Fruitful sharing of industry giants on CHINAPLAS 2023 Media Day

Gero Willmeroth, President Asia and Oceania at ENGEL, took the opportunity to announce that ENGEL had a successful financial year. "The 2022/23 financial year was a record year for ENGEL in Asia. We were able to significantly increase incoming orders compared to the previous year," he said.

According to Willmeroth, the main business growth driver was the trend towards New Electric Vehicles (NEV), whose share will continue to increase.

ENGEL also sees the automotive industry an important growth driver worldwide and China will particularly benefit from the NEV trend. In these areas, larger components are increasingly being produced by injection molding. "With our large machine plant in Shanghai, we have a very good market position here," Willmeroth stated.

At CHINAPLAS 2023, ENGEL will show its ENGEL e-mac machine, ENGEL duo 500 machine, insert 100 vertical injection molding machine and more.

Besides, its member WINTEC will present its t-win servo-hydraulic driven two-plate injection molding machines and the new digital solution iQ weight control. With higher production quality, better energy efficiency, more convenient operating system, less space and longer service life, the t-win machine is dedicated to meet the production and application requirements of plastic products in automotive, home appliance, mold and other industries.

On the other hand, ENGEL is expanding its production plant in Changzhou, China. Both office space and assembly capacity will be doubled.

Reaffirming its commitment to accelerating a safer, cleaner, and more sustainable future, Solvay is set to present its latest high-performance material innovations at CHINAPLAS 2023. The company puts its emphasis on green mobility, digital connectivity, energy transition, resource management and healthy living.

For the automotive market, Solvay has developed a diverse portfolio of high-performance polymers, ionomers and thermoplastic composites for hydrogen and other energy sectors to enable the future of clean energy and clean mobility.

Its offerings also include instrumental components in smart devices and high-performance polymers covering all stages of semiconductor manufacturing.

Furthermore, Solvay will showcase an array of medical-grade polymers for a wide range of healthcare applications such as hemodialysis, medical devices and equipment, surgical instruments, biopharmaceutical processing, implantable and high-performance polymers for pharmaceutical packaging.

“China is one of Solvay’s most important strategic markets. Over the past over 40 years, Solvay has thrived in this rapidly growing market," said Leo Sun, Solvay Greater China President. After another good year in China in 2022, Solvay will continue to invest in the country and strive to move with Chinese customers towards building a greener world.”

Wanhua Chemical reported how its renewable, recyclable, degradable and carbon reduction material solutions are contributing to the global green revolution and the sustainable strategic layout.

Regarding renewable materials, the company provides polyether polyol, polyester polyol, bio-based TPU, waterborne acrylic resin, PLA and other products that are produced using biomass raw materials and are developed by biological fermentation and chemical conversion technologies.

Wanhua Chemical also enables plastic recycling by physical and chemical recovery methods. There, through alcoholysis and pyrolysis, waste polyurethane foam and the useful composition in waste PC, PMMA, PP, PE are recycled and re-synthesized into high performance new materials. An integrated upstream and downstream circular pattern was also established.

According to Wen Cizhang, the global marketing director of Performance Polymers Business Unit at Wanhua Chemical, the company has laid out its upstream and downstream industrial chains of degradable materials like PBAT and PLA and has achieved independent and stable supply chain integration.

In addition, its carbon reduction material portfolio includes organosilicon, long-chain nylon, polyurethane foam, thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer (TPU), ultrafiltration membrane, reverse osmosis membrane, lithium iron phosphate, and high-performance polyolefin elastomer (POE).

Arburg sees CHINAPLAS the most important trade fair in Asia for the company. At the 2023 edition, two important and pioneering innovations will be unveiled: the Flexlift, a robotic system specially designed for the Asian market, and the new hybrid Allrounder 470 H, which Arburg is launching to mark the anniversary of "100 years of the Hehl family company".

