International news

Covestro continues on its trajectory for increased growth. Demand has continued to rebound in the first quarter of 2021 and has led to a significant upturn in business performance. As a result, core volume growth was up 5.3% compared to last year’s first quarter. This is attributable mainly to a strong rebound in demand in the...

“We were able to carry over the tailwinds from the strong fourth quarter of 2020 into the first quarter of 2021,” said Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Basf, expressing one of the core messages to shareholders at this year virtual annual shareholders meeting. “Basf had a strong start to the year 2021...

Smart homes are becoming increasingly popular: refrigerators, cookers and washing machines are becoming increasingly intelligent, offering more functions - and the design of the appliances is adapting accordingly. Smooth, futuristic plastic surfaces hide control panels with touch and gesture functions, and intuitively controlled applications…

On April 9 and 12, 2021, graduation ceremonies were held at Arburg in Lossburg (Germany). As in the previous year, the event was split into four smaller events in line with coronavirus restrictions. All 59 former trainees and students of the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University were taken on as permanent employees...

How do you imagine the car of tomorrow? Are you picturing sophisticated surfaces, intuitive touch controls and subtle backlighting? But which technologies allow design and functionality to be combined today and in the future?

As of April 2021, the machine and plant manufacturer Reifenhäuser has acquired a majority stake in Kdesign, a global leader in the manufacture of air cooling rings and measuring systems for blown film extrusion lines. With this purchase Reifenhäuser Group, a specialist in extrusion technologies, expands its in-house expertise in cooling...

Haitian celebrated the official groundbreaking in Shunde County, near Foshan City in Guangdong Province, for the construction of a Smart Factory for advanced component and machinery manufacturing. For Haitian, the ceremony marked the beginning of a new chapter in the smart...

On April 1, 2021, Covestro completed the acquisition of the RFM (Resins & Functional Materials) business from the Dutch company DSM. The transaction received regulatory approval after Covestro and DSM signed an acquisition agreement in late September 2020. The transaction substantially expands Covestro’s portfolio of sustainable coating...

Whether Shy Tech operation for the cars of the future, smart refrigerator fronts or robust yet elegant laptop finishing - plastic surfaces give many products the perfect finish. They offer the opportunity to combine design and smart features - and even backlighting effects. Constant innovation is required to ensure that both appearance and…

Is starting the new fiscal year 2021 with confidence, Lanxess: the specialty chemicals company expects that many of its customer industries will recover and therefore anticipates Ebitda pre exceptionals of between 900 million euro and 1 billion euro for the full year...

According to a current survey, the member companies of VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery expect the order situation and turnover volumes to show positive developments for this year. "In the second half of 2020, the demand for plastics and rubber machinery has clearly...

As of January 1, 2021, the Arburg subsidiary in Poland has a new Managing Director in the person of Konrad Szymczak. He succeeds Slawomir Sniady, who successfully established and expanded Arburg Polska and has now retired after 25 years. Poland is one of the most important and strongest markets in Europe for...

In the second half of 2020, the Wittmann Group has seen a more than positive development in its business in spite of the economic slowdown in the automotive sector and the restrictions due to Covid-19, and this trend is continuing in 2021. This development has paved the way for further investments...

With a press release issued in the latter days, EuPC, the association representing European plastics converters, expresses its concern about the impact that the shortage of raw materials is having on the production of plastic products in Europe. The European market for polymers has been under pressure for several months...

“In a challenging 2020 business year, Basf was able to close out the year on a strong note,” said Basf’s Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, Martin Brudermüller, at the presentation of the Basf Report 2020. Income from operations (Ebit) before special items for the full year 2020 exceeded the company’s forecast released in...

Covestro saw a strong end to an exceptional year in 2020 and benefited, especially in the second half, from its consistent crisis prevention measures and a recovery in demand. Despite the very successful fourth quarter, the Group could not fully compensate the massive, pandemic-related cut-backs that arose in the first six months...

The Munich-based machinery manufacturer KraussMaffei Group is selling its subsidiary KraussMaffei Austria to the Austrian family-owned company Luger. There, it will continue to operate under the name KMAT Maschinen und Service. The eight employees of the former KraussMaffei Austria will continue to be employed. The transaction took effect on...

Solvay announced that it will devote a portion of the cash generated this year  - up to 16 million euros - to provide a special reward to all non-executive employees worldwide in recognition for their efforts throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. This special bonus comes on top of the group’s yearly bonuses and will be paid out before the year ends...

On the occasion of ST BlowMoulding’s 40th anniversary, its management team decided to dedicate a thought to those who took part in the company’s history, established in 1980. “It has been 40 years of goals, choices and sometimes daring changes, constant commitment and a lot of satisfaction. Special thanks go to those who have...