Plastics News

Volume No. 55 MH/MR/N/200/MBI/12- 14 Issue No. 5 June 2012 Rs. 75.00

SAY YES TO PLASTICS

P L A S T I C S N E W S J U N E 2 0 1 27

MH/MR/N/200/MBI/12- 14 June 2012Volume 55 No. 6

Chairman - Editorial Board Mr. Jayesh Rambhia

Hon. Editor Mr. Raju Desai

Associate Editor Mr. Hiten Bheda

Members Dr. T. Biswas Mr. A. E. Ladhaboy

Editorial Co-ordination: Padmesh Prabhune, Dhruv Communications,

Mumbai, Tel No: 00-22-2868 5198 / 5049 • Fax No : 00-22-28685495 email: [email protected]

Published by Ms. Uma Gupta on behalf of the owners,

The All India Plastics Manufacturers’ Association

Plot No. A-52, Road No. 1, M.I.D.C., Andheri (E),

Mumbai-400 093. Tel: 67778899 • Fax : 00-22-2821 6390

E-mail : [email protected]

Website : http://www.aipma.net

and printed by her at Dhote Offset Technokrafts Pvt. Ltd.,

Jogeshwari (E), Mumbai-400 060.

Annual Subscription Rs. 750/-

Single issue Rs. 75/-

Views/Reports/Extracts etc. published in Plastics News are those of the

authors and not necessarily of the Editor. Furthermore except for copies of

formal AIPMA communications no other matter in this journal should be

interpreted as views of The All India Plastics Mfgrs. Association.

Mr. Ashok AgarwalVice President

(East Zone)

Mr. Manish DedhiaHon. Secretary

Dr. Asutosh GorJt. Hon. Secretary

Mr. Mukesh ShahHon. Treasurer

OFFICE BEARERS

The Offi cial Organ of The All India Plastics Manufacturers Association Estd. 1945

Mr. Jayesh RambhiaPresident

Mr. Anand OzaVice President (West Zone)

Mr. R. K. AggarwalVice President (North Zone)

Mr. Anil BansalVice President (South Zone)

IN THIS ISSUE...17...... AIPMA At Work

37...... Company News

41...... Environment

44...... Features

...Plastics Bag maker taking on bans

...Report: Thermoforming consolidation to continue in NA

...HDPE pipes has high utility

...Product Pricing –IV

54...... International News

62...... Business News

65...... Product News

69...... Technology

73...... In the News

75...... Industry Updates

84...... Notifi cation & Circulars

CONTENT




P L A S T I C S N E W S J U N E 2 0 1 211P L A S T I C S N E W S J U N E 2 0 1 211

THE PRESIDENT SAYS

India is worlds second largest population and growing. There is demand for land from agriculture, industry and

citizens. Proper infrastructure is available only in pockets. Major portion of investment is absorbed by land. Search for suitable land with clear title is challenge.

AIPMA undertook the mission to make industrial land available to entrepreneurs at affordable price. Land with clear title directly from government with all required infrastructure and single window clearance for all needed permissions for setting up factories will boost growth for industry.

In Dahej 100 acres have been disbursed to members & making common facility Center is under planning.

140 acre AIPMA Industrial Zone at Sanand Gujarat very close to Maruti, Ford, Peugeot and Ford plant is suitable for auto component sector.

200 acres near Bangalore and Mangalore in Karnataka, 225 acres near Kanpur in UP.

AIPMA Plastic parks totalling to nearly 1000 acres have been declared by state governments. Some more is in process.

This will create revenue of over 20000 crore per year, generate direct and indirect employment for 5 Lakh and attract investment opportunities of about 20000 crore in plastic sector.

It will also benefi t several other sectors such as raw materials, machine makers, mould makers and more in upstream and pharma, FMCG, processed foods, appliances, auto, construction, agriculture etc. in down stream sectors .making Indian economy stronger.

Fast Track Finance : AIPMA has signed up with SIDBI for getting easy access to fi nance. Up to 2 crore in 2 weeks and Upton 10 crore in 4 weeks.

Manpower : AIPMA has data of over 5000 CIPET trained students ready to join industry. This database will be available online for you to hire talent.

AIPMA Network :

AIPMA has signed MOU with European Plastic Converters : federation of 50 European national and product specifi c associations in plastic industry.

AIPMA has also signed MOU with Society of Plastic Industry in USA, British Plastic Federation, ASSOCOMOPLAST Italy.

This is to connect Indian plastic industry with global opportunities.

AIPMA now exhibits in all major plastic trade fairs worldwide to showcase Indian plastic industry and display Opportunity India.

AIPMA is also improving its domestic reach by making regional panels.

AIPMA Trade Shows : Plastivision India is now amongst worlds top 10 plastic shows. Plastivision Arabia and Kenyaplast will make it easy for Indian SME to enter export market.

Environment : AIPMA has signed MOU with Waste Free Oceans in Brussels to collect fl oating waste in waterways.

AIPMA has signed MOU with SPI, USA for Operation Clean Sweep to prevent any wastage of plastic granules during processing,

AIPMA has partnered with UNIDO for improving competitiveness of Indian plastic industry by improving processes, systems and technology.

Only due to dedicated work of a hugely dedicated team , guided by seniors at AIPMA, we have been able to achieve so much in a short time.

We believe what we are doing will make our industries and country stronger.

Your feedback is important to us.

Jayesh RambhiaPresident - AIPMA

AIPMA on Fast Track to Future


P L A S T I C S N E W S J U N E 2 0 1 213P L A S T I C S N E W S J U N E 2 0 1 213

FROM THE EDITOR

From the Editor’s Pen….

On the occasion of the World Environment Day, while the Indian media pooh-poohed Plastics with

Chief Minister suggesting a ‘Plastic Ban’, about more than 50,000 people gathered in Rio de Janeiro for Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.

The plastics industry was also the part of the action at Plasticity Rio ’12, a side event, at the RIO 2102 Earth Summit, held on June 21, that was “all about the future of plastics’.Plasticity has been endorsed by the Clinton Foundation, UNEP, Mission Blue/Google Ocean and the Taiwan Plastics Development Center.

Rather than talking about problems that plastics pose for the environment, ‘Plasticity’ focuses on solutions. Participants talk about the ideas and innovations from packaging design to material recovery.

As Doug Woodring, founder of the Hong Kong-based Ocean Recovery Alliance and an event partner, rightly said, “It’s all about the future of plastic and where the leaders are going”.

This one-day forum with unique, action and solutions oriented event, with both public and private sectors, focused on the opportunities that are presenting themselves in the world of plastic and its role as a secondary raw material. Plasticity Rio '12 explore the innovations and solutions that leaders in their respective industries and communities are undertaking to ensure that plastic and used material is treated as a resource, therefore minimizing its impacts on our shared global ecosystem.

The conference was in collaboration between the non-profi t Ocean Recovery Alliance; Republic of Everyone, a marketing and consulting fi rm based in Surry Hills, Australia; New York-based consultants Applied Brilliance LLC; and event organizers Método Eventos of Rio de Janeiro.

Most speakers from the plastics industry included

brand owners, entrepreneurs, and decision makers from a variety of sectors, like waste-to-fuel and recycling.

To kick-off Plasticity and get people involved, organizers are holding Capturing Gold, a competition that challenges participants to fi nd new ways to recover and reuse discarded PET bottles.

The whole world knows what PET bottles are. And though they’re the most recycled… there’s still so many made that there’s a lot of gold out there that isn’t being harvested. The organizers also hosted an collaborative online contest, at competition.plasticityforum.com, wherein anyone can submit an entry and other participants can offer suggestions or feedback.

The goal is to generate the best ideas possible. The intended outcome of the Forum is to create a community of stakeholders, innovators and idea generators that can help shape the future direction of plastic use and re-use.

Similarly, plastic bag manufacturer in the U.S. are still convinced that the facts are on its side and intends to continue to try to educate legislators and the public about the environmental facts surrounding plastic bags and the effect of bans on jobs, the environment and the economy..

One needs to understand that Plastic is one of the best option after wood. How could one imagine a day without plastics? ( be it your tooth brush, you cell phones, your car it’s all Plastic.)

Let us take a leaf from it and propagate the concept of Plasticity in this part of the world for better environment.

Hon. EditorRaju Desai

[email protected]

When ‘Plasticity’ can be worldwide why not in India?
























COMPANY NEWS

BASF conducts pilot project to promote composting of organic waste in PuneOn the occasion of World

Environment Day, BASF, with the support of the Pune Municipal Corporation, announced the launch of its pilot composting project. The project aims at promoting composting of source-separated organic waste in certified compostable and fully biodegradable bags. “Through this project we wish to promote composting as the most effective and efficient method for organic waste management. Further, the launch of this joint project in conjunction with World Environment Day aptly exemplifies the theme ‘Green Economy: Does it include you?’ as it serves to demonstrate how a community can contribute to and benefit from a sustainable future,” said Dr. Tobias Haber, Head, Specialty

Plastics Asia Pacifi c, BASF. As part of the project launch, composting awareness booths were stationed in two residential complexes in Pune. Certif ied compostable and fully biodegradable bags made of BASF’s Ecovio were distributed to residents, to source-separate organic waste. The compostable bags made of Ecovio with source separated organic waste were collected and transported to an industrial composting site the next day. Speaking about this initiative, Mr. Prasad Chandran, Chairman, BASF Companies in India & Head South Asia said, “BASF is committed to creating chemistry for a sustainable future. Through this pilot project, we aim to showcase our efforts and contribution in the biodegradable plastics segment

GAIL to build a new ethylene dimerization unit at PataGAIL (India) Ltd. will build a

new ethylene dimerization unit at Pata, using Axens’ AlphaButol technology. According to the release the unit will have production capacity of 20,000 tpa of high purity 1-butene. Based on homogeneous catalysis and associated to a low investment cost, the AlphaButol technology is designed and optimized to ensure a fl exible and reliable source of high quality comonomer 1-Butene for downstream polyolefi ns applications. GAIL operates a gas based integrated

Petrochemical plant of 410,000 tpa polymer capacity which is further being expanded to a capacity of 900,000 tpa. The Company also has 70% equity share in Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL) which is setting up a 280,000 TPA polymer plant in Assam. Further, GAIL is a co-promoter with 17% equity stake in ONGC Petro-additions Limited (OPaL) which is implementing a green fi eld petrochemical complex of 1.1 MMTPA Ethylene capacity at Dahej in the State of Gujarat

to protect the environment and reduce greenhouse emissions. It is a privilege to partner Pune Municipal Corporation towards promoting a green initiative on the special occasion of World Environment Day.” Together with BASF, we are excited to explore the potential for composting of source-separated organic waste as a sustainable alternative to landfi lling. Composting of organic waste will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, the compost produced is a marketable commodity that can be returned to the soil to improve soil quality, reduce fertilizer use and serve as a cost-effective alternative for landscaping”, remarked Mr. Suresh Jagtap, Joint Commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation.

AdvancedPetrochem completes scheduled maintenance at plants

Advanced Petrochemical C o m p a n y h a s b e e n

successful in completion of the regular routine and preventive maintenance of its propylene "PDH" and polypropylene "PP" and successful start up of both plants on May 22


COMPANY NEWS

Perstorp’s announces JV with PTT Global Chemical

Specialty chemicals company Perstorp has announced the

transactional closing and set up of the joint venture with Thailand’s largest chemical producer PTT Global Chemical for the manufacturing and sales of products for the polyurethane industry. PTT Global Chemical holds 51% and Perstorp 49% of the new joint venture, named VENCOREX™ Holding. The joint venture, dedicated to the manufacturing and sales of aromatic (TDI) and aliphatic (IPDI, HDI & der ivates) isocyanates, includes the former Perstorp Business

Group “Coating Additives” with its manufacturing sites at Pont-de-Claix in France and Freeport in the USA. PTT Global Chemical holds 51% of the joint venture and Perstorp 49%. The joint venture will operate under the name VENCOREX™ Holding. At locations where VENCOREX does not have its own sales staff, Perstorp’s existing sales organization will continue to sell and market VENCOREX products and solutions to its customers, through a joint decision.“We are very pleased to announce the formation of our joint venture today. VENCOREX

Asahi Kasei opens sales office in Mexico

Michigan based, Materials maker Asahi Kasei

Plastics North America Inc. has opened its fi rst sales offi ce in Mexico. According to the release the offi ce in Toluca will handle sales from warehouses used by Asahi Kasei in four other Mexican locations - San Luis Potosi, Puebla, Torreon and Monterrey. The office’s goal is to provide closer attention and faster response to local customer needs, Mexico sales manager Victor Mora said in the release. Asahi Kasei President John Moyer pointed out that the opening of the Mexican sales offi ce coincided with the fi rm’s 12-year anniversary. The new office “accentuates our commitment to growing our global footprint,” Moyer said.

with its unique range of products to the polyurethane industry, has an exciting future and the strength the two joint venture partners bring to the table will help propel VENCOREX to an even better position, ultimately bringing better solutions for our joint customers around the world”, says Mr. Anon Sirisaengtaksin, PTT Global Chemical’s CEO and Martin Lundin, Perstorp’s President and CEO

Brückner builds new China headquartersGerman machinery maker

Brückner Group has opened a new headquarters in China According to the release the firm expects continued solid demand in the market.

