International news

At its 90th annual general meeting, members of the British Plastic Federation’s (BPF) council unanimously elected the Chief Executive of Rehau UK, Ireland and Scandinavia Martin Hitchin (on the centre in the picture) as the new president of the trade association. He follows the outgoing president...

Injection moulding machine manufacturer Engel is continuing to advance its internationalisation strategy and, as of 1 April 2026, will acquire its long-standing sales partner Roegele in Spain. This move strengthens Engel’s presence in the south-western European market and...

L’azienda tedesca costruttrice di attrezzature per misurazione, controllo e selezione dei materiali, Sikora, è passata sotto il controllo del Gruppo Maag attraverso l’acquisizione del gruppo industriale statunitense Dover Corporation di cui quest’ultimo è parte. "Con il Gruppo Maag abbiamo trovato il partner ideale per il futuro", ha…

The competitiveness of the European chemical industry continues to be under serious pressure, with no sign of improvement early in 2025, neither on the cost side, nor on the demand side. This is according to the report of Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Council, on the...

The globally operating Engel Group has closed the 2024/2025 financial year with a turnover of approximately 1.5 billion euros. Despite a continued decline in market conditions, the injection moulding machine manufacturer held its ground and continued to expand its market share...

As expected, Covestro made a moderate start to the 2025 fiscal year. Sales in the first quarter remained at the previous year’s level (3.51 billion euros) and amounted to 3.48 billion euros. This was 0.9% below the previous year’s figure. As expected, Ebitda fell by around 50% compared to the previous year. However...

“In the first quarter of 2025, Basf held its position in an increasingly challenging environment. Ebitda before special items was at about the level of the prior-year quarter and was in line with average analyst estimates,” said Basf’s Chief Financial Officer Dirk Elvermann at the presentation of...

IPL, a manufacturer of rigid-plastic products, announced it is merging with Schoeller Allibert, a manufacturer of reusable transport packaging. The proposed merger creates an international sustainable packaging producer with a manufacturing footprint in 27 locations across Europe, the United Kingdom and...

After many years of dedicated service, Günther Pöll stepped down from the Supervisory Board of Erema Group at the end of April 2025 to begin his well-earned retirement. Effective 1 May 2025, Thomas Gangl was appointed as a new member of the Supervisory Board of Erema Group. The...

In the first quarter of 2025, LyondellBasell reported a net profit of 177 million dollars and an Ebitda of 655 million dollars. In North America, integrated polyethylene profitability was pressured by lower volumes and margins associated with planned and unplanned maintenance at LyondellBasell...

Songwon completed its planned CFO succession, effective on 1 April 2025. Hans-Peter Wüest, with Songwon for 19 years and CFO of Songwon Industrial Group for 14 years, has been a key contributor to Songwon’s growth and global expansion. He stepped down from his role as CFO on...

Using expertise to get the most out of sensor technology: the Kistler Academy, an ISO-certified training institution, organizes courses for users from the injection moulding industry for plastics. Kistler experts provide the knowledge required for optimum sensor use, efficient process design, monitoring and...

The General Assembly of Eumeps, the association representing the entire value chain of expanded polystyrene (EPS) in Europe, has elected a new Board of Directors for the 2025–2027 term. The newly appointed President is Agata Gładysz-Stańczyk (Synthos) – the first woman to hold this position...

ExxonMobil announced Karen T. McKee, president of ExxonMobil Product Solutions Company and vice president Exxon Mobil Corporation, will retire effective 1 May 2025. The Board of Directors has appointed Matt Crocker president, ExxonMobil Product Solutions Company and vice president Exxon Mobil Corporation...

“For us, it is way past 12 o’clock.” This was the stark warning from Ilham Kadri, President of Cefic, at the recent high-level strategic dialogue on the Chemical Industry Package led by Executive Vice President of the European Commission Stéphane Séjourné and Commissioner Jessika Roswall. Addressing...

Specialty chemicals company Lanxess has completed the sale of its Urethane Systems business to Japanese UBE Corporation on 1 April 2025. The transaction had been announced in early October 2024. UBE is a global manufacturer of chemical products and listed at the Tokyo Stock Exchange...

Bain Capital, a private investment firm, completed the majority investment in Milacron and will partner with Milacron’s current owner, Hillenbrand, which will remain a significant investor in the business to ensure the company’s continued growth. Milacron has built a legacy over the past nearly...

The Austrian specialist in plastics recycling systems and components, Erema, has appointed a long-time employee as Global Sales Director: Christoph Wöss, previously Business Development Manager for the Bottle division, will take over the newly created position within the Erema management team on...

LyondellBasell signed an agreement with Nexeo Plastics, a global thermoplastics resin distributor, to distribute its engineered polymers portfolio, a part of the Advanced Polymer Solutions (APS) business, starting 1 April 2025. “Enlarging our partnership with Nexeo Plastics is an important step for LyondellBasell...

The European Plastics Converters (EuPC) is sounding the alarm over the European Commission’s proposed tariffs on plastic polymer imports from the US, calling them a direct threat to Europe’s plastics converting industry – and the 1.6 million jobs it supports...