THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Thai Plastic Industry Showcases its Potential

Thai Plastic Industry Showcases its Potential

Energy conservation, bioplastics and biodegradable plastics are among the "hot" features.

2 September, Bangkok, TIPREX 2011, one of the greatest international plastic and rubber technology exhibitions in ASEAN, has been officially inaugurated. A record number of leading international and Thai corporations have brought in their state-of-the-art machineries and equipments for plastics and rubber industries that feature speedier technologies, while consuming less energy and fewer raw materials, for displaying at the exhibition. The TIPREX will be held at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Bitec) until September 3, 2011.

TIPREX is an international plastic and rubber technology exhibition organized by Messe Düsseldorf Asia, one of the world's best known organizers of international exhibitions and trade fairs from Germany. Holding for the third year, TIPREX 2011 has become even more successful with the number of pre-registered visitors rising up by more than 40 per cent when compared with the last year's figure.

Mr. Gernot Ringling, Managing Director, Messe Düsseldorf Asia said that TIPREX 2011 has attracted more than 200 leading corporations from 20 countries worldwide who exhibit their products and technologies at the fair that covers a combined floor space of over 10,000 square meters. Among the exhibitors at the fair include Wittmann Battenfeld (Thailand) which is joining the TIPREX for the first time, Krauss Maffei Technologies GmbH, Kreyenbour GmbH, Patankit Charoen (2529), PTT Chemical Public Co Ltd, and SCG Chemicals Co Ltd, Global Connections Public Company Limited, Pack All Plastics Co., Ltd.

In his speech marking the opening of the TIPREX 2011, Industry Minister Wannarat Channukul said bioplastics was an interesting technology and the industry was regarded as strategically importance to Thailand. The government has allocated its budget and human resources to assist the development of technologies to extract, process, and convert farm-based materials to bioplastics. Nevertheless, this new industry needs more promotions and supports from every involved party, he said.

Veerasak Kositpaisal, President of PTT Chemical Public Co., Ltd and Chairman of the Plastic Industry Club of the Federation of Thai Industries, said TIPREX was originated from a cooperation between the Plastic Industry Club of the Federation of Thai Industries, the Thai Plastic Industries Association, and  Messe Düsseldorf Asia.

The plastic industry possesses a bright prospect for growth, thank to an increased investments from domestic and abroad. During the second quarter of 2011, Thai plastic market grew up by as much as six per cent. Furthermore, Thailand's exports of environmentally-friendly plastics were valued at US$2.9 billion in 2010, making it to become the 22nd largest exporting nation of plastics and packaging raw materials in the world.

"At present, the government has set up the Plastic Institute to become a driving force for executing the

the strategic development plan of the industry. It has allocated 720 million baht as budget for supporting the operations during the first five years period," he said.

Derived from its determination to enhance international competitiveness of the Thai plastic industry and the Thai economy as a whole,  PTT Chemical has unveiled a new brand called "InnoPlus."

PTT Chemical and its affiliate company Bangkok Polyethylene Public Co Ltd,  a manufacture of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with a 500,000 tons per annum capacity, had merged their "NPCX" and "Thai-zex" brands into the

single brand of InnoPlus, which in a way marking another step towards its internationalization efforts, since 2010. The move has helped enhancing management efficiency and conveniency for its customers and business partners with regarding to their business dealing with the company. Also thank to its internationally-recognized product quality, PTT Chemical has been developed to become a major producer of polyethylene in the region with a total capacity of 1.5 million tons per annum.

Krianglit Sukcharoensin, President of Thai Plastic Industries Association and Managing Director of  Sukcharoen Trading Co Ltd said TIPREX was a great exhibition that having been able to draw up more and more visitors every year. Upstream and  downstream producers of plastic products as well as exhibitors of world-class products including injection, blow moulding, and other state-of-the-art equipments have joined in the fair, enabling visitors and potential buyers to touch and see the real products, and making their appropriated decisions.

At present, Thailand is the world's 8th largest plastic manufacturing nation. The country ships  plastic resins and plastic products worth totaling about 300 billions baht annually to markets around the world including Japan, United States, Europe, ASEAN, Australia, India, and China, while it imports about 200 billions baht per year worth of plastic resin and products. Combining with plastic parts used in export industries such as automobiles, appliances, refrigerators, air-conditioners, radios, television sets, computers, toys, furnitures, and packaging which altogether are valued at approximately 400 billions baht per year, Thai plastic market is estimated to worth a total of 900 billions baht. The industry employs about two million workers and is growing by 15-20 per cent annually.