The Suzhou facility includes 2,400 square feet of offi ce space in addition to the 66,000 square feet of workshop space. The company can add another 2,200 square feet of factory space in a second phase. The 65,000 square foot factory, in Suzhou, will improve effi ciency by combining several offi ces into one location. The company will expand its workforce in China from 80 last year to about 150 by the end of this year, said Christoph Mayer, managing director of Brückner Technology (Suzhou). The Suzhou facility brings the local offi ces from several of its units

under one roof, including its Brückner Maschinenbau GmbH division that makes fi lm and sheet equipment, its Kiefel GmbH subsidiary that makes thermoforming and other equipment and its PackSys Global (Switzerland) Ltd., which supplies equipment for aluminum, plastic and laminate tubes and other specialty packaging lines.

The Suzhou center also will let the company offer faster service to local customers, and it includes a training center and a small research and development team, Mayer said.

A key goal of the new factory is to give the company more space to do pre-assembly of equipment, rather than on-site at the factories of its customers in China, he said


COMPANY NEWS

Chevron Phillips Chemical signs LOI to evaluate petrochem plant in IraqChevron Phill ips Chemical

Co (joint venture between Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhilips) signed a letter of intent to evaluate the feasibility of developing a petrochemical plant with Iraq, as per Bloomberg. The company would examine building a new facility and upgrading an existing Iraq-owned petrochemicals factory in southern Basra province. Both Chevron Phillips and the ministry

declined to give additional details, including cost estimates or dates for the project. Iraq’s oil output is on the rebound after stagnating for years during the rule of Saddam Hussein, ousted by a U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The nation burns off natural gas produced in association with crude because it lacks the infrastructure to use it as a fuel for electricity plants or feedstock for petrochemicals

Formosa Plastics Group’s four core companies report lossesFour core companies of Formosa

Plastics Group have reported losses in monthly revenue. According to the release, Formosa Petrochemical Corp has reported the largest drop in monthly revenue among the Group’s four core companies of 22.8% to NT$66.496 bln (US$2.21 bln) from April 2012, as per TaipeiTimes. This can be attributed to recent declines

in global crude oil and ethylene prices, which have affected sales of its petrochemical products amid deteriorating petrochemical demand from China. Formosa Petrochemical president opines that consumption in China is slumping. While bank credit may be readily available in China, 40% of processing plants there are barely breaking even and 30% are in

Mitsubishi Chemical to shut its Kashima No.1 naphtha cracker in 2014

According to a report from Dow Jones, Japan's

Mitsubishi Chemical Corp plans to shut its 375,000 tpa Kashima No.1 naphtha cracker in 2014 amid falling domestic demand and erosion of overseas profi ts with a strengthening yen, as per Dow Jones Newswires. With this closure, the company will lose 375,000 tpa of ethylene capacity -about 30% of its ethylene production capacity.

the red, while many companies are not borrowing because of fears they will not be able to repay the loans. Worries abound that China has not yet bottomed out as manufacturers continue to reduce their inventories. The crisis this time is a demand crisis, unlike 2008, when it was a fi nancial crisis

Lanxess plans to launch Belgium nylon plant

German Mater ia ls maker Lanxess AG is investing 75

million euros (US$93 million) to build a nylon plant in Antwerp, Belgium. According to the release t5he plant, with an annual capacity of 198.4 million pounds, will begin operations in the fi rst quarter of 2014.Lanxess, based in Leverkusen, said global demand for high-technology plastics is expected

to rise by 5-6 percent a year through 2020, mainly fueled by automotive. Lanxess is building the nylon plant next to its Antwerp facility that makes caprolactam feedstocks. Lanxess is in the middle of a global expansion. The company is building compounding plants in Gastonia, N.C., and Porto Feliz, Brazil. Earlier this year, Lanxess opened a plant in Jhagadia, India.

The company also has doubled the capacity of its plant in Hamm-Uentrop, Germany


COMPANY NEWS

ExxonMobil plans setting up new plant in Texas

The world's largest publicly traded energy company Exxon

Mobil Corp, plans to build a multi-billion dollar chemical plant at its Baytown complex in Texas. According to reports the plant is planned with a capacity of 1.5 mln tpa ethylene, subject to approvals. The plant is estimated to come online by 2016 at the earliest. With this, Exxon Mobil's chemical

production capacity will receive a great impetus, helping it compete more effectively with rival Dow Chemical Co. In 2010, Exxon Mobil acquired XTO Energy Inc. Since then, Exxon has been North America's largest producer of natural gas, which it now plans to use for captive consumption. This will provide an advantage by way of reduced costs over Dow that does

LyondellBasell awarded US$4.5 mln grant by US Dept of Energy

LyondellBasell was awarded a US$4.5 mln grant by the

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a catalyst-assisted technology to improve the energy efficiency of producing ethylene from ethane gas while emitting less greenhouse gases (GHG). The grant was one of 13 projects announced today by DOE to receive more than US$54 mln for initiatives aimed at increasing energy efficiency and reducing costs of U.S. manufacturing. LyondellBasell, in collaboration with Quantiam Technologies Inc. and BASF Qtech Inc., will develop the new energy saving technology in a three-part program over the next three years. It will build upon earlier generation ethane and naphtha-fed catalytic coating technology for steam crackers developed by BASF Qtech by extending the benefi ts to ethane and natural gas liquid-fed steam crackers. LyondellBasell has six steam cracking units in the U.S. and can process ethane and natural gas liquids for up to

85% of their feedstocks. The estimated cost share for this project in addition to the DOE grant is US$2.2 million.

"Lyonde l lBase l l i s honored to be selected for an innovative m a n u f a c t u r i n g process grant that can benefi t the U.S. chemical industry through lower energy costs and reduced greenhouse gas emissions," said Tim Roberts, Senior Vice President, Olefins and Polyolefins - Americas. "Access to low-cost ethane from shale gas over the past three years has changed the competitive position of the U.S. chemical industry. We have an opportunity to further t h i s a d v a n t a g e

through greater energy effi ciencies in our manufacturing processes. This grant helps to facilitate faster development of catalyst-assisted technology for ethane cracking."

not drill. U.S. natural gas prices have dropped more than 20% so far this year. The ethylene will be piped to the company's nearby Mont Belvieu complex, where it will be used in two planned polyethylene production facilities, each expected to have capacity of 650,000 tpa.

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ENVIRONMENT

Plastic Waste in Rural Roads Construction

With recent development o n v a r i o u s i s s u e s o f

infrastructure The National Rural Roads Development Agency Ministry of Rural Development, GoI has issued some Guidelines for use of Plastic Waste in construction of Roads…

Guidelines for the use of Plastic Waste in Rural Roads Construction

1.0 BackgroundPlastic in different forms is found

to be almost 5% in municipal solid waste, which is toxic in nature. It is a common sight in both urban and rural areas to fi nd empty plastic bags and other type of plastic packing material littering the roads as well as drains. Due to its biodegradability it creates stagnation of water and associated hygiene problems. In order to contain this problem experiments have been carried out whether this waste plastic can be reused productively in the construction of roads. The experimentation at several institutes indicated that the waste plastic, when added to hot aggregate will form a fi ne coat of plastic over the aggregate and such aggregate, when mixed with the binder is found to give higher strength, higher resistance to water and better performance over a period of time. Therefore, it is proposed that we may use waste plastic in the construction of Rural Roads.

2.0 Past ExperienceThough approved specifications

were not available in the beginning, with the help of research carried by

Prof.Vasudevan o f T C E , Madurai, Prof. Justo and Prof. Veeraragavan a t Banga lo re University and research carried out by Scientist at CRRI, New Delhi, several trial roads were c o n s t r u c t e d u s i n g w a s t e plastic. Though d e t a i l e d performance studies were not systematically planned and done on all such roads, generally it has been found that the roads constructed using waste plastic, popularly known as Plastic Roads, are found to perform better compared to those constructed with conventional bitumen. Further it has been found that such roads were not subjected to stripping when come in contact with water. With the experience gained over the years of construction of roads using waste plastic, CRRI as well as TCE has firmed up the specifications for the use of waste plastic and shared the specifi cations with organizations willing to construct the roads with waste plastic.

The present guidel ines are based on the presentations made by Dr. Sangita, Sr. Scientist, Flexible Pavement Division, CRRI and the literature supplied by Dr. R. Vasudevan of Thiagarajar College of Engineering, (TCE), Madurai.

3.0 Specifications for Waste Plastic

The following types of waste plastic can be used in the construction of rural roads:

� Films (Carry Bags, Cups) thickness up to 60micron (PE, PP and PS)

� Hard foams (PS) any thickness

� Soft Foams (PE and PP) any thickness.

� Laminated Plastics thickness up to 60 micron (Aluminum coated also) packing materials used for biscuits, chocolates, etc.,

Please note that Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) sheets or Flux sheets should not be used in any case.

Further, the waste plastic modifi er should be free from dust and is to be shredded, preferably to 2-3 mm particle size. While CRRI specifi ed that the shredded waste plastic should pass through 3 mm sieve, Dr.


ENVIRONMENT

Vasudevan is of the opinion that it has to pass through 4.75 mm sieve and retained on 1 mm. This also indicates indirectly that the size of the shredded bitumen should normally be 2-3 mm for better spread and coating the aggregate.

4.0 Method of Road Laying

Dry process is recommended for isolated works. It is recommended that the percentage of shredded waste plastic will be 8% by CRRI, while the same is specifi ed as 10% by Dr. Vasudevan. However we can adopt 8% as the optimum plastic content for blending the bitumen in the construction of plastic roads. The details of the process are given below. Bitumen of grades 60/70 or 80/100 can be used as binder as in case of conventional method.

With Mini Hot Mix Plant

The stone aggregate mix (as per specification) is transferred to the mix cylinder where it is heated to 1650c (as per the IRC specifi cation) and then it is transferred to the mixing puddler(Temperature can be monitored using IR thermometer), while transferring the hot aggregate into the puddler, calculated quantity of shredded plastics is sprayed over the hot aggregate within 30seconds. The sprayed plastic fi lms melts and gets coated over the aggregate, thus forming an oily coating.

Similarly, the bitumen is to be heated to a maximum of 1600c in a separate chamber and kept ready (The temperature should be monitored to have good binding and to prevent

weak bonding).

At the mixing puddler, the hot bitumen is added over the plastic coated aggregate and the resulted mix is used for road construction. The road laying temperature is between 1100c to 1200c. The roller used is normal 8-ton capacity.

For intensive works Central Mixing Plant can also be used. The operating Techniques for this are given below:

� The aggregate materials will be transferred to the cylinder through the conveyer belt.

� The shredded plastics will be sprayed over the aggregate while it is moving in the conveyer belt.

� The spraying is done by manual labors standing up on both side of the conveyer belt of the central mixing plant.

� The addition of plastics should be done quantitatively.

The amount of binder to be added is calculated and monitored:

� In the central mixing plant, at the control room the addition of bitumen is monitored.

� It is easy to know the amount of bitumen sprayed per minute inside the cylinder.

Amount of plastic to be added is @8% of bitumen.

For example if the bitumen quantity per minute is 10Kg, the plastic need to be added is 0.8 Kg. i.e. (A bucket can be used which can hold 0.8 Kg at a time)

Now, as the aggregate moves in the conveyer belt, the shredded plastics, taken in the bucket are sprayed with a speed of 0.8 Kg/1min with suitable mechanical device or manually.

In manual method, one person will be adding the shredded plastic on to the conveyer belt. In the mean time another person will keep ready another bucket full of plastics so that the addition of plastics will be continuous. Thus manual labor can also be so chosen that the addition is done continuous. Two or three labors will be on this work of addition of plastics.

As the plastics is added over the aggregate, the mix (aggregate and plastics) moves into the cylinder.

As the stone is heated the plastic fi lms get melted over the heated stone and get coated. Slowly the plastics coated aggregate moves forward where this polymer coated aggregate is mixed with bitumen. The polymer coated aggregate bitumen mix is then transferred to the dipper.

Advantages of Central Mixing Plant:

1. Mixing of the plastics over the aggregate is uniform

2. The coating is better and the mixing of bitumen is being carried out at places like.

A. Inside the Cylinder

B. During loading in the dipper.

C. During transferring the mix in the paver

D. During the spreading of the mix by the paver

Hence better distribution takes


place in the Central Mixing Plant Process

5.0 Salient feature of the process

Characteristics of the process are:

� Easy process without any new machinery

� Simple process without any industry involvement

� In situ process

� Use of lesser percentage of bitumen and thus savings on bitumen resource

� Use of plastics waste for a safe and eco-friendly process

� Both Mini Hot Mix Plant and Central Mixing Plant can be used

� Only aggregate is polymer coated and bitumen is not modifi ed

� Use 60/70 and 80/100 bitumen is possible

� No evolution of any toxic gases like dioxin

5.1 Advantages of Plastic Tar Road

A well constructed Plastic Tar Road will result in the following advantages.

