motor during the braking process also contribute to the energy savings, which are 25-50% compared to a standard hydraulic injection molding machine.