Plastics News - Show Daily - October 25, 2022 - 18

18 * Plastics News, October 25, 2022
22 * Plastics News, October 16, 2019
SHOW DAILY
Lanxess cautiously optimistic for coming year
SHOW DAILY
By Shahrzad Pourriahi
Plastics News Europe
As a major supplier to the automotive
industry, German specialty
chemicals company Lanxess AG is
upbeat about the prospects of the
automotive market despite a signifi -
cant decline in demand, particularly
in Europe, so far.
In a Q&A ahead of K 2019, Axel
Tuchlenski, head of global product
and application development in the
High Performance Materials business
unit of Lanxess, told Plastics
News that the industry was " close to
bottoming out " the downturn, adding
that his company was " cautiously
optimistic for the coming year. "
Despite the subdued automotive
market, Lanxess has continued with
expansion plans, having recently
increased production capacity for
Tepex-branded continuous fi ber-reinforced
thermoplastics (CFRT) by
50 percent in Germany, according to
Tuchlenski.
The German market is
increasingly important
for Taiwan's plastics and
rubber machinery industry,
with Germany now ranking
14th among the country's
largest export markets.
Axel
Tuchlenski
Lanxess AG
HALL 6/C76
technology and the thermoplastic
composites of the Tepex brand.
At K, we will be exhibiting a highTaiwan
machinery
companies tout 'green'
innovations at K 2022
Lanxess is bringing its high-tech
plastics and more to K this year.
On Oct. 18, Tuchlenski will be
joined by Greg Mulholland of Citrine
Informatics, a U.S.-based artifi cial
intelligence company, to present
the two companies' groundbreaking
technologies in the use of AI
for developing customer-specifi c,
high-performance plastics.
Q: What is Lanxess offering at K
this year? What would you say is
the highlight of the Lanxess booth?
Tuchlenski: Among other things,
the High Performance Materials
business unit will present new
products and applications for electromobility.
New materials include
orange-colored, heat-stabilized and
fl ame-retardant compounds for
high-voltage applications and materials
that can be used in applications
that are particularly sensitive
to electrocorrosion.
Other examples are halogen-free,
By Karen Laird
Sustainable Plastics
Although the island is only the
size of Germany's state of North
Rhine-Westphalia, Taiwan is one of
the world's 25 largest economies,
said Ching-Yun Huang, economic
adviser, head of economic department
and Taipei representative of
the Frankfurt, Germany, offi ce.
Speaking at a press event on
Oct. 20 organized at K 2022 by the
Taiwan External Trade Development
Council, he added that the
island's economy is highly reliant
on exports, which currently account
for around 70 percent of total
GDP. However, whereas these
had formerly tended to mainly
be agricultural commodities, tofl
ame-retardant materials for components
such as cell holders or battery
end plates.
When it comes to lightweight construction,
Lanxess is concentrating
on the new hollow-profi le hybrid
strength seat shell and a Tepex front
end carrier with integrated functions,
both of which exhibit excellent
crash resistance.
We will also be presenting new
compounds for the economical
blow molding of, for example, air
ducts for turbocharged internal
combustion engines and liners for
hydrogen and natural gas-powered
vehicles. At our plastics technology
center in Dormagen, Germany, we
put a state-of-the-art blow molding
facility into operation and established
a global team that develops
materials for special applications.
Some of the many highlights at
our stand will certainly include a
tank fl ap made of Pocan, a glass ballfi
lled PBT that can be painted in line
and is characterized by very good
surface quality and high toughness.
Components for high-quality furniture
fi ttings made of a material
from the new Durethan P series will
also be on display. Another highlight
is the heat dissipation connector,
which can dissipate a large
part of the locally generated heat
to the environment thanks to our
new thermally conductive Durethan
BTC965FM30. Also worth mentioning
is the innovative BAGS (Bolster
Active Grill Shutter) system, which
is made of Durethan for the new
Ford Focus. This was developed in
close cooperation with OEM and
Tier 1.