� Strength of the road increased (Increased Marshall Stability Value)

� Better resistance to water and water stagnation

� No stripping and have no potholes.

� Increased binding and better bonding of the mix.

� Increased load withstanding

property( Withstanding increased load transport)

� Overall consumption of bitumen decreases.

� Reduction in pores in aggregate and hence less rutting and raveling.

� Better soundness property.

� Maintenance cost of the road is almost nil.

� The Road life period is substantially increased.

� No leaching of plastics.

� No effect of radiation like UV.

6.0 Evidence of Better Performance of the Plastic Tar Roads

The performance studies carried out on the roads constructed in Tamil Nadu indicated satisfactory performance with good skid resistance, good texture value, stronger and less amount of progressive unevenness over a period of time. The experimentation carried out by CRRI also indicated better stability value, indicating higher strength, less fl ow and more air voids.

7.0 Economic considerations

It has been found that modifi cation of bitumen with shredded waste plastic marginally increases the cost by about Rs. 2500 per tonne. However this marginal increase in the cost is compensated by increase in the volume of the total mix, thereby resulting in less overall bitumen content, better performance and environmental conservation with

usage of waste plastic.

8.0 Facilitation for using Waste Plastic in Rural Roads Construction

M/s Arun Enterprises, Chennai (28, First Reddy Street, Ekkatuthangal, Chennai -600097, Website: www.arunpla.com) was invo lved in shredding the waste plastic. M/s S.K. Polymer, New Delhi has been given the technical know how by CRRI for modifi cations to be done in the portable mini mixing plants for mixing pre calibrated quantity of shredded waste plastic for dry processing. The details of the assistance can be obtained from M/s S.K. Polymers, E-146, Pandav Nagar,Patpargung, Delhi-110091.

The states may consult CRRI/ Dr. Vasudevan for any further technical advice, if required, through NRRDA.

Disclaimer: The information regarding the facilitation is given based on the information available at NRRDA and is shared here. However, this should not be construed as a recommendation of NRRDA about the two fi rms mentioned above.

The states are at liberty to find out appropriate method of cleaning, shredding and mixing of suitable waste plastic to get the best results for the Waste Plastic Blended Bitumen for Rural Road construction.

Acknowledgements: The above guidelines are prepared with help from Dr. V. Vasudevan, TEC, Madurai, and CRRI, New Delhi. Help received from both is gratefully acknowledged.

(Source ; http://pmgsy.nic.in/circulars/GPW.htm)

ENVIRONMENT


Plastics Bag maker taking on bansWith plastic bag manufacturer in the U.S. is still

convinced that the facts are on its side and intends to continue to try to educate legislators and the public about the environmental facts surrounding plastic bags and the effect of bans on jobs, the environment and the economy By Mike Verespej

In the fi rst fi ve months of the year, the number of plastic bag bans in the U.S. has doubled, from 37 to 75, after

almost doubling, from 19 to 37, in 2011. The industry has been unable to stop major U.S. cities such as Seattle, Austin and now, most likely, Los Angeles, from banning its products.

Two-thirds of the bans are in California, and plastic bag bans are now in place in three of the 14 largest and fi ve of the 29 largest cities in the U.S., with Los Angeles — the nation’s second-largest city, with a population of 4 million — set to join that group.

But the largest plastic bag manufacturer in the U.S. is still convinced that the facts are on its side and intends to continue to try to educate legislators and the public about the environmental facts surrounding plastic bags and the effect of bans on jobs, the environment and the economy.

“What do all three of those [large] cities have in common?” asked Mark Daniels, vice president of sustainability and environmental policy for plastic bag manufacturer Hilex Poly Co. LLC, during a May 31 phone interview. “They are all extremely liberal, the city councils are all Democratic, all consider themselves conscientious and all are infl uenced by the loudest constituent — the environment activist community.”

“This issue is California-centric and environmentalists have made plastic bags a symbol” of waste, litter and environmental problems, said Daniels, who is also chairman of the American Progressive Bag Alliance, a unit of the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc.

“Even though plastic bag litter is a fraction of 1 percent, it is visible litter and lighter than water, so it fl oats on the surface,” making it an easy target for environmentalists, he said. “Plastic bag ordinances are a perfect example of what happens when city council members base decisions on junk science and ignore the facts.”

The plastic bag battle in Los Angeles isn’t over yet. But with a 13-1 vote to endorse a policy to ban plastic bags, it is not likely the city will reverse its stance after the ordinance is drafted and comes to council for a vote later this year.

“I am not sure what the industry can do at this point to make its voice heard,” Kevin Kelly, CEO of fl exible fi lm packaging manufacturer Emerald Packaging Inc. in Union City, Cal., said in an email.

“Clearly plastic is a better choice than paper, and it is not fi lm that is fl oating in the Pacifi c, despite the arguments made by the other side,” said Kelly whose company makes a variety of packages such as wicketed polyethylene bags, laminated stand-up pouches, and zippered and hermetic-seal bags.

Kelly said he thinks the Illinois recycling bill — which is close to becoming law — “has many good points, as does the growing recognition that carry-out bags need to use post-consumer resin as a way to jump start recycling.” The recycling bill has passed both chambers of the legislature and is now awaiting action by a conference committee to resolve slight differences in the two versions of the bill.

“I think the industry has done a good job defending itself in Los Angeles,” Kelly said. “Unfortunately the environmentalists have pulled the heart strings of council members with emotional arguments.”

“We do have one hope left in Los Angeles,” said Kelly. “We need to be lobbying to make sure the [environmental

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impact report] is fair, talking to the public, and raising the banner for bags. But clearly another path has to be followed.”

“We need as an industry to bring these initiatives together and operate at statehouse levels. Fighting city by city just isn’t a good strategy going forward,” he said. “But Los Angeles is important enough we need to keep going” there.

The bans in California alone affect a market with nearly 37.7 million people, or 12 percent of the U.S. population. And Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste, predicts single-use plastic shopping bags will be gone from California within fi ve years.

“I’ve got to believe that the executives at Hilex and SPI are kicking themselves for not embracing the bag tax in California and Seattle when they had the chance,” Murray said. “Eliminating the pollution and costs of plastic bags at the local level has proven to be a surprisingly easy sell,” he said. “We’re on track to have bag bans in half the states before the end of the year.”

Not only do bans take away large potential end markets, they also threaten to damage the recycling infrastructure in the U.S., opponents say.

“It is destroying the plastic bag and film recycling infrastructure,” particularly in California, said Daniels, whose fi rm will recycle 50 million pounds of fi lm and bags in 2012 — half of that at the company’s 75-employee plant in North Vernon, Ind., and the rest with three joint venture partners.

“Plastic bag and fi lm recycling has gone up in the last 10 years,” said Daniels. “That is the most common-sense solution to the problem, not banning bags. We think we’re on the right path.”

But some legislators and environmentalists see the issue differently — regardless of how many statistics the industry trots out to defend the environmental record of plastic bags, their small percentage of the litter pile or how the number of plastic bags being recycled is increasing.

To them, industry recycling initiatives haven’t solved the problem — not even in California, where there is mandated in-store plastic bag recycling at grocery stores and close to 600 recycling bins on beaches thanks to industry funding.

“Los Angeles has taken a magnifi cent step forward with

the vote of the City Council today,” said council member Paul Koretz after the city voted May 23 to instruct the city attorney to draft an ordinance to ban plastic bags and conduct a state-required environmental impact report.

“There are huge environmental benefi ts when we say no to single-use bags,” said Koretz. “This action will also help us cut sanitation clean-up costs and get blight out of our neighborhoods, which is great news at a time when cities and the state are struggling to provide services due to severe budgetary challenges.”

The city of Los Angeles has estimated that more 2.7 billion single-use bags are used annually in the city, and that their use costs Los Angeles consumers and taxpayers more than $75 million annually in higher grocery costs and pollution clean-up costs. It is also estimated that the city spends $3 million annually to clean up and keep plastic bags out of impaired water bodies.

“Plastic bags are an environmental and economic threat,” said Sarah Sikich, director of coastal resources for Heal the Bay. “Heal the Bay applauds Los Angeles for becoming the largest city in the nation to take a stand against plastic pollution. We hope this decision catalyzes the state of California and the rest of the nation to take action.”

The last assessment by CalRecycle estimated that 14 billion plastic bags are used annually in the state and placed the statewide recycling rate for plastic bags at 3 percent, or just about 1,500 tons of plastic bags diverted from landfi lls through recycling.

However, an estimate by Hilex Poly that 1,000 plastic bags weigh 13 pounds suggests that 230.7 million bags were recycled for a recycling rate of just under 1.65 percent.

Daniels argued that plastic bags are an extremely small portion of litter and that the re-use by consumers of plastic bags contributes to their low recycling rate.

“They are three-tenths of 1 percent of all the litter in California,” said Daniels, adding that surveys done in other states, including Texas and Florida, indicate that plastic bags are at the most six-tenths of 1 percent of all litter.

“The environmental community never talks about the 90 percent reuse of our bags by consumers,” said Daniels. “They always just say that there is a low recycling rate. That is one issue we have to develop ... to explain how the re-use of plastic bags makes their recycling rate lower.”

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“Quite honestly, we are going to continue to try to educate city council members about some facts they are obviously ignoring,” said Daniels, referring specifi cally to the pending bag-ban initiative in Los Angeles. “We are going to try to continue to educate them on the facts — not the ideology.”

“Once again, this is what is happening when you see many actors walk the halls” as they did in support of the Los Angeles plastic bag ban, said Daniels. “I don’t know if they are star-struck or what.”

“And why,” asked Daniels, “did the city Bureau of Sanitation develop a propaganda campaign with false information?” For example, he said, BOS said plastic bags are made from oil, when they are made from natural gas.

In addition, “Why did they overstate usage by over 100 percent and understate recycling by 500 percent?” asked Daniels.

“It’s the ideology-vs.-fact notion,” charged Daniels. “They had a pre-conceived notion that they were going to ban plastic bags and then falsifi ed the facts to justify their actions.”

Attempts to reach city offi cials regarding those charges were unsuccessful.

The realities, said Daniels, are that a plastic bag ban in Los Angeles “would increase greenhouse gas emissions and export jobs to China where reusable bags are made.”

The American Progressive Bag Alliance estimates that the plastic bag manufacturing and recycling sector in the U.S. employs 30,800 workers in 349 communities across the nation — 1,900 of whom are in California.

“The city of Los Angeles [has] put in motion a misguided and onerous policy that threatens the jobs of hundreds of Angelenos employed by the industry, and nearly 2,000 statewide, while pushing residents to less environmentally friendly reusable bags which are produced overseas and cannot be recycled,” Daniels said.

“This will lead to the importation [from China] of 500 million reusable bags” for which, he said, “there is no recycling structure.”

He also said that the city of Los Angeles “will lose tax revenues,” as shoppers cross borders into nearby cities without plastic bag bans, and that consumers will have their

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shopping costs increase.

“Los Angeles residents should be further concerned as this ordinance also calls for a regressive, hidden tax to be imposed without voter approval,” said Daniels.

“This kind of ordinance is going to increase the cost of grocery shopping by millions of dollars,” he argued, as consumers will have to pay for paper bags or buy reusable bags if they forget to bring them from home. “It will also put consumers in harm’s way of food-borne illnesses” because of the bacteria that can grow in the reusable bags “if they aren’t washed out.”

Besides, said Daniels, bans on plastic bags won’t solve city litter problems.

“Singling out and banning one product does not reduce litter,” Daniels said. “With this bag ban, the city chose to take a simplistic approach that takes away consumer choice instead of pursuing meaningful programs that encourage greater recycling of plastic bags and wraps, while preserving jobs,” said Daniels.

To encourage recycling and create a take-back program, Hilex, for example, has placed 30,000 recycling bins for fi lm and plastic bags across the U.S.

“We have a voluntary extended producer responsibility program [for plastic bags], have taken half of the plastics out of them since the mid-1980s, and have been increasing the recycled content in plastic bags,” said Daniels.

On average, Hilex’s bags contain about 30-32 percent recycled content — with some of them having as much as 40 percent recycled content.

“We would like to work with environmentalists because we believe we have a good sustainability solution,” said Daniels. “We are certainly always interested in legislation that advances recycling and recycled content in bags and that can reduce litter from bags.”

“We understand that people are looking for alternatives to reduce plastics in the waste stream,” Phil Rozenski, Hilex’s director of marketing and sustainability, said during a recent visit to the company’s recycling plant in North Vernon. “This is a great story of an industry that’s taken responsibility and gone into closed-loop recycling.”

(Courtesy Plastic News)


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Report: Thermoforming consolidation to continue in NAAngie DeRosa

The North American thermoforming market will undergo signifi cant consolidation especially in the

lucrative packaging sector, according to a new report by Plastics News. The report also projects company sales growth of 6 percent through 2014.

“ T h e r m o f o r m e r s Marke t Rev iew and Outlook 2012” illustrates consolidation activity among 227 companies that served the North Amer ican market in 2011. Specifically, the report details the rising market share of the top 10 processors.

