May 2020

Weekly News Digest 5/26/2020

The Front Page Newsroom

Weekly Resin Report: Trading activity picks up as manufacturers begin to reopen

The Plastics Exchange Market Update 5/15/2020

Dow begins recovery efforts after mid-Michigan flooding

RadiciGroup names B. Bigler as distributor for Germany

Polyplastics develops new grade of acetal with improved diesel fuel resistance

Polymax TPE ramps up production of medical grades

Shell bringing workers back to Pennsylvania site

Xenia Materials launches new glass fiber reinforced PEBA

Toray develops new carbon fiber reinforced PPS with very high tensile strength

Covestro develops thermally conductive PC grade

Weekly News Digest 5/18/2020

Long Row of Typewriters

Weekly Resin Report: Market may have hit bottom, for now, as PE, PP prices record slight uptick

The Plastics Exchange Market Update 5/8/2020

COVID-19 drives commodity resin prices down in April

Strong demand, re-shoring lead to growth at Polymax TPE

Chase Plastic Services to distribute Durethan nylon and Pocan PBT from Lanxess

Fire brought under control at Borealis cracker in Sweden

I received a request for a polypropylene the other day. The customer was looking for a grade that could be used for making “melt blown” fabric. I was not familiar with this process. You can see it in action in the above video. The polypropylene grades that are used for this have melt flows in the 1200-1500 g/10 minutes range (yes, you read that right).

The process uses an ordinary extrusion line but a high pressure gas is injected into the die which aerosol-izes the melted material and sprays it onto a roller.

I have been in this business for a while but this process was new to me.