Q: Lanxess has been expanding
day the emphasis has shifted to
industrial goods such as electronics,
machinery and communication
and audio-video products.
More detailed fi gures were provided
by Bush Hsieh, vice chairman
of the Plastic and Rubber Machinery
Committee of the Taiwan
Association of Machinery Industry,
who said that exports of plastics
and rubber machinery from Taiwan
are experiencing strong growth.
" In Germany alone, the export
growth rate increased by 69 percent
in the period from January
to July 2022, " he stated.
The German market is increasingly
important for Taiwan's plastics
and rubber machinery industry,
with Germany now ranking
14th among the country's largest
We have increased our Tepex manufacturing
capacity by approximately
50 percent to meet the strong
demand in the mass production
of highly loadable components for
light automobiles and consumer
electronics. For the expansion from
six to eight production lines, a new
hall with an area of around 1,500
square meters was built. The investments
amounted to a mid single-digit
million amount.
We regard the establishment of
the hybrid molding process with
variothermal molds for the production
of decorative components as a
major milestone in the fi eld of thermoplastic
composites.
Following the introduction of the
hybrid injection molding process
for structural components, primarily
in the automotive industry,
this is the next evolutionary step
in the use of Tepex, since in the
sports and electronics industries,
for example, the focus is not only
on mechanical properties but also
on the outstanding appearance of
fi ber composite components.
One example of Tepex's use for
mass production are laptop housings
of one of the world's three largest
computer manufacturers. In this
application, Tepex has substituted
both thermoset and magnesium
components with carbon fi bers in
six- to seven-digit quantities per
month. In addition, Tepex meets
the high requirements for fl ame retardance
(UL94-V0) as well as high
torsional and bending stiffness.
Tepex is also becoming increasingly
established in the automotive
industry in the mass production of
'Green' machines
The global sustainability trend
is also impacting Taiwan's plastics
and rubber machinery manufacturers
that are responding to
export markets.
With a total export value of $1
billion in 2021, a year-on-year increase
of 13.5 percent, Taiwan is
the world's sixth-largest exporter
of plastics and rubber machinery.
" This is continuing to grow, " he
reported. " The fi gures for the fi rst
half of 2022 indicate that Taiwan's
industry export value for plastics
and rubber machinery reached a
total value of $611 million in the
fi rst six months of the year, up 6.8
percent year on year. "
Tuchlenski
its CFRT technology
over
the past seven
years. Can you
please tell us
more about the
latest developments
in this
technology?
Any expansion
plans? New
products/applications?
Tuchlenski:
lightweight
structural components
such as front ends and bumper
beams, brake pedals and underbody
panels. A more recent application
example is two electrically adjustable
individual rear seats for a variant
of the Audi A8, whose seat shells
are manufactured using the hybrid
molding process from a polyamide
(nylon) 6-based Tepex dynalite.
We are also continuing to work
intensively on the development of
standardized material parameters,
particularly in the automotive sector.
In this way, we can further advance
the simulation of the entire CFRT
process chain. Here we are now in
a position to accompany the entire
chain with simulation tools from
component design to the process.
Q: Another area of focus for
Lanxess has been compounding
activities. How is the construction
of the compounding plant in
Krefeld and the expansion project
in China coming along?
Tuchlenski: All expansion projects
in the compound area are making
good progress and are fully on
schedule.
We expect to commission the
plant in China in October. As things
stand at present, capacity expansion
in Germany will begin in mid2020
with ramp up.
Ching-Yun Huang, economic
adviser and the head of
economic department and Taipei
representative in Germany.
Plastics News photos by Marco Stepniak
increasing customer demand for
low-emission, environmentally
responsible equipment with the
development of " smart, green "
machinery.
" Environmental protection
and sustainability now play an
important role in all sectors. It's
great that Taiwanese companies
in the plastics and rubber machinery
industry are taking a pioneering
role, " said Huang.
At the press event, fi ve companies
- FCS Group, Polystar,
Huarong Group, Everplast and
Chumpower - each gave a
brief overview of the highlights
at their stands, with a focus on
how, with the help of optimization,
high-end technologies and
digitalization, they were working
to " make the world greener " in
line with the K show's themes of
climate protection, circular economy
and digitalization.