In PN’s 2012 North American thermoformers ranking, which reflects sales for each company’s 2011 calendar or fiscal year, the 10 largest thermoformers made up 63.7 percent of all thermoforming sales, up from 55.8 percent in the 2008 ranking.

The mother of all deals — which closed May 4 — is Dart Container Corp. agreeing to purchase Solo Cup. The combined companies have a market share of roughly 12 percent. Merger and acquisition activity in thermoforming will continue to be fueled by both strategic purchasers and private equity buyers, according to the report.

Reshoring or near-shoring is a trend, though activity is anecdotal. Shepherd Thermoforming and Packaging Inc., for example, tracks reshoring on a company blog. Todd Shepherd, president of the Brampton, Ontario, fi rm, highlighted the example of a medical boot. The project required detail and precision, and the previous supplier in China was struggling.

“We were able to not only solve the quality issues but

also add some value by doing in-house trimming that saved the customer assembly time,” he said.

It’s those value-added services and total solutions that will keep many North American thermoformers competitive against the likes of China and India, according to offi cials

quoted in the report.

For both the packaging and industrial sectors, advances in machinery and materials are making thermoforming an option where it would not have been previously.

Though the segment is relatively small compared to other plastics processes, physical and aesthetic properties achieved via thermoforming make it a viable alternative against projects that may have been injection molded, especially in automotive

and medical.

Industrial thermoformers have carved out niches. Those that have reduced debt and aggressively managed their fi nancials are in stronger positions today. “The challenge becomes how to create new customers where there weren’t new customers before,” said John Knight, CEO of Fabri-Form Inc. in New Concord, Ohio.

“Thermoformers Market Review and Outlook 2012” costs $449. The 33-page report includes analysis and fi ve years of data on North American thermoformers. It also profi les the top 30 fi rms (15 each in the packaging and industrial sectors), and includes perspective from industry leaders.

Company data analyzed include sales and forecasts to 2014 for 227 processors, M&A activity, plant locations, company size by employees, and resin throughput.

Courtesy: (Plastic News)

Photo only for representation


HDPE pipes has high utilityPoorvi C. Desai

New Product and New Enduse Innovations For Entrepreneurs in Plastics Industry

New product as well as new enduse innovations in “Plastic Industry-Dawn Of Indian Industry” would bring in expansions related to each manufacturing process of plastics. To share colours of knowledge amongst manufacturers of plastic products would lead to colours of rainbow of money in plastic industry with each manufacturer attain a safety net for his business. Plastics have grown from a mole to a mountain bringing in “Polymer-A Growing Plant Towards Fruition of Plastic Products”. New product as well as enduse innovations would help manufacturers achieve a safety net for their business for a period of above 15-20 years. These manufacturers would have the fl exibility of jumping from one enduse to another enduse which would lead to a multiplication of endusers in his business. These new product and new enduse innovations would help in increasing the selling price of the fi nal product which would lead to an increase of average selling price of the fi nal product bringing in a higher net profi tability and lower payback periods in comparison to existing business.

An extremely high market potential of plastic products would bring in additional feather to the cap of existing business of manufacturers in Indian Industry. Plastics, coming out of its infant stage yesterday have moved towards a growing phase leading to a growing phenomenon today would continue to be “Plastic Industry-Dawn of Indian Industry”. Plastics to a new are few, plastics to a few are new. Plastics, to a common man is the most common amongst common man. Enduse innovations in plastics would help manufacturers manufacture products for new enduses without an investment on plant and machinery and also without much investment in marketing of the products with new enduse innovations.

New product innovations would help manufacturers to increase the product mix with an investment only in moulds and dies without any investment on plant and machinery

and could manufacture products on the same plant and machinery. New product and new enduse innovations would make plastic rank as one of the top ranking material in agribusiness, building & construction, infrastructure and automotive enduse sectors helping plastic increase the per capita consumption from a single digit to triple digit in the country.

Plastics for EntrepreneursPlastics, with its versatility has been versatile in

all enduse sectors such as agribusiness, building & construction, infrastructure and automotive sectors making plastics most common amongst common man bringing in incommon results. Plastics from the roots shoot up into a growing plant leading to “Polymer- A Growing Plant Towards Fruition of Plastic Products” in the form of new product as well as new enduse innovations. Plastics to a new are few, plastics to a few are new. Plastics, are green products bringing in a green environment.

One such example is that of HDPE Pipes to be laid vertically in soil to pass water in each layer of soil. Plastics, branches of which are multiple with branches of projects with low investments, high investments, low output machines, high output machines, hand operated machines, fully automatic machines which would bring about projects of multiple investment sizes. Plastics, involves manufacturing processes such as extrusion, injection moulding, blow moulding, thermoforming, calendaring and rotational moulding, out of which extrusion process involves HDPE pipes made out of extrusion process. Plastics, funnelling from a low base of plastic products yesterday has opened up into a higher base of plastic products a new entrant v/s existing materials with enduse sectors such as agribusiness, building and construction, infrastructure and automotive sectors. Plastic pipe, a conduit with which farmers have benefi ted have been a conduit of money for entrepreneurs in Indian Industry.

The future of plastic pipes is bright with the past which initiated with pipes for drinking water tomorrow would bring in new enduses such as HDPE Pipes to be laid vertically

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in soil to pass water in each layer of soil. New product as well as new enduse innovations helps entrepreneurs add feathers to the cap of business of entrepreneurs in Indian Industry. Plastics, involves series of processes with a series of entrepreneurs who involve manufacturing processes based on mainly on expansions with an interest of doing business in the same business they are carrying out.

“Green plastics for a greener environment”. Plastics have been green and been proven to be green in enduse sectors such as agriculture. Agriculture which consists of fruits and vegetables and which has made India No.2 and No.3 in fruit and vegetable production in the world brings about a high market potential of plastic products in the country. Plastics, and its unbound history began with plastic products in agriculture.

Plastics in agriculture increase the productivity(yield) which need to be communicated to the farmers through commission agents who know the local language, whom the farmers have faith and who could increase the usage of plastic products in agriculture would lead to lower number of suicides of farmers in the country. Plastics, for farmers bringing in farming with plastic products would lead to farms which are unbound with productivity(yield) bringing about a higher net profi tability for farmers. Plastics, a tie with which farmers have made higher net profi tability has been a tie for entrepreneurs who have made tones of money. Plastics, bears fruits of money for entrepreneurs have borne fruits and vegetables in farms for farmers due to versatility of retaining moisture levels in soil such as plastic product such as polyethylene mulch fi lm. One new product innovation which would function similar to that of polyethylene mulch fi lm is that of high density polyethylene pipes drilled with holes for water to pass in each layer of soil to retain moisture levels in the soil.

Plastics has unlocked doors of money both for entrepreneurs and endusers which includes farmers bringing about monetary gains to both. Plastics to a new are few, plastics to a few are new. Plastics and its new product and new enduse innovations fructifi es with the fructifi cation of innovations innovative people. To innovate is the job of innovators, innovations are due to the versatile characteristic of plastics.

Agriculture in IndiaAs of 2011, India has a large and diverse agriculture

sector, accounting an average for about 16 percent of GDP and 10 percent of export earnings. India’s arable land area of 159.7 million hectares(394.6 million acres) is the second largest in the world after the United States. Its gross irrigated crop area of 82.6 million hectares(215.6 million acres) is the second largest in the world. India has grown to become among the top three global producers of a broad range of crops including wheat, rice, pulses, cotton, peanuts, fruits and vegetables. India has the largest herds of buffalo and cattles, is the largest producer of milk and has one of the largest and fastest growing poultry industries market potential of plastic products in the country. Plastics, and its unbound history began with plastic products in agriculture.

Plastics in agriculture increase the productivity(yield) which need to be communicated to the farmers through commission agents who know the local language, whom the farmers have faith and who could increase the usage of plastic products in agriculture would lead to lower number of suicides of farmers in the country. Plastics, for farmers bringing in farming with plastic products would lead to farms which are unbound with productivity(yield) bringing about a higher net profi tability for farmers. Plastics, a tie with which farmers have made higher net profi tability has been a tie for entrepreneurs who have made tones of money. Plastics, bears fruits of money for entrepreneurs have borne fruits and vegetables in farms for farmers due to versatility of retaining moisture levels in soil such as plastic product such as polyethylene mulch fi lm. One new product innovation which would function similar to that of polyethylene mulch fi lm is that of high density polyethylene pipes drilled with holes for water to pass in each layer of soil to retain moisture levels in the soil.

Plastics has unlocked doors of money both for entrepreneurs and endusers which includes farmers bringing about monetary gains to both. Plastics to a new are few, plastics to a few are new. Plastics and its new product and new enduse innovations fructifi es with the fructifi cation of innovations innovative people. To innovate is the job of innovators, innovations are due to the versatile characteristic of plastics.

(Source : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_India)

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1. India is the world’s largest producer of many fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, major spices, select fi brous crops such as jute, several staples such as millets and castor oil seed.

2. India is the second largest producer of wheat and rice, the world’s major food staples

3. India is also the world’s second and third largest producer of several dry fruits, agriculture based textile raw materials, pulses, farmed fi sh, eggs, coconut, sugarcane and numerous vegetables

4. India ranked within the world’s fi ve largest producers of over 80% of agricultural produce items, including many cash crops such as coffee and cotton in 2010.

5. India is one of the world’s fi ve largest producers of livestock and poultry meat, with one of the fastest growth rates of 2011

(Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_India)

In terms of agricultural contribution, the following states in India are the most developed states :

Areas

1. Punjab

2. Uttar Pradesh

3. Madhya Pradesh

4. Haryana

5. Bihar

6. Andhra Pradesh

7. Maharashtra

8. West Bengal

1. India has a geographical area of 328.73 million hectares of which reported area for land use is 306.04 million hectares

2. The net area cultivated is about 142.60 million hectares about 46.6 per cent of the total reported

New Enduse Innovation on Plastics in Agriculture

High Density Polyethylene Pipes drilled with holes to

be laid vertically and horizontally for water to pass in each layer of soil - 110 mm Outer Diameter, 4.7 mm to 5 mm wall thickness, 4 kg/cm2, 1.44 kg/metre (Validation & Inputs from a Large Diameter Pipe Manufacturer in India)

Holes of small diameter of 0.5 mm to 1 mm to be drilled in random manner. Small holes to be drilled so that soil does not pass into the pipe. Only one pipe could be used in entire fi eld so that a farmer could make savings and the same pipe could be used for more number of times with taps fi tted in different directions for water retention in soil.

Functions of High Density Polyethylene Pipes drilled with holes to be laid vertically and horizontally for water to pass in each layer of soil

Function similar to polyethylene mulch fi lm to retain moisture levels in soil. Polyethylene mulch fi lm is laid on soil for the following reason :

Human beings need water for survival, plants need water for their growth. Water gets evaporated by sunlight and thus to retain moisture levels in soil becomes important.

Marketing : These pipes could be marketed parallely through commission agents, dealers and persons qualifi ed in agriculture

Shelving out high commissions to these commission agents would lead to higher profi tability and lower payback periods

Apportioning volumes of pipes in various parts of the country through these commission agents would bring in higher volumes of business in comparison to one part of the country

ConclusionPlastics in agriculture could be defined as “pipes”

which are the most common product in agriculture making plastic most common amongst farmers. Yesterday, plastics in agriculture was plastic pipes, tomorrow would be used for more number of innovations. To innovate is the job of innovators, innovations are due to the versatile characteristic of plastics. Creative are the minds of creative people which would bring in more number of new product as well as new enduse innovations in the country. Plastics and its unbound boundaries has unlocked doors of money for entrepreneurs in plastic industry. “Green plastics for a greener environment” would lead to green fi elds with

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a higher productivity(yield) for farmers bringing in higher monetary gains. The future of plastic pipes is bright with the past which initiated with plastic pipes for water supply. Plastics in agriculture initiated with water supply yesterday and tomorrow would propagate to a chain of new product as well as new enduse innovations. India is the world’s largest producer of many fruits and vegetables, hence an extremely high market potential exists for plastics in agriculture in the country. New product and new enduse innovations would help entrepreneurs increase the machinery capacity utilizations, increase net profi tability with lower payback periods which would involve extremely high market potential and no fear of competition in the country.

New enduse innovation such as High Density Polyethylene Pipes drilled with holes to be laid vertically and horizontally for water to pass in each layer of soil would help in increasing the productivity(yield) for farmers with monetary savings. Other New Enduse Innovations such as “High density Polyethylene Eyeleted Tarpaulins As Sacks for Fruits and Vegetables” and Reverse Printed Low Density Polyethylene Extrusion Coating on 2 sides of High Density Polyethylene Woven Sacks instead of extrusion coating on top & bottom to avoid slippage of bags during stacking to more number of rows with the help of 2 dies on the sides and for the Company Name and Logo for Branding” would make plastics rank as one of the top ranking material in agribusiness.

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Product Pricing –IV---Madhav Karbelkar

Points to remember while deciding on Pricing of a Product

So far we have taken into account, the most basic aspects affecting pricing. It provides us a frame work in which we can fi x or modify pricing of a product. However there are quite a few things that must refl ect / should be considered in our Pricing. What are those ?

