Plastics sector looks back on good year / Growth above industry average with stellar prospects / Machinery manufacturing, “Industry 4.0” and digitalisation drive investments

PIE talks to Paolo Arcelli, director at Plastic Consult / Current views on plastics industry in Italy

Turkish compounder assigns Ibiplast as distributor in Spain

New compounding line for PA and PBT in Germany / Investment of EUR 7m

First PPS compounds launched / Applications in automotive and E&E

Addition of more extruders to meet strong global demand in 2018

Expansion of compounding capacity in China

Ravago owner acquires US plastics distributor / Businesses will operate separately

Speciality chemicals producer adds capacity at PPS plant in Japan / Partnership with Polyplastics reaffirmed

Standard Trend April 2018: PE and styrenics under pressure / PP, PVC and EVA producers pass on part of higher costs / Expectations of revival in demand during the month

Standard Recyclate April 2018: Demand from China leads to first bottlenecks / rLDPE and rHDPE films much stronger / Recycled PET increases / Spring upswing and Chinese exports drive prices in May

Engineering Recyclate April 2018: Little change this month / Upturn probable in coming weeks / Demand quite reasonable of late / Still minor delivery delays

Polyolefins trading prices pass through the Easter gap

Polyurethane Feedstocks April 2018: Price gap between MDI grades widens / TDI firmer / High prices curb demand / MDI normalising, TDI still tight

Russia March 2018: Start of spring season drives prices / Continued upswing in April

China Standard Thermoplastics March 2018: Prices of all types fall on good supply / Demand more subdued than expected / High inventories of imported PE and PP in east China

North America March 2018: PE remains stable / PP drops steeply in line with propylene / PVC and PS firmer / Upswing with engineering plastics slows down / PA 6.6 remains the exception / Feedstock prices fall in April

China Engineering Thermoplastics March 2018: Demand and supply gradually recovering / Significant increase in PA 6.6 notations / Substantial fall in ABS and PC prices

UK government announces plans for deposit return scheme in England / System would cover single-use bottles and cans

Collaboration with Indorama and start-up Ioniqa to convert PET waste into food-grade material / Decision on sole head office reached

Waitrose joins list of stores moving away from single-use coffee cups / Starbucks trials disposable cup fee in London / DS Smith advances recycling

Recommended measures to achieve higher EU recycling rate within 8 years / Job creation and economic benefits / PRE and Deloitte report

The combustion engine lives on – for the time being / More upheaval in auto components supply sector / Automotive engineering plastics conference in Germany delivers fresh approaches for car interior / More requirements, more competition, more plastic

Initial move to sell Automotive division / Insulation business to be strengthened

Assessment of alternatives for car battery division / Focus on building technology

German joint venture for e-motive projects / Production in Poland planned

Industry 4.0 spreads slowly in UK, Switzerland and Germany / Companies often lack money and staff / E&Y and Censuswide survey reports