Sustainable Plastics - November/December 2023 - 6

newsround
Davis-Standard buys Extrusion Technology Group
EXTRUSION EQUIPMENT
manufacturer Davis-Standard
has entered into a definitive
agreement to acquire the Extrusion
Technology Group,
a Bad Oeynhausen, Germany-based
globally operating
extrusion equipment and services
provider with a history
dating back to 1943. Terms of
the deal between Davis-Standard
owner Gamut Capital
Management LP and ETG entities
controlled by Dutch investor
Nimbus were not disclosed.
The acquisition is subject to all
Giovanni Spitale
customary closing conditions.
ETG's operations span Europe,
the United States and Asia,
and they include long-established
and storied brands such
as Battenfeld-Cincinnati; Exelliq,
formerly known as Greiner
Extrusion; and Simplas. Davis-Standard
produces extrusion
equipment and converting systems
for flexible packaging and
films, rigid packaging and sheet,
and products like conduit for infrastructure
and industrial uses.
Davis-Standard CEO Giovanni
Spitale said the acquisition of
ETG will be 'highly complementary
and diversifying', allowing
Davis-Standard to provide a
broader and deeper product
portfolio to its customers. He
added that the ETG business
will be established as a standalone
segment that will continue
to serve its base of customers
with additional support and
capabilities from the broader
Davis-Standard platform.
Gerold Schley, CEO of ETG,
will join the Davis-Standard
senior leadership team and
continue to manage the ETG
business after the closing of
the transaction.
Carbios gets green light for construction biorecycling plant
Carbios CEO Emmanuel Ladent (third from left) and Hemdi Toudma, mayor
of Longlaville, (second from right) with members of the Carbios team at the
Nancy Prefecture
Eurozone woes worsen
THE MANUFACTURING Purchasing
Managers Index, or
PMI, released by S&P Global
and Hamburg Commercial
Bank (HCOB) is an indicator of
the economic situation in the
manufacturing sector in the
Eurozone. In October 2023, the
HCOB Eurozone Manufacturing
PMI fell to 43, down from
43.4 in September, the lowest
in three months and missing
market expectations of 43.7,
preliminary estimates showed.
According to Trading Economics,
new orders received
fell sharply again, dropping at
a slightly faster rate than September.
Backlogs of orders
were consequently depleted
and also dropped at a slightly
faster rate. Firms reduced employment
for a fifth consecutive
month and at the sharpest
rate since August 2020. On the
6
price front, input prices were
down for an eighth consecutive
month, although the rate of decline
eased for a third month in
a row; average prices charged
fell markedly. Confidence
about output levels in the coming
year has deteriorated.
Trading Economics further
reported that the Euro
area economy shrank 0.1% on
quarter in the three months to
September 2023, according
to preliminary estimates. This
marks the first contraction
since the Covid-19 pandemic
in 2020. Among the bloc's
biggest economies, the GDP
shrank in Germany (-0.1%),
stalled in Italy, and rose modestly
in France (0.1%) and
Spain (0.3%). Year on year, the
economy advanced a meagre
0.1%, below forecasts of 0.2%.
The ECB expects the Euro Area
November/December 2023
Worries about deindustrialisation Eurozone are mounting
economy to grow 0.7% only in
2023, as tighter financing conditions
and high prices weigh
on domestic demand, foreign
demand remains subdued and
the industrial sector continues
to contract, especially in Germany.
GDP growth is expected
to pick up to 1% in 2024 and
1.5% in 2025.
Research from Rabobank
showed that energy prices are
another stumbling block presenting
considerable risks for
the European economy. Even
though gas prices are likely
to fall as the United States
CARBIOS HAS obtained the
building permit and operating
authorisation it requires to
start construction of what will
be the 'world's first PET biorecycling
plant' at Longlaville,
France, in the Grand-Est region
on a 13.7-hectare site
adjacent to the existing PET
production plant of Indorama
Ventures, its strategic partner.
Carbios off icially acquired the
land from Indorama Ventures
in September 2023.
Once fully operational, the
plant will have a processing capacity
of 50,000 tonnes of PET
waste based on Carbios' industrial-scale
enzymatic recycling
solution. This is the equivalent
of 2 billion coloured PET bottles
or 2.5 billion PET food trays
- products that are currently
unable to be recycled using
mechanical technologies.
The project will generate
some 150 jobs. The size of the
acquired site allows for a potential
doubling of the capacity
of the facility in the future.
and Qatar increase
their
LNG export
capacity and
Europe is increasing
its
import capacity,
the costs
for LNG are
s t ruc turall y
higher than
pipeline gas due to extra costs
for liquification, transport and
regassification. Moreover, gas
prices have increased much
less in competitor countries
like the US, giving energy-intensive
US manufacturers a
significant competitive edge
over their European competitors.
Production in sectors
including metals and basic
chemicals has already plummeted,
and without energy
prices in Europe coming down
significantly (and structurally),
some of that production is unlikely
to come back.
Sustainable Plastics - November/December 2023

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