A Price of a Product should refl ect -

1) The objective for which it is being launched.

2) Targeted customer Segment – Class, Mass or Mid priced.

3) Costing of the Product – Variable, fi xed costs, Contribution etc.

4) Your Capacity to Manufacture.

5) Commercial terms / policies – eg – Payment terms etc.

6) Method of Marketing – ie Direct or Indirect (through channels)

Let us consider each of the above one by one.

The objective for which it is being launched

First of all we must be clear as to what for are you launching the Product ? Many times we are not clear as to why we are launching the Product. We could either be pioneer or a follower in that product. We may be launching


it just to catch up with competitors – a follower, to en cash existing growing demand . Then market share should be the objective and you should pay less importance to profi tability. Accordingly price should be competitive . Is it entirely a new product to the Market, you being the pioneer ? Then you will have to be far more careful. You must consider the price of the substitute product along with the cost of promotional efforts for changing the current practices / habits of the targeted customers. So it could be that you price the new product reasonably high. eg Mobile phones, Colour TVs. The prices were quite high in the beginning when introduced, which gradually declined as volumes grew. In fact pricing of a new product is at times not easy. Many other factors like entry barriers etc need to be considered.

Some time, we launch a product just to complete the "range". In that case we need not be very aggressive in pricing.

Targeted customer Segment – Class, Mass or Mid priced

It is better to be clear, right from the beginning, as to which segment you are targeting ? Mass (Low Priced), Class (High Priced) or Mid Priced ? Accordingly you should not only align product specs and features, but price as well. (Most of us target mid priced segment, but few could be targeting Low priced.) Please be aware that price and product perception affect in both ways. Especially in consumer products, low price will send a message that product is of low quality. So, don’t try to be out of sync with value you are offering. The product offering higher “Value " should be priced higher.

Costing of the Product – Variable, fixed costs, Contribution, etc.

Ultimately don’t forget that our basic objective is to make money in business. Quite often we tend to forget this simple basic thing. We just accept orders at a loss or compete on pricing. However for a long term survival and growth, the product Price must necessarily refl ect costs of the Product apart from value offered. You can’t provide more value for lesser price ! And vice versa. Other wise only customer will benefi t and you may end up in a loss or reduced profi ts. Charge every thing you provide for. But at the same time be reasonable. You should be able to justify the pricing of your

product both by value and cost as well, to the prospective customer as well as to yourself. If you can’t justify then you may not be able make as much sales to the intended customers, with enough profi ts.

Your Capacity to Manufacture/Supply - Same is the case with your capacity to manufacture that product. If you are running near full capacity, then don’t try to be very aggressive in pricing of a newly launched product. In case you book large orders and then if you can’t supply on time, due to capacity constraint, then you may end up getting a bad name. Customers will not support you next time. On the contrary, if you have spare capacity then you can afford to be aggressive in pricing. You may then be in a position to supply even large orders, in time.

Few years ago a newly entered Table Salt manufacturer advertised heavily, creating very high demand in short time. But since they had exhausted all the funds in heavy promotions, they did not have funds left for expanding production capacities. The capacity constraint fi nally made company wind up the whole project as they just could not meet the demand generated. They fi nally lost out to competitors, who gained market share at the expense of this salt manufacturer. So there should be a match between demand you are able to generate and your production or supply capacity. There should not be a very wide gap between the two. Timely execution of orders is as important as the product it self !

The Commercial terms / policies – eg – Payment terms, Volume discount etc.

Of all the commercial terms – payment terms are very important. As you all know, most of the customers want credit even for small quantity orders- with immediate delivery at the lowest price. Please be clear that there are no free lunches in this world. There is yet to be a supplier who supplies best product - immediately, with lowest price, and that too on credit and still remain profi table! It’s just not possible ! Especially payment part is very important. Cash is like petrol in a car. It can’t run on “reserves” too far. You need to refi ll it . Your business is also like a car. If you are not able to collect money, then having only sales and no money is a road to disaster. Most of the businesses are wound up not because they are un competitive or there is no business. It is because they run out of cash ! The recent examples of

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Deccan Airlines, Kingfi sher, Air India shows how serious it is . Deccan Airlines was sold only because they ran out of cash and not because there was no business !

So before extending credit terms, make sure you have fi nancial strength to withstand the delay or even on recovery of payment. In case you have fi nancial strength, you still must make a provision in your pricing. If you don’t provide margin in pricing and still extend credit, then it’s double loss! You may loose your margin and may be money even. I know a case wherein a supplier refused to supply a large order quantity to a very reputed airline on credit. The supplier insisted on immediate payments and offered few alternatives. Although he had spare capacity at that time, the cash fl ow weighed heavily on his mind. He refused a lucrative business , with a reputed client, only because of the payment terms. (His fear was that the inordinate delay in payments, would have strained his fi nancial position, a f f ec t i ng even no rma l operations.)

According to me, if you are confi dent about your product, reputation and supply strength, you need not worry about a loss of business or clients – on account of payment terms. Very rarely orders are lost only on payment terms.

Volume related prices is another point of discontent. Many times customer ask for slab wise prices, but may be ordering minimum quantity with higher discounts. There are no easy solutions for this. But a due consideration must be given to this possibility.

Method of Marketing – i.e. Direct or Indirect (through channels)

This is one more issue that need consideration while pricing of the product. In case you are selling through Trade (Channels), then accordingly pricing will have to be worked out. We must realize that unless we are able to offer reasonable discounts to dealers, distributors etc, they will not be interested in pushing your product. Unless they earn, you will not be able to earn !

You may have to balance pricing in such a way that the customer’s, channel’s and your own interests are protected. Same is the case with any sales promotion scheme.

However if you are trying to sell the product directly to customers –ie through Direct marketing, then you may be able to offer better deal to ultimate customer, as you save on trade discounts. But fi rst of all please realize that creating your own marketing /sales set up is not easy. All the direct marketing expenses, including for promotion, should be considered. Many companies go for direct marketing only to save on trade margins, forgetting that you may be sacrifi cing your reach to customers !

“Relativity” aspectFinally one of the most important aspect in marketing is

“ Relativity" ! Please realize that every thing in the Market or from customer’s point of view is relative. Nothing is isolated or separate! The fi rst time, relativity is in play is with your own price & value offered. Customer judges your product price and quality not separately but relative to each other. Both depend on each other and affect each other. If say price is changed, then automatically, the perception about value may change.

And this is again relative to the other products being offered by your competitors.

So this is the second time that relativity is in play ! From Customer’s or Market’s point of view, every parameter a product offers is relative – be it price, delivery, quality, promotional offer !

You may feel you are offering a very good price, but customer feels that someone else is offering better, and again third one, even better !

This relativity factor is many a times forgotten, and we wonder why my product is not moving despite my best efforts! Markets do not have emotions! It is just cold calculations and logic with relative cost benefi t analysis at work !


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Major countries world over experience change in feedstock

The petrochemicals feedstock supply trend in the major

geographies has change in the recent past. According to the report While the Middle East countries and Canada are facing lower ethane supplies, the US and Brazil have benefited from the discovery of shale gas and pre-salt reserves respectively. The petrochemicals industry in the Middle East is concentrated in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar and use ethane as the petrochemicals feedstock. Securing new ethane supply contract in the Middle East has become increasingly difficult due to high demand from existing petrochemical plants and the power sector. Due to this many planned petrochemical plants in the region are based on naphtha feedstock. The natural gas production in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar is increasing at a rapid pace but it is not suffi cient o fulfi ll the requirement

from petrochemicals industry. The natural gas production in Saudi Arabia and Iran increased at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.4% and 8.7% respectively. However ethylene capacity in Saudi Arabia and Iran increased at CAGR of 8.1% and 23.1% respectively. Qatar has already imposed a moratorium on its North Dome gas fi eld which has restricted ethane production. Canada is also facing lower ethane production due to lower natural gas supply from Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB). The Canadian petroleum industry, however, has also discovered bituminous oil reserve which accounted for more than 50% of its crude oil production in 2010. The Canadian petrochemical industry is now focusing on meeting its future feedstock requirement from these bituminous reserves. Contrary to the Middle East, where ethane feedstock

is becoming scarcer, the US, Brazil and a few European countries have discovered new feedstock sources. The US holds a huge natural gas reserve in the shale rocks which has increased the natural gas supply in the country in the last fi ve years. Many of these reserves contain wet natural gas which would enhance the ethane supply in the country. Brazil has also started the crude oil production from the newly discovered pre-salt reserves and expects to become one of the largest producers of crude oil in the future. Increased crude oil supply will simultaneously enhance naphtha production from Brazil. Shale reserves have been identifi ed in Europe also but there is not signifi cant progress in developing these reserves except in Poland where the commercial production is expected to start in 2015.

Nextlife recycled resins gets approval in CanadaNextLife ™, the global leader

of sustainable plastic resins, announced that the company's recycled polypropylene (PP) and recycled polystyrene (PS) resins have received clearance from Health Canada for use in manufacture of thermoformed or injection molded articles for contact with food. This marks the fi rst time that any post-consumer recycled resins have received approval in Canada for use in food products. NextLife

resins, which are approved for up to 100 percent recycled content, have comparable performance qualities to virgin PP and PS and have wide consumer applications. "We are extremely pleased to be the first company to receive clearance for post-consumer recycled resins to be used in the manufacture of food contact products in Canada," said Ronald Whaley, CEO of NextLife. "This expands the target market for our

resins and demonstrates the success of our growth strategy which is partly based on securing approvals for our resins in different markets around the globe as we have in the U.S. and now Canada. "NextLife recycled PP and recycled PS resins also meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for up to 100 percent recycled content in thermoformed or injection molded articles for contact with non-alcoholic food


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Toronto City Council votes to ban plastic bags Toronto’s City Council has voted

to ban plastic bags at retailers effective January 1

What started as Mayor Rob Ford’s successful bid to eliminate a 5-cent fee on plastic retail bags ended up as a complete ban -- “the dumbest thing council has done,” Ford later said.“While we’re pleased that the bag bylaw has been rescinded, the bag ban seems to have come from nowhere, without any forethought or discourse, and it’s a shock,” Carol Hochu, president and CEO of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association in Mississauga, Ontario, said in a prepared statement. “We are going to look at all of our available options,

including the legality of the ban.” According to reports David Shiner, normally a Mayor Ford supporter, brought up the motion during a council meeting June 6. Council passed the ban 24-20. The ban was not the result of a study commissioned by city politicians. Compostable and biodegradable bags would not be exempted. Ford said there is a chance a legal challenge could overthrow the ban. City solicitor Anna Kinastowski, however, said in a newspaper report that a ban might be legally supportable.The mayor also said on a talk radio program that citizens are partly responsible for the ban vote because they don’t follow the council’s policies

very closely. According to a report from City Manager Joseph Pennachetti, bag usage in Toronto has declined an estimated 53 percent since the introduction of the 5-cent fee in 2009. The city estimated that in 2008, 457 million plastic bags were used in Toronto. The current estimate is 215 million bags per year -- meaning the fee generates C$5.6 million for retailers.According to CPIA data, plastic bags in Toronto represent less than 0.8 percent of The city of Issaquah, Wash., also decided to ban plastic bags, with a 5-2 City Council vote June 4. The ban goes into effect for large retailers in March 2013, and for smaller retailers in March 2014.

JM Eagle to expand production to meet demand in North USA, CanadaJM Eagle, the world's largest

manufacturer of plastic pipe, is expanding production of solid-wall high-density polyethylene at two of its plants to meet demand in northern U.S. and Canadian markets. According to the release, JM Eagle, the world's largest manufacturer of plastic pipe, is expanding production of solid-wall high-density polyethylene at two of its plants to meet demand in northern U.S. and Canadian markets. Converting its Sunnyside, Wash., plant from PVC to PE production and boosting the number of PE lines at its Meadville, Pa., plant, the company aims to better serve the customers seeking products for water and sewer, as well as oil and

gas gathering. The Sunnyside plant will also produce PE pipe for irrigation and both plants will produce products for power and communication application.

"JM Eagle looks forward to better serving customers in the water and gas markets in the northern part of the country, as well as in Canada," said Dan O'Connor, JM Eagle vice president of PE sales. "This expansion gives JM Eagle a stronger footprint in PE production and distribution nationwide." Production on PE water pipe up to 36 inches in diameter and gas pipe is expected to begin mid- July at both plants, and all lines will be complete by September. The company also plans to manufacture

up to 63-inch-diameter water pipe in the future, and is developing PE water pipe in even larger diameters.