Therefore, in bid to achieve a sustainable competitiveness, the operators have to continuously looked out for ways to reduce costs, increase revenues and developing their workforces, through procuring appropriated machinery technologies. To this end, TIPREX 2011 offers a decent opportunity and the association is proud to be a co-host of this fair since the beginning.

Sukcharoen Trading which is an authorized distributor of Toshiba plastic injection machines, has brought in the latest product, the EC-100s machine, for displaying at the fair.  The EC-100s is outstanding for its higher

production efficiency, higher outputs, accuracies, and speedier injection rates, while it is easier to control and is environmentally friendly.

Somchai Kulimakin, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Global Connections Public Company Limited, the  distributor of the widest ranges of plastic resins, additives, and other chemicals for the plastics and petrochemical industry in Thailand, said the company had utilized the TIPREX 2011 as a venue for  demonstrating its leading role of being a "Total Solution & Services Provider" in the area of plastic materials in the international marketplace. At the fair, the company focuses on providing knowledge and information to its customers through organizing seminars and offer some advices on its products. It currently has about 1,500 customers. To ensure continuous supply for its customers, the company keeps 3-7 days of inventories for domestic products, one month for imported goods, and three months for special products.

There is a growing demand for bioplastics,  recyclable and non-contaminated plastics including those using as raw materials for the production of cosmetics and food packaging. Overall, the plastic industry has continued to grow in line with the national gross domestic products. Global Connections has registered a continuous growth, averaging at about 8-12 per cent per year.

Prathan Mongkolchaichawal, Assistant General Manager of Patankit Charoen (2529) Co Ltd, said the company was an importer and distributor of high-quality plastic injection

machineries under the leading brands such as Mitsubishi, Toyo (Hitachi), Welltec, and Yan Hing. At TIPREX 2011, the company has introduced

"EcoPow", its latest product that offers high efficiency, and a 50 per cent reduction on energy consumption, as well as environmentally-friendly, and low-noise features.

Sukhumal Aranyapongpaisal, Deputy Managing Director of Pac All Plastics Co Ltd said the company was a distributor of leading machineries from abroad for plastics, rubber and aluminum manufacturing. Established more than 20 years ago, the company has been well regarded for its high quality products

and services both in Thailand and abroad. It is currently an authorized distributor of more than 25 leading corporations, which have entrusted it to deliver more than 1,000 products to the market.

At present, industrial machineries have been developed in many aspects with large emphasize given to energy conservation and productivity enhancement features. Among them is the development of a cooling system for plastic pipe's extrusion machine that offers a two-times higher efficiency. The company is confident that the plastic industry will continue to grow and state-of-the-art machineries will help the producers to significantly reduce their costs of energy and raw materials, amid the rising labour costs.

The company has joined TIPREX 2011 with objectives to convey its support to the Thai Plastic  Industries Association and to present new innovations to its customers, as well as organizing seminars to disseminate knowledge on latest machineries and production technologies. Visitors to its booth can observe all new machineries which were not presented at the previous years' exhibitions.  RapidEx 1000 is the highlight product for this year.

This high quality extruder from Battenfeld-Cincinnati, Germany, is outstanding for its  energy saving and low-noise features. Having a maximum output of 1,400 kilograms per hour, rapidEx 1000 is good for both PE and PP extrusion.

Pratin Pratumlai, Sales Manager of Wittmann Battenfeld (Thailand) Co Ltd, said the company was an importer and distributor of  Wittmann Battenfeld products that include a wide range of highly-efficient  robots and automation systems as well as an integrated line of molding machines, used for the plastic industry.

There are also many other interesting machineries showcasing at TIPREX 2011 such as the AX-series injection molding machine from KraussMaffei Technologies GmbH, Germany which is outstanding for its high productivity and energy efficiency features that help minimizing production costs. The AX-series    is well catered to plastic manufacturing which demands high precision and high yields functions.

 TIPREX 2011 is being held at Bitec Bangna until September 3, 2011. The opening hours are from 10.30 AM to 6.00 PM.

 

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