FCS Group, founded in 1974, is
the largest manufacturer of injection
molding machines in Taiwan,
manufacturing injection presses
ranging in size from 30-4,000 tons.
The company's latest product is
an all-electric, two-component injection
molding machine offering
cost savings, increased effi ciency
and improved quality.
Recycling machinery manufacturer
Polystar Machinery, founded
in 1988, is a leading supplier of
Q: Lanxess was substantially impacted
by the recent automotive
decline in the fi rst half of 2019.
How do you assess the market for
Lanxess for the rest of the year?
How do you see the market developing
in the short term?
Tuchlenski: The signifi cant
decline in demand from the automotive
industry, particularly in
Europe, naturally also left its mark
on Lanxess.
However, we believe that we are
close to bottoming out here. External
factors such as the trade war between
China and the United States,
however, are diffi cult to assess in
terms of their further impact.
If no further trade barriers are
introduced, we expect demand to
settle at the current level for the
rest of the year. Further market development
will depend on many facPavilion
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professional recycling machinery
in Taiwan. It develops simple but
powerful recycling solutions to
optimize the recycling process,
improve the quality of the end
product and reduce energy consumption.
The company has developed
and patented a fully automatic
granulating system that
uses digital program logic and
energy-saving ECO inverter drive
modules to produce recyclate of
uniform size and good quality.
Injection molding
machine
manufacturer Huarong Group
recently streamlined its organization,
integrating three companies
into one group. The company's
offerings include horizontal
and vertical injection molding
machines, manipulators, and inmold
labeling and intelligent factory
management systems. The
group is showing three new products
at the show: a new two-platen
injection molding machine and
the composited injection blow
molding machine, both featuring
a compact physical footprint
while optimizing processes. The
third product is the stand-alone
intelligent management system.
Extrusion machinery producer
Everplast focuses on research and
development
into technologies
for processing recycled materials.
Its latest machines can use waste
materials such as wood chips,
rice husks or gypsum boards, recycling
these and returning them
to the resource loop.
Chumpower Machinery Corp.
was founded in 1981 and has
grown into a leading brand in
Taiwan over the past 40 years,
accounting for 85 percent of Taiwan's
PET blow molding machine
exports. The company has already
sold more than 4,000 PET blow
molding machines to more than
115 countries around the globe.
The latest machine is suitable for
applications that require high bottle
quality with a short run. Moreover,
Chumpower machines are
designed for low-carbon production
and can handle recycled PET.
The event was organized by the
Bureau of Foreign Trade in collaboration
with the Taiwan External
Trade Development Council.
tors, including local factors, which
cannot be predicted in the current
situation. In Europe, electric mobility
will continue to gain momentum
and demand will pick up again,
while the further development of
the diesel engine in Germany, for
example, can hardly be estimated.
Lanxess is cautiously optimistic for
the coming year.
Q: What measures are Lanxess
taking to mitigate the market
pressure?
Tuchlenski: Lanxess' global positioning
enables it to balance out
regional imbalances to a certain
extent.
This is being done in the current
situation. In addition, we have been
able to reduce excess orders from
2018 and are now back on the road
with normal delivery times for all
our compound products.
With regards to Tepex, due to the
very positive introduction of CFRT
worldwide in mass production
products, this business area is currently
booming.
Q: Finally, does Lanxess have
any expansion or greenfi eld projects
in the pipeline? If yes, can you
please elaborate?
Tuchlenski: At present, we have
no further expansion plans in the
compound area of engineering plastics
apart from the capacity expansions
in China and Germany already
mentioned above. In the CRFT area,
we have just completed the expansion
of capacity as described above.
Audi A8 seat shells are
manufactured using the hybrid
molding process from a nylon
6-based Tepex dynalite. Compared
with a comparable metal version,
the seat shells are around 45
percent lighter. Audi AG photo
Taiwan Pavilion Page
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