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Confidence among chemicals, plastics firms falls in Western EuropeThe number of chemical and

plastics companies in Western Europe that are positive about the business situation this summer has dropped to 36.7 percent, compared with 41.7 percent earlier in the year, according to a new report from Ceresana Research of Konstanz, Germany.In its report, Ceresana said the European debt crisis continues to be a risk for the global economy, with recent elections in France and Greece casting doubt on whether the region will

be able to combat the crisis resolutely.When asked to evaluate the current situation, just less than half (47.1 percent) of respondents to Ceresana’s study said their current situation was ‘satisfying’. Some 36.7 percent answered ‘good’ and 16.2 percent said ‘poor.’ Optimism is stronger in the Asia-Pacifi c region, where two-fi fths of respondents assessed their situation as good and 42 percent as satisfi ed. The most negative region is Eastern Europe, where only 32 percent thinks

Prolonged Thai-Cambodian talks lead to huge shortage of natural gasAs per a report f rom the

Department of Mineral Fuels, the amount of natural gas from fi elds located in the offshore Gulf of Thailand area would slowly decline over the next 12 to 18 months. This means that the country's petrochemical industry, which has been relying heavily on raw materials made from natural gas, will face a major shortage in their manufacturing process. According to the report in ‘The Nation’, Thai energy minister has urged PTT to urgently prepare for new challenges as talks about overlapping territorial claims between Thailand and Cambodia have been prolonged causing a huge shortage of natural gas and its by-products. Should the issue get settled in the next year or two, then it would take another 10 years

before Thailand can start drilling for natural gas in the area. He said the petrochemical industry would need

the business climate is good. The global chemical and plastics industry thinks the business situation will either improve (42.5 percent) or stay the same (47.4 percent) over the next six to 12 months. Only 9.8 percent of respondents said they expect the business climate to get worse.Companies in Asia and North America were the most confi dent, with 76 percent and 63 percent, respectively, expecting an improvement in the market.

to make adjustments to deal with the situation when there is a low supply of natural gas.

Kuwait likely to contest the verdict of US$2 bln paymentKuwait has vowed to fi ght a

verdict that ordered it to pay more than US$2 billion (Dh7.34bn) to Dow Chemical. According to a report in Thenational.ae, This verdict is one of the largest corporate arbitration awards given in favour of Dow as Kuwait failed to go ahead with a petrochemical venture with the US company. The International Chamber of Commerce's international court

ruled that Kuwait has to pay Dow a total of $2.16 bln in damages for pulling out of the US$17.4 bln "K-Dow" joint venture with state-owned Petrochemicals Industries Company (PIC). The venture was unilaterally cancelled as the credit crunch raised fi nancing costs and pushed the global economy into recession, sapping demand for plastics.







BUSINESS NEWS

BPCL to sign a JV with UK’s LP ChemicalsBh a r a t P e t r o l e u m

Corporat ion Limi ted (BPCL) has finalised a joint venture (JV) agreement with UK-based LP Chemicals for petrochemical business. BPCL is likely to hold 49% in the venture, with the British company holding a majority 51%. The JV would invest about Rs 5,000 crore in the project and have a 70:30 debt equity ratio. LP Chemicals may bring in Rs 1,500 crore. BPCL plans to spend Rs 40,000 crore in the next fi ve years to set up a petrochemical plant at the Kochi refi nery to produce niche products, expand the capacity of existing refi neries, gas marketing and exploration and production.The two are expected to sign a memorandum of association shortly, after which a feasibility study will be undertaken and later a company will be formed. The company would integrate the expansion of its Kochi refi nery and construction of its petchem plant. The deadline for both projects has been set for 2015.

RIL to invest nearly Rs.1, 00, 000 crores over the next five years in IndiaRIL plans to invest nearly Rs.1,

00,000 crore in India over the next fi ve years. Speaking at the 38th Annual meeting, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd. announced the the company plans to invest nearly Rs.1 lakh-crore over the next fi ve years in India to build a stronger and more diversifi ed Reliance. RIL plans to double its operating profi t in fi ve years, even as it steps up investments in its core and ‘consumer-facing' businesses.RIL is building the world's largest gasifi cation facility to convert petroleum coke

in to synthetic gas to be used as feedstock at the Jamnagar complex. The company targets to will add 30-40% to the integrated Jamnagar complex margins within the next three years. RIL's total investment in shale gas exceeds US$3.5 bln and net resources of Reliance from its three joint ventures in the U.S. are about 10 trillion cubic feet. Net sales from the joint ventures are expected to increase 10 fold to nearly 300 billion cubic feet in fi ve years and the shale gas business was a major area of investment over 3-5 years.

Petronas signs two HOAs for petrochemical ventures within rapid complexPetronas has s igned two

Heads of Agreement (HOAs) towards the formation of two separate petrochemical joint ventures within its proposed Refi nery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) complex in Pengerang, Johor. The first HOA was signed with Itochu Corporation, while the second HOA was sealed with Itochu Corporation and PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited; to jointly own, develop, construct and operate two separate complexes for the production of high value-added downstream chemicals. PETRONAS will be the majority equity holder in both of the proposed joint ventures which will be part of the world-scale facilities to

be developed within the RM60-billion RAPID complex. Petronas has till date signed three of such arrangements for RAPID. Prior to this, Petronas signed a HOA with BASF for the production of specialty chemicals in RAPID. Petronas is currently finalising the selection of other potential partners and licensors for the various facilities within RAPID. The proposed RAPID project is so far the largest liquid-based greenfi eld downstream undertaking in Malaysia. It will have a 300,000 bpd refi nery to supply the petrochemical complex, apart from producing a host of refi ned petroleum products, including gasoline and diesel that meet the Euro 4 and Euro 5 fuel specifi cations.


BUSINESS NEWS

AptarGroup to buy France's Stelmi GroupIl l ino is based Ap ta rGroup

Inc., a maker of polymeric pharmaceutical dispensing packaging, has agreed to buy Stelmi Group, a French manufacturer of elastomeric packaging components for injectable drug delivery. According to the release Crystal Lake-based AptarGroup will acquire Stelmi for $207 million, fi nanced by available cash, the company said in a May 30 webcast. The deal is subject approvals and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2012. Steve Hagge, AptarGroup president and CEO, said,

“This strategic acquisition fi ts with our long-term strategy to enter new markets.”

AptarGroup has more than 60 years of experience in pharmaceutical dispensing packaging, with a presence in 19 countries and pharma facilities in seven, Hagge said. It is the world leader in such products as nasal pumps, single-dose sprays and pulmonary metered dose valves, he said. In 2011, the company earned $287 million on sales of $2.3 billion, he said. Its core

Investment firm buying equipment maker IntelligratedIntelligrated Inc, Mason, Ohio

based, manufacturer of material handling equipment has signed a deal to be acquired by a London-based private equity fi rm holding company owned by Permira,. According to the release the deal is valued in excess of $500 million and the deal is scheduled to close in the third quarter. Company founders Chris Cole and Jim McCarthy will maintain a signifi cant

ownership stake and will continue to lead the company. Intelligrated makes automated systems and robots for conveying and palletizing for material handling and distribution of retail consumer products, food and beverage, apparel, converted paper, pharmaceutical, postal distribution and airport baggage handling. The company also makes warehouse control systems.

Delphi plans to buy unit of FCI Group

Michigan based Delphi Au tomo t i ve p l c has

made an offer to buy FCI Group’s motorized-vehicle division for about $958 million. The company in its release said it is open to more acquisitions after announcing May 24 that it has entered “exclusive talks” to acquire a unit of FCI Group from Bain Capital for about $958 million.

CEO Rodney O’Neal had said Delphi was willing to spend as much as $1 billion on an acquisition. He is also looking at paying dividends, buying back shares and funding the growth of the business, he said by telephone interview. Delphi had $1.4 billion of cash on hand at the end of March.

Petrokemya signs LOI with Tecnicas ReunidasPetrokemya, a subsidiary of Saudi

Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), has signed a letter of intent with Tecnicas Reunidas of Spain for engineering and building of a new acryilonitrile butadiene styrene plant in Saudi Arabia. According

to the report ABS plant will be located Al-Jubail industrial city and would be built at an investment outlay of US$561 mln. The project is expected to be completed in the Q4-2014, with annual capacity of 140,000 tpa.

business, AptarPharma, had income of $164.4 million on sales of $553.9 million. “Innovation is a key element of our strategy,” Hagge said. The company is expanding globally to serve both existing customers and new markets, and in May opened a new facility in Mumbai.In operation since 1964, Stelmi has two manufacturing plants in the French province of Normandy -- near existing pharma facilities owned by AptarGroup -- as well as a research and development center in Paris, Hagge said.


BUSINESS NEWS

K2 peaks with £500,000 machinery investmentLeices te r -based recyc le r

K2 Polymers has invested £500,000 in machinery with a goal of increasing turnover by £1m to £3.5m. The fi rm, which handles steel and fi bre reinforced plastics, processes material from the global offshore oil and gas

industries. Its investment was made possible by funding from Yorkshire Bank's Leicester Financial Solutions Centre.Managing director Kevan Kirby told the Leicester Mercury: "We've been at the forefront of recycling complex fibre and steel reinforced

Decision to cancel the K-Dow deal by PIC to be investigated According to a report in Kuwait

Times, an investigation will be conducted into the decision to cancel the K-Dow deal by Petrochemical Industries Company in Kuwait (PIC). PIC has to abide by the court decision, and is liable for the damages, as per a senior energy official to Kuwait Times.The cancellation of the deal

has led to considerable damage both economically and politically to Kuwait in the international market. The cost of the cancellation is not only the US$2.16 billion but also a US$3 billion worth in lost opportunity from the money that Kuwait could have made on the deal. On May 24, the International Chamber of Commerce’s international court

Anti-dumping duties on China’s BOPET films to South Korea extended

Fuwei Films (Holdings) Co., Ltd., a manufacturer and distributor

of high-quality BOPET plastic fi lms in China, announced that the anti-dumping duties imposed on the company's exported biaxially oriented polyethylene-terephthalate (BOPET) fi lms to South Korea will be extended for three more years beginning on May 25, 2012.

According to the Ministry of Strategy

and Finance, the rate for Fuwei Films Shandong Co., Ltd ("Shandong Fuwei"), the subsidiary of Fuwei Films was set at 11.72%, higher than one of its counterparts at 5.87%. Punitive duties of 25.32% will be imposed on the PET films manufactured by six Chinese fi rms. The rate for the remaining Chinese manufacturers was set at 23.61%. Anti-dumping duties of 14.63% and 25.32% were slapped on products produced in India.

plastics for many years and investing in the new machine will enable us to double the production we do on site. “We're reprocessing materials from all over the world in Leicestershire, from piping used in the North Sea to the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil.”

ruled against Kuwait’s Petrochemical Industries Company in favor of Dow Chemical Co., a verdict estimated at US$2.16 bln for the cancellation of a major petrochemicals joint venture between the two companies in 2008.

Tecnicas Reunidas awarded EPCM project SABIC

Tecnicas Reunidas has won a contract to build

a US$400 mln ABSplant in Saudi Arabia for SABIC. The contract tasks Tecnicas with the detailed engineering of the plant, the purchase and supply of equipment and materials, the plant’s construction – to be completed in 2014 – and getting the project under way


PRODUCT NEWS

SABIC to start multiwall sheet production at Vadodra

A sta te -o f - t he -a r t Lexan* multiwall sheet production

line will be unveiled at SABIC IP’s Vadodara, manufacturing facility. This new line will help meet rising customer demand in the region. SABIC’s high performance Lexan Thermoclear* multiwall polycarbonate (PC) sheet products is also used for roofi ng and glazing in the building and construction and greenhouse sectors. “The new Lexan Thermoclear sheet line showcases how SABIC delivers its broad portfolio to virtually all regions of the world so customers can benefi t

from faster lead times and expanded supplies to support commercial and residential construction projects,” said Sanjiv Vasudeva, South Asia Sheet and Film Business leader, Innovat ive Plast ics. “The high performance, beautiful aesthetics and design freedoms provided by Lexan multiwall sheet have been demonstrated around the world in major structures – from stadiums to rail stations – and showcase how SABIC continues to passionately challenge the status quo to fi nd better ways to serve its customers.” The new line at

Vadodara will produce high-quality two-sided ultraviolet (UV)-protected Lexan Thermoclear multiwall sheet in clear and custom colors targeting roofi ng, glazing and cladding applications. The multiwall sheet products are versatile thermoplastic glazing materials that have been used in roofi ng, cladding and glazing. Lexan Thermoclear sheet is signifi cantly lighter in weight than glass while offering high stiffness and more than 250 times the impact resistance of glass to reduce the risk of breakage from wind, hail, and other extreme weather, as well as vandalism

Screen-changer supplier makes debut at NPE

Kolcor Technologies LLC, is ready for business -- selling

screen changers. The company’s screen changers were designed by industry veteran Del Trott and include a patent-pending all-metal seal, remote operator station and rugged sliding safety guards.

“We formed about a year ago and we spent the time designing our product. We didn’t sell anything until the NPE show, so that was our coming out party,” said President Christopher Kowal, in a telephone interview.He said that although the company is new, it draws from many years of experience from dealings with original equipment manufacturers and plastic companies. Kowal owns a machine shop -- J-K Tool Co. Inc. of Agawam, and Kolcor is located in the same building.

Sales manager Randy Joubert said that the fi rst sale, of a hydraulic screen changer, was to a California compounder. Kolcor offers manual

and hydraulic screen changers and is responding to requests for 8 to 10 inch changers that should be ready in about a month.

