JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #50 - July/August 2009 - 10

COMPANIES COMPANIES More V operates one wide continuous production line and two narrow lines. The annual output is around 1.5 million m², or 5% of the Chinese market (30 million m² according to the estimations of Johnson Liu, CEO of More V). The company has some 100 employees on its two sites, and serves primarily the Chinese market, which accounts for 80% of its sales. The other 20% are exported to the United States, Taiwan, Singapore and a little to Spain. Products and fields of application More V produces panels of different colours and shapes, in particular onecolour gelcoated FRP panels, multicoloured gelcoated FRP panels and FRP panels with bonded PET film. Sometimes the panels are prepared according to the specific requirements of customers with, for example, attachment parts being fitted. The panels are on average composed of 70% resin and 30% glass fibres, 90% of which are supplied by OCV Reinforcement (formerly Vetrotex). The length of the cut fibres is approximately 5 cm. Polycarbonate panels are more transparent but significantly less resistant than FRP panels. More V’s FRP panels and FRP sandwich panels are widely used in the following sectors: skylight and louvers for industrial buildings, interior walls and ceilings for buildings, walls for transportation vehicles, garage doors, concrete forms, etc. In China, the company has supplied panels for Shanghai airport and for the Peugeot and Citroën car plants. Abroad, it works in particular with an American company that specializes in the production of leisure vehicles. The company is ISO 9001-certified and is keen to stress the quality of its products, in particular by means of its many ageing tests. Port view of the line. To ensure its continued development, More V is of course counting on its internal growth, but does not rule out the possibility of takeovers. Since the market is still very piecemeal in China, a policy of external growth through company buy-outs and the concomitant acquisition of market share would no doubt constitute a sound move. More information: www.morevpanel.com IN BRIEF IDI Composites buys former Menzolit facilities IDI Composites International announced on 12 June 2009 the acquisition of manufacturing facilities that were formerly part of Menzolit Compounds International GmbH from German strategic investor, Senata. The Menzolit plants to be transferred to IDI are located in Vineuil Cedex, France, and Shanghai, China. They produce thermoset bulk moulding compounds (BMC), sheet moulding compounds (SMC) and continuous impregnated compounds (CIC). This acquisition makes IDI Composites the world’s largest supplier of thermoset moulding compounds and doubles the company's manufacturing output. www.idicomposites.com SABIC and Sipchem to launch carbon fibre production The Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and the Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) announced on 9 May 2009 that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for mutual cooperation. Under this MoU, SABIC will implement several new petrochemical projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia including a plant that will produce 3,000 metric tons of carbon fibre annually. The plant is expected to come on stream by mid-2013. www.sabic.com AGY acquires 70% of Grace THW Group’s yarn business in Shanghai AGY announced on 15 June 2009 that it has acquired a 70% controlling interest in the Shanghai-based yarn manufacturing business of Grace THW Group. The company has been renamed AGY Shanghai Technology Co., Ltd. Grace THW remains a 30% shareholder in the venture and AGY has the option and intent to buy the remaining shares from Grace THW at some point in the near future. www.agy.com Abu Dhabi to start composite aerostructure manufacturing Mubadala Development Company, Abu Dhabi, has started building a composite plant that will be called Strata. The construction of phase one – a 21,600 m² facility – started on 29 June 2009, with manufacturing to begin in the fourth quarter of 2010. Subsequent phases of expansion are planned to provide a total facility in excess of 60,000 m² over the next few years. Strata has formed industrial partnerships with leading aerospace companies EADS, Airbus, FACC and Alenia Aeronautica. Initial contracts with these partners carrying a total value in excess of US$2 billion have already been finalized. The plant will manufacture composites for Airbus aircraft and the empennage for the ATR regional aircraft. Strata will provide over 500 employment opportunities between 2010 and 2014. The number of jobs should rise to over 1000 by 2020. www.mubadala.ae 10 jec composites magazine / No50 July-August 2009

http://www.morevpanel.com http://www.sabic.com http://www.idicomposites.com http://www.agy.com http://www.mubadala.ae

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #50 - July/August 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #50 - July/August 2009