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Having shopped around for most of 2020 to divest its acrylic business consisting of the Plexiglas brand in N. America, France- based Arkema sold to Berwyn, – PA based Transeo for $1.36 billion.

Celanese announced this massive increase to be completed by 2022.  Increased demand for  Electric Vehicle (EV) battery separator plates is driving this need. Celanese last increased capacity in 2017 and  this expansion will raise their capacity to 120,000 t/y. EV demand is estimated to grow 25% through 2025.

The subject Rankings should have given attribution to the source: PLASTICS NEWS, the industry’s leading publication!Film &

Company                  $Sales (millions)

Inteplast Group         $2,690

DuPont Co.                 $1,250

Klockner Pentaplast $600

Primex Plastics         $600

Plaskolite                   $584

Spartech                     $400

SABIC                         $220

Aristech                      $175

Arkema                      $150

Simona America      $147

Rohm America        $130

 

Delta Airlines announces ” 2600 plexiglass shields in place throughout your journey”. Plaskolite running at capacity although expecting slowing as market becoming saturated. Growing market is maintenance (using proper cleaners) and replacement of clear MMA & PC sheet.

Plaskolite just announced the availability of an antimicrobial coating for its MMA, PC and PETG sheet used in coronavirus barrier applications.  Trademarked AMGARD, it is touted as an additional safeguard to protect infection prevention applications from being contaminated especially when continual cleaning is not practical.

US resin production to fall 6% in 2020, rebounding in 2021 by increasing 13 %, year over year.

Prices of volume resins bottom out. Increased exports, higher prices for feed stocks, and a slow ramp up of production of industrial goods are projected  to stabilize  resin prices, Upward pressure on PE and PC seems certain. MMA and PC also rising due to unprecedented increased demand due to infection barrier applications.

Much is reported, and in fact now being seen  universally,  about “Infection Protection” barriers and dividers made from “Plexiglass” as this pseudo mark is referred to.

Some background: Originally trademarked Plexiglas® in 1933 by Rohm und Haas in Germany, now owned by Arkema France.

First used as a glass substitute; one of the first applications was airplane windows.

Other trademarks for acrylic sheet are Acrylite®, Lucite®, Perspex® and Altuglas®

PMC is an extruder of sheet products for primarily thermoformed products made of ABS and PVC/Acrylic. and TPO and combinations of these materials. PMC was formerly PE company owned. Integrated with its Boltaron subsidiary this new SIMONA entity will continue its growth in the U.S., it’s second largest market.

In an interview with Forbes, Mitch Grindley, Plaskolite’s Executive Chairman, reports their ramped up production was extruding enough acrylic sheet to be used for over 200,000 barriers back in March-April, 2020 with current revenue up 6- fold while current deliveries running about 15 weeks

Lucite International has been supplying polymer at record volumes to Plaskolite.

Altuglas/Arkema meanwhile reports the increased revenue brings them up to full capacity but has no plans to expand and may still may be looking to divest its MMA monomer and sheet business.

Typical completed barriers are being marketed for an average of $250 uninstalled by companies such as Display World, E & T Plastics and Faulkner Plastics.

MCAM, as part of its acquisition of Quadrant in 2013, and the renaming of Quadrant to MCAM as of 2019, has rebranded some products.

PPS and Polysulfone polymers in semi finished shape forms are now called “Sultron”.   PC, Polymethylpentene and PPO are newly named “Altron”and “Flextron“.  Nylon 6/6 once again called “Nylatron“

Clear acrylic sheet is especially coveted now as clear dividers are being installed at checkout counters, restaurant tables, assembly lines and many other spaces where people interact in public. According to the WSJ, a  Dallas area school; district ordered 30,000 sheets from Plaskolite, whose experiencing a 50% increase in business that is directly related to the pandemic response…deliveries are now out an unprecedented five months!

Our industry mourns the passing of Mike Batky, 75, earlier this year. Mike spent 23 years at Almac/Laird Plastics and 7 years at AIN Plastics/ThyssenKrupp Materials NA. Most recently with Business Answers International and a good friend and colleague of ours.

Acrylic sheet is everywhere it seems. Almost universally,  its recently being  called Plexiglass by most of the pr  eess.

Barriers between office desks, bathroom stall and sink separators, in restaurants separating booths, in nail salons, movie theaters, on airliners and of course at retail points of sale. The list of applications will be virtually endless.

PMMA, PC & PETG (also being widely used) sheet sales are up 300% in April 2020 v 2019!

Total Plastics (TPI) producing tens of thousands of PETG face shields per day, supplying hospitals nationally. They have already shipped over 3 million.

Continuing their Covid-19 response TPI is  gearing up to produce acrylic protective barriers  on a continuing basis to , retail stores, schools and corporate offices, according to Tom Garrett, Pres. TPI. The new normal is here!

Within the last 45 days (seems a lifetime) , many of our companies and their employees, have suddenly and quickly performed heroic tasks during the current Pandemic.

Ramping up production of PET & PC face shields and acrylic barriers & partitions…all providing personal protection against Covid-19 infection.

Despite film & sheet sudden shortages, supply chains were tapped and deliveries made. Volume in hundreds of thousands in record time…heroes indeed!

Almost overnight, the globe has discovered MMA; PC & PET sheet & film used as face shield,personal protective barrier  demand & divider shields  grows as exponentially as the virus.

Plaskolite instantly sells out is capacity  take a as applications for fighter jet canopies and signage are on hold

Fabricators and Distributors are suddenly incredibly inundated with orders.

Plastics sheet and film suddenly no longer an environmental hazard..but a life saving commodity!

Surfaces now inert and virus repelling. Transparent Face shields and dividers protect us from contamination while performing see thru barrier functions.

Fabricators  (Modern Plastics in CT, for one) step up voluntarily while fulfilling pipelines as new markets explode!