Flexcon signs deal for JDC’s PSA products

Flexcon Co. Inc. has signed a deal to buy JDC Coatings

Inc.’s silicone PSA line of products. Flexcon, a Spencer-based company that supplies adhesive coating, laminating and fi nishing products for graphics used on durable products, said in the release, the deal will give it a wider range of products for use in high-performance applications including adhesion to low-energy

surfaces. Though the terms were not disclosed, William Sullivan, vice president of performance products at Flexcon said, “This acquisition furthers our objective to excel in the design and manufacture of transfer tapes and single and double-coated pressure-sensitive silicone, acrylic and rubber-based product constructions.”


PRODUCT NEWS

JM Eagle to manufacture HDPE water pipe upto 63 inches

Los Ange les -based P ipe extruder JM Eagle is adding

capacity to make solid-wall high density polyethylene pipe at two of its existing plants. JM Eagle said in a release that it plans to manufacture up to 63-inch-diameter water pipe in the future, and is developing PE water pipe in even larger diameters. Until now, the company has primarily focused its PE pipe manufacturing at its plants in the southern United States. According to the release it will convert its Sunnyside, Washington, pipe plant from PVC to PE production, and that it will add PE pipe equipment at its Meadville plant.

The plants will make water and sewer pipe, plus pipe used for oil

and natural gas. The Sunnyside plant also will extrude PE pipe for irrigation, and both plants will make products for power and communication applications. The plants will start

Converters save time and energy with high clarity polypropylenes To meet the need of converters

for materials that deliver better finished products and that can be produced cost-effectively, SABIC has developed two new high clarity SABIC® PP Qrystal polypropylenes. These random copolymers, typically for injection moulding, were specially designed with unique fl ow behavior, providing processors with the fl exibility to produce parts faster and with lower energy consumption.

SABIC® PP QR674K, with a melt fl ow rate (MFR) of 40g/10min, was typically developed for more sensitive food contact applications, owing to its improved organoleptic performance

(low odor). Typical target applications are caps and closures, houseware, kitchenware and food/non-food containers. SABIC® PP QR678K, with its high MFR of 80 g/10 min, is better suited to production of parts with complex shapes and/or long and narrow flow paths. Customer trials have shown around 15% higher fl ow than a standard PP random at the same MFR level, allowing machines to run at lower processing temperatures and 15% faster cycle times, potentially decreasing production costs.

The PP Qrystal range, which was launched in 2010, now comprises four grades, with MFRs ranging from

25 to 80 g/10 min. All PP Qrystal grades can be processed at much lower temperatures than many other commonly used copolymer polypropylenes from the market, leading to significant reductions in cycle time and energy consumption, as a sustainable solution to decrease the molded article carbon footprint. They also have a good balance of impact strength and stiffness and enable customers to produce parts with no loss of transparency or aesthetics. The SABIC® PP Qrystal grade family is produced both in Europe and the Middle East and can be delivered globally.

Tekni-Plex Inc. subsidiary Colorite Europe has installed

a new medical extruder from American Kuhne at its Belfast facility. Colorite Europe has bought an Ultra Series 50mm, 24:1 L/D medical extruder, with two Steward

production on PE water pipe up to 36 inches in diameter. Gas pipe production will start by mid- July at both plants. All the lines will be complete by September, the company said.

Colorite Europe adds American Kuhne extruder

barrier screws and various metering screws.

Colorite compounds medical PVC for applications such as hemodialysis tubing, blood bags, endotracheal tubes and oxygen masks.


PRODUCT NEWS

WL Plastics planning yet-another polyethylene pipe plant

Polyethylene pipe extruder WL Plastics Corp. plans to build a

plant and bring 40 jobs to Rapid City, S.D., lured by the Williston Basin oil boom in Montana and North and South Dakota.

Mike Dahl, a director of WL Plastics, said the company has an option to buy land. The plant will have a rail spur, he said.

“We’re in the middle of design right now, and so once we complete our

design and fi nalize our budget, then we’ll move ahead,” Dahl said in a June 15 telephone interview. “Our intent is by the end of summer, we’ll have a fully articulated budget and will break ground.”

The Rapid City Opportunity Capture Fund approved a $500,000 package of incentives for the plant, which includes an infrastructure development loan and a grant for job creation, according to a story in the Rapid City Journal.

Rapid City would be the seventh plant for Casper, Wyo.-based WL Plastics, which has focused on the energy sector — and grown rapidly along with new sources of oil and natural gas in the U.S. and Canada.

The company’s sixth plant opened at the beginning of June, in Snyder, Texas, a major oil-producing region.

In the energy market, PE pipe is used for gas and oil gathering and mining. PE pipe also is making

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inroads into water and sewer and other municipal infrastructure applications.

The Williston Basin, part of the Bakken oil formation, is a major draw, but WL Plastics serves a broader market area, Dahl said.

“That certainly is part of it. We look at our different market segments and our customers in those market segments, and try to provide service to them. Oil and gas gathering will also be part of the mix, but we’ll also service the mining and water and sewer areas,” Dahl said.

Rapid City Major Sam Kooiker said WL Plastics is big news in his city of 70,000 people. “We’re very excited about having this,” he said.

The mayor said Rapid City is luring a lot of retail and service industry development. Tourism is strong, since the town is close to Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills, national parks and Indian reservations.

“But we haven’t been booming in the industrial sector. That’s what’s so exciting about WL Plastics coming to town. We believe that this will

be an anchor for additional oil fi eld investments in Rapid City,” Kooiker said.

On June 9, Rapid City residents commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Black Hills Flood of 1972, which killed 238 people.

After the tragedy, Kooiker said, Rapid City did not allow people to build in a fl ood plane, and created a greenway along Rapid Creek. The mayor said the city’s extensive park system helps make it a good place.

PRODUCT NEWS


TECHNOLOGY

Prof Kol, of TAU develops new catalyst for PP productionA n e w c a t a l y s t f o r t h e

polypropylene production process, ultimately producing the strongest version of the plastic that has been created to date, has been developed by Prof. Kol and his team of researchers. "Everyone is using the same building blocks, so the key is to use different machinery," he explains. With their catalyst, the researchers have produced the most accurate or "regular" polypropylene ever made, reaching the highest melting point

to date. Moshe Kol, professor of chemistry at the Tel Aviv University (TAU) says that this could have a long-term impact on many industries.

Prof. Kol believes that the answer could lie in the catalysts, the chemicals that enable their production. Plastics consist of very long chains called polymers, made of simple building blocks assembled in a repeating pattern. Polymerization catalysts are responsible for connecting these building blocks and create a polymer

chain. The better the catalyst, the more orderly and well-defined the chain. This leads to a plastic with a higher melting point and greater strength and durability. This is why the catalyst is a crucial part of the plastic production process. "Everyone is using the same building blocks, so the key is to use different machinery," he explains. With their catalyst, the researchers have produced the most accurate or "regular" polypropylene ever made, reaching the highest melting point to date.

Solvay inaugurates new centre in India for R&D and Technology

Solvay has inaugurated its new Research, Development

and Technology Centre at Savli, Gujarat State. The Centre will focus its efforts mainly on the development of high-performance polymers, organic chemistry, nano composites and green chemistry. Housed in a new and high-performance sustainable building, it

will employ over 200 researchers when fully operational. The RD&T Centre will tap the country's huge innovation talent potential and carry out open innovation in collaboration with premier institutes in India. The Centre has also established three fellowships for research in sustainable chemistry, nano technology and polymer science

at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara. The collaboration between university, research institutes and business organizations is essential to foster breakthrough innovation, speeding up the design process and the launch of new products in the market.

PolyOne introduces Color concentrate delivering anti-microbrial properties

PolyOne Corp. has introduced a new tailored concentrate that

delivers both anti-microbial properties and colorants. Accroding to the release, the company has also entered into an agreement with Kraton Performance

Polymers Inc. to become the exclusive distributor in North America for the healthcare grades of Kraton’s Carifl ex polyisoprene rubber, a non-allergenic alternative to natural rubber.

“We have had Smar tBatch materials where you blend additives and colorants for a long time,” said Larry Johnson, marketing director of healthcare for PolyOne.


TECHNOLOGY

SANITIZED AG unveils new solution to enhance antimicrobial resistance of agricultural film

A pioneering solution to control and extend the useful life

of biodegradable polymers, which will create new opportunities to increase the antimicrobial resistance of agricultural fi lms for more effective crop protection has been unveiled by SANITIZED AG. The new Sanitized® an t im ic rob ia l so lu t i ons , f rom Switzerland’s world-leading producer of antimicrobial hygiene function and material protection for textiles and plastics, prevent rapid degradation of biodegradable polymers by protecting against microbe and fungal attack. They allow polymers to be programmed in their effective use and yet remain fully biodegradable. Consequently, PLA (Polylactic Acid) fi lms made from renewable resources and fi lms based on other biodegradable polymers can maintain their performance criteria and functional life expectancy for the desired duration.The use of plastic

films by farmers is fully accepted as one of the tools that extend a growing season, protecting young plants from weather, often early in the year, and from unexpected and unpredictable storms. The agriculture industry was one of the fi rst market segments to embrace biodegradable materials in its efforts to ensure that sustainability remains fundamental to the products that are eventually consumed by the general public. However, biodegradable fi lms have suffered in the past from extremely rapid degradation leaving young plants vulnerable to weather exposure. Biodegradable polymer based film must remain in place for a defi ned period of time, depending on the crop that it is protecting and the region where it is in use. This can range from up to one year, but most often, three to six months, allowing seedlings to propagate and become

established such that they can fl ourish on their own and benefi t from being in the open air. “Sanitized® enables control over the biodegradable time frame allowing the farming industry to maximize the production volume per hectare as well as determining when crops can be harvested and delivered in optimum condition to the customer. Depending on the concentration of the Sanitized® additives and factors such as the expected form of exposure and moisture levels, the effective life expectancy of the film can be determined accordingly. As a result, antimicrobial additives are helping to improve the cost effectiveness of crop production as well as contributing to the overall sustainability of the food we enjoy.” comments Maria Toscan, Product Manager Polymers at SANITIZED AG.

Invista ready to commercialize nylon feedstock technology

Wichita-based Nylon resin and fi bers leader Invista offi cially

has launched a new technology used to make adiponitrile (ADN), a key nylon 6/6 feedstock.According to the release Invista spent more than $40 million over a four-year period to develop the technology. The new technology can improve product yields, reduce energy

consumption and lower carbon dioxide emissions, they added.

“We are now ready to deploy the new technology on a commercial scale,” Bill Greenfi eld, nylon intermediates executive vice president, said in the release. “We have been working aggressively for more than a year on the initial implementation of this new

technology.” For more than two years, Invista has been operating a pilot-scale plant using the new technology at its research and development center in Orange, Texas. The technology might be used commercially in Orange, as well as at an Invista plant in Victoria, Texas, and a plant under construction in Shanghai.


TECHNOLOGY

Plastics researchers in Germany study uses for teraherz wavesSKZ (Das Kunstostoff-Zentrum),

the p last ics ins t i tu te in Würzburg, Germany is launching two research studies into applications for terahertz waves in the plastics industry.SKZ hopes the results shall provide a guide of future developments for terahertz system suppliers as well as for the plastics industry, with systematic evaluation of potential testing applications for fi ber-reinforced sandwich components as well as for thermoplastics.Terahertz waves penetrate many electrical isolators and therefore plastics. However, water and electric conductors absorb these waves, SKZ points out. Measurements with this kind of non-ionizing radiation

are contact-free and therefore very suitable for industrial applications, and for foams and components with holes, in contrast to the ultrasonic technique, which is not applicable to such parts.

This comparatively young terahertz technology is therefore predestined for the non-destructive testing of plastics, according to Martin Bastian the head of the SKZ.

Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology is funding two research projects started in 2012.One project in collaboration with SKZ’s new composites business unit deals with all-electronic terahertz systems, and will focus on fiber-reinforced

composites. These composites are increasingly used as a substitute for conventional materials and appear in a lot of applications, as SKZ points out.

All-electronic terahertz systems are characterized by their robustness and high sampling rate and therefore show a significant potential for industrial applications.

SKZ says fi ber composites need suitable inspection technologies for quality assurance and component inspection. Due to their relevance for practical applications, a lot of free-form components will be explored rather than academic investigations on planar samples.

Significant progress reported as liquid metal molding scales up

Technip has entered into an agreement to acquire Stone

& Webster process technologies and the associated oil and gas engineering capabilities from The Shaw Group for a cash consideration of approximately €225 mln. This transaction will enable Technip to:

• Enhance substantially its position as a technology provider to the refi ning and petrochemicals industries,

• Diversify further its Onshore/Offshore segment, adding revenues based on technology supply,

• Strengthen its relationships with

clients and partners worldwide, backed by the Stone & Webster reputation,

• Expand in promising growth areas such as the US, where downstream markets will benefi t from the supply of unconventional gas,

• Add skilled resources, notably in research in the US, and in engineering in the US, the UK and India.