The Allrounders 470 H milestone machine is available in Comfort and Premium performance variants. The focus of these new developments was on increasing efficiency, optimizing the energy footprint and reducing the cycle time.

Allrounder 470 H Comfort displayed at the trade fair will produce adapters for the medical market using polycarbonate, in a three-platen mold with 2+2 cavities. The cycle time is 25 seconds. The molded parts are removed by the Flexlift 10+2 double-arm robot, the main arm can handle a payload of ten kilograms, while its second arm can lift loads weighing two kilograms.

The entire turnkey system that also has an integrated camera test and a sample part drawer for quality assurance purposes, was designed, built, and commissioned in the Arburg Technology Factory Pinghu in China.

At its booth, there will also be an Allrounder 1600 T rotary table machine, an Allrounder 370 H and a Freeformer 300-3X for industrial additive manufacturing presented.

"The Chinese market is the largest for injection molding in Asia. The demand for high-end solutions is growing very rapidly and we can offer excellent, market-adapted solutions with our know-how," concluded Zhao Tong, Managing Director Arburg China.

Under the theme of “We make a sustainable tomorrow possible”, LyondellBasell will be displaying five innovative application scenarios at its booth to demonstrate how its solutions are contributing to sustainable everyday living.

It is noteworthy that LyondellBasell will announce its latest collaborative work with Nippon Paint China, and will sign a framework agreement with Genox Recycling at its booth with a view to establishing a JV and build a mechanical plastics recycling plant in Zhaoqing, Guangzhou. It will also collaborate with Jiangsu WM Grass to release the artificial turf made from recycled plastics – “GreenRhythm”.

By deepening local cooperation, the company aims to promote innovative recycling ecosystems in China and to foster a more sustainable future.

Its Circulen product portfolio, in particular, is a key step in fulfilling its commitment to sustainability. Through mechanical recycling, advanced (molecular) recycling and making polymers from bio-based feedstocks, the Circulen product line promotes plastic recycling and reduction of fossil-based feedstocks.

Moreover, Joanne Swiggett, vice president of Advanced Polymer Solutions at LyondellBasell APAC and AFMEI stated that with a diverse portfolio of polyolefins, advanced polymers, additive masterbatches and color concentrates, LyondellBasell provides complete solutions with high-performance materials to enhance the quality of life.

The extensive LyondellBasell product portfolio includes polypropylene (PP) (homopolymer, copolymer and impact copolymer) and polyethylene (PE). Its low shrinkage PP compounding can replace Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).

Celebrating its 90th anniversary, PLEXIGLAS, the brand polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) from Röhm will be showcased at CHINAPLAS 2023 in several applications. PLEXIGLAS helps address the current challenges in the automotive industry, lighting industry, household appliances and medical industries.

For automotive applications, for example, Röhm keeps upgrading its customized portfolio of special molding compounds to meet the requirements for creating brand-typical signature lights.

Vehicles are getting electrified and intelligent, and full-width strip taillight are an increasingly popular choice, but they also have possible issues of chemical stress crack. In response, Röhm has offered chemical-resistant PLEXIGLAS special molding compounds to improve the yield and durability of complex automotive lights.

The design of vehicle front ends is also changing, with long light guides, high-gloss panels and logos replacing chrome. A vehicle front requires particularly robust materials that have been impact-modified. For illuminated applications, the PLEXIGLAS Resist special molding compound meets both optical and mechanical requirements.

In addition, in high-gloss panels at the front of the vehicle, PLEXIGLAS Hi-Gloss is a robust and resource-efficient alternative to components that need additional painting. Its high weather resistance properties ensure a sophisticated appearance that lasts.

Commenting on the company's recent business, Gren Liu, General Manager Molding Compounds at Röhm Asia, said, "During the past decades in China, Röhm witnessed the high growth of automotive, optical and electronics industries. In Q2 of this year, our PLEXIGLAS expansion project in Shanghai will be completed, which will further boost our strong position in the market."