Th ie r r y P i l enko , Techn ip ' s Chairman and CEO, commented: "The acquisition of these world-class downstream technologies and high-

quality engineering resources fits perfectly with Technip's strategy to differentiate itself through technology. Technip becomes a major technology provider to downstream markets, adding value to its Onshore/Offshore segment. In addition, we gain access to promising growth areas, including US petrochemical investments driven by low-price shale gas. Furthermore, we are delighted to welcome 1,200 talented people to Technip, to support our growth and our clients' needs. We continue the process of broadening Technip's offering of products, services and technologies."


TECHNOLOGY

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German Scientists develops PU from orange peelA team of researchers from the

Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the University of Freiburg, Germany, is developing ways to produce polyurethane from citrus fruits.

Rolf Mülhaupt and Moritz Bähr from the University of Freiburg have developed a process to derive polyurethane from a naturally occurring substance called limonene, by reacting it with oxygen and carbon dioxide. Limonene is the main component of orange oil and is a by-product of orange juice production.The researchers

are the first to successfully react limonene oxide with carbon dioxide without use of solvents, according to a news release from the university. The resulting limonendicarbonat is pourable and can be cured with so-called amines, the researchers said.

The scientists also used the citric acid amidoamine as an amine hardener for the fi rst time. The curing reaction produces polyurethane materials. Unlike conventional polyurethanes, no toxic intermediates are required, according to the research.

The Freiburg method is based on

green chemistry. The team claims that it is neither toxic nor harmful for the environment and there are no by-products. Moreover, it does not compete with food production, as orange peel is a waste product in orange juice production and can be easily separated by extraction.The polyurethane materials can be used in moldings for interior and exterior trim of cars, as well as in thermal insulation and for new bio-based coating systems and adhesives.This research was conducted in conjunction with Volkswagen


IN THE NEWS

Karnataka sanctions special package for MRPLThe Karnataka state government

has sanctioned a special incentive package for the third phase expansion and upgradation project of Mangalore Refi neries and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL). According to a report from PTI Crude oil, plant and machinery, soft loan for the expansion of the refinery on the west coast from 11.92 mln tpa to 15 mln tpa have been exempted. Karnataka has exempted MRPL from payment of entry tax on plant and

machinery and capital goods during the initial period of four years from the date of commencement of project implementation. Also, MRPL has been exempted from payment of entry tax on the "crude oil required for third phase over and above the refi ning capacity of fi rst and second phase for 15 years from the start of commercial production of third phase". Central sales tax exemption for 15 years from the date of commencement of commercial production of third phase for all inter-

state sales made out of the third phase throughput has also been provided. MRPL has granted interest free soft loan equivalent to the VAT on sales of products in fi rst three years would be given which would be repaid in 15 years equal annual installments. Soft loan equivalent to 60% of VAT on the sale of polypropylene, petroleum coke, LSHS, naphtha, LPG (incremental production), mixed xylenes and reformate to non-SEZ units from year 4 to 15 would be provided.

Plannning Commission panel proposes duty changes for petrochem industryThe Planning Commission has

proposed a slew of changes in the prevalent duty structure for the petrochemical industry for the new Plan period (2012-17). To begin with, it has urged the central government to establish single national level value-added tax (VAT)/ goods and services tax (GST) on plastic and articles of states at a uniform four per cent. This could include prime petrochemical feedstock, naphtha and natural gas, as per Business Standard.Besides, the Commission, in a report on the industry for the new plan period, has proposed duty in an increasing trend for the petrochemical sector, starting with feedstock (naphtha and liquefi ed natural gas) at zero per cent, intermediates (ethylene, propylene and benzene) at two per cent, primary petrochemicals (polymers and bulk chemicals) at fi ve per cent and various semi specialty or value-added products

at 10%. For capital goods used by the industry, duty should be eliminated, down from 10% now. Currently, along with feedstock, intermediates and

primary petrochemicals are charged at 5%, while various semi-specialty or value-added products are charged 7.5%.

WB Government plans to hive off stake in Haldia PetrochemThe West Benga l s ta te

government has expressed intention to offl oad its 43% stake in the joint sector company, according to Press Trust of India. State-owned ONGC is interested in acquiring West Bengal government's stake in ailing Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL). "We have expressed the desire to take controlling stake in Haldia Petrochemical through our subsidiary Mangalore Refi nery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL)," as per a company offi cial. The company

has sought an audience with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to make a presentation on its HPL plans.

Expansion is underway at MRPL- to 21 mln tons from 15 mln tons. As a result the company will have additional naphtha that can be used as feedstock in the petrochemical plant. HPL, whose losses over the past years have eroded nearly half of its networth, currently imports bulk of its naphtha requirements.


IN THE NEWS

EPRO aims to raise awareness of the value of recycling

The European Association of Plastics Recycling and

Recovery Organisations (EPRO) has opened submissions for this year’s Best Recycled Plastic Product competition.The key objective for the competition is to raise awareness of the value and versatility of used plastics packaging and to get recognition of it as a valuable resource. The EPRO believes that one of the most important ways of doing this is to showcase a wide range of recycled products.This competition also enables the industry to further demonstrate its commitment to corporate social responsibility, according to the EPRO.

Decision to cancel the K-Dow deal by PIC to be investigatedAn investigation will be conducted

into the decision to cancel the K-Dow deal by Petrochemical Industries Company in Kuwait. PIC has to abide by the court decision, and is liable for the damages, as per a senior energy offi cial to Kuwait Times. The cost of the cancellation is not only

the US$2.16 billion but also a US$3 billion worth in lost opportunity from the money that Kuwait could have made on the deal. The cancellation of the deal has led to considerable damage both economically and politically to Kuwait in the international market. On May 24, the International Chamber

New York may expand plastic bag recycling lawA bill in the New York Assembly

,Assembly Bill 10442 would amend the state’s Plast ic Bag Reduction, Reuse and Recycling Law, enacted in 2008.The law forces retail establishments of more than 10,000 square feet to have a plastic bag recycling program. The amendment

would add a provision to include stores of more than 5,000 square feet if they are in a city of more than 1 million residents. New York City is the only city that meets that threshold.The law was proposed by Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh, a Democrat who represents a section of New York City.

China continue to remain the world’s largest importer of polyethyleneA rapid increase in downstream

processing capacity additions, primarily geared towards export markets, is projected to be the principal driver of the global demand for polyethylene in the coming years, as per Merchant Research & Consulting Ltd.

With over 40% of the demand dependent on imports, China will continue to remain the world’s largest importer of polyethylene despite lots of polyethylene capacity additions expected to come on stream in the next few years. The Middle East region is expected to emerge as the largest exporter of polyethylene in the world.

of Commerce’s international court ruled against Kuwait’s Petrochemical Industries Company in favor of Dow Chemical Co., a verdict estimated at US$2.16 bln for the cancellation of a major petrochemicals joint venture between the two companies in 2008


ASSOCHAM Economic Weekly 10th June, 20121. Macroeconomy

1.1 Annual Supplement to Foreign Trade Policy 2009 -14

a. Two percent interest subvention scheme

Two per cent Interest Subvention Scheme was available only to Handlooms, Handicrafts, Carpets and SMEs till 31st March 2012. Now this would be continued till 31st March 2013. It is also being extended to labour intensive sectors, namely, Toys, Sports Goods, Processed Agricultural Products and Ready-Made Garments, in addition to four sectors benefi tting from the scheme earlier.

b. Technological Upgradation / EPCG Scheme

Zero Duty EPCG Scheme had come to an end on 31st of March 2012. For continued technological up-gradation of export sectors, this Scheme has now been extended up to 31st March 2013. There is no change in the coverage of the sectors benefi tting from this scheme.

Though the coverage of the sectors remains unchanged, scope of Zero Duty EPCG Scheme has been enlarged. At present, Zero Duty EPCG Scheme is not available to units that are availing the benefi ts of Technology Up-gradation Fund Scheme (TUFS). Henceforth, even if the benefi t of TUFS has been availed, additionally the Zero Duty EPCG authorisation can be availed for another line of business by the same applicant. Further, if it is the same line of business, Zero Duty EPCG Scheme could still be availed if the benefi ts of TUFS already availed are surrendered/refunded with applicable interest.

Upto 31st March 2012, the benefi t of Zero Duty EPCG Scheme was not available to such applicants who would have availed benefi t of Status Holder Incentive Scrip (SHIS). It is now decided that if such SHIS benefi t already availed is surrendered subsequently with applicable interest to the concerned RA, and then the benefi t of Zero Duty EPCG Scheme would be extended.

c. Introduction of A new Post-Export EPCG Scheme:

Exporters if they choose to, may import Capital Goods on payment of duty in cash and subsequently receive duty credit scrip on completion of export obligation. Thus there would be no duty remission / duty exemption at the time of import of the Capital Good (CG). Applicant will have to inform the Regional Offi ce of DGFT (RA) about the import of CG and based on which RA will fi x export obligation. Since the duties have been paid upfront at the time of import of CG, the EO would be 85 % of normal EO. On the basis of export performance, a Duty Credit Scrip will be issued subsequently, by RA, in proportion to export obligation so fi xed. This would obviate the monitoring and reporting requirements, as the scheme would be self-monitored. Reduced transaction cost coupled with comparatively reduced EO would make this scheme attractive.

Under the EPCG Scheme, at present, the condition of maintenance of average level of exports is not applicable to some sectors, namely, Handicrafts, Handlooms, Cottage Sector, Tiny Sector, Agriculture, Aquaculture (including fi sheries), Horticulture, Pisciculture, Viticulture, Poultry and Sericulture. Three new sectors are being added to this list, namely, Carpet, Coir and Jute. This would provide substantial relief to these labour intensive industries, which fi nd it diffi cult to maintain the average export obligation.

Presently under EPCG scheme, catalysts are allowed only once for the initial charge. It has been decided to permit a second charge of the catalysts.

To facilitate setting up of Common Service Centres located in the town of export excellence (TEE), a Common Service Provider (CSP) under EPCG Scheme will henceforth be permitted to give a single Bank Guarantee (BG). The quantum of BG will be equivalent to the amount of duty foregone. It is open to CSP to provide the BG for full amount by himself or on a sharing basis along with the users of the common service.

d. Support for export of products from North Eastern REGION.

To promote manufacturing activity and employment in the

INDUSTRY UPDATES


North Eastern Region of the country, export obligation under the EPCG Scheme shall be 25% of the normal export obligation. This would be applicable to the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and Sikkim.

Export of specified products through notified Land Customs Stations of North Eastern Region shall be provided additional incentive to the extent of 1% of FOB value of exports. This benefi t shall be in addition to any other benefi t that may be available under Foreign Trade Policy in respect of these exports.

e. Support for export of green technology products

To promote exports of 16 identifi ed green technology products, export obligation for manufacturing of these products, under the EPCG Scheme, is being reduced to 75% of the normal export obligation.

The 16 products are: Equipment for Solar Energy decentralized and grid connected products, Bio Mass Gassifi er, Bio-Mass / Waste Boiler, Vapour Absorption Chillers, Waste Heat Boiler, Waste Heat Recovery Units, Unfi red Heat Recovery Steam Generators, Wind Turbine, Solar Cells, Solar Collector and Parts thereof, Water Treatment Plants, Wind Mill, Wind Turbine/Engine, Other Generating Sets; wind powered, Electrically Operated Vehicles – Motor Cars, Electrically Operated Vehicles – Lorries and Trucks, Electrically Operated Vehicles – Motor Cycles / Mopeds.

f. Support for infrastructure for agriculture sector

Status holders exporting products under ITC (HS) are provided Duty Credit Scrip equivalent to 10% of FOB value of agricultural products so exported. These scrips are issued for import of Capital Goods and equipments for Cold Storage Units, Pack-houses etc. Now these scrips will be eligible for import of 14 specifi ed equipments for setting up of Pack-houses.

The 14 equipments are: Packing grading equipments for fruits and vegetables, Equipments for ripening of fruits including ethylene generator, Adiabatic humidifi es for cold rooms, Gas sensor and controlled system covering CO2, ethylene and oxygen levels, ethylene scrubbers, CO2 Scrubbers, Blast freezers for IQF plants, Doors for gastight rooms, applications like CA, Banana/fruit

ripening, Nitrogen generators, Gas controlling systems for CA stores, Bulk bins for CA stores, Reach stakers for cold stores and warehouses, Belt driven conveyors for bulk handling of cargo, Gantry cranes, unloading, mechanized loaders for bulk and break bulk cargo.

g. Incentives for promoting investment in labour intensive sectors

Status holders are issued Status Holders Incentive Scrip (SHIS) to import Capital Goods for promoting investment in up-gradation of technology of some specifi ed labour intensive sectors like Leather, Textile & Jute, Handicrafts, Engineering, Plastics and Basic Chemicals. It is now decided that up to 10% of the value of these scrips will be allowed to be utilized to import components and spares of capital goods imported earlier. Such a dispensation was not available earlier.

At present these scrips are subject to Actual User Condition and are not transferable. Since a status holder may or may not have manufacturing facility, it is now decided to allow limited transferability of SHIS scrip. However, such Transferee shall have to (a) be a status holder and (b) have manufacturing facility.

h. Encouragement for manufacturing sector in domestic market

The present Policy allows scrips under different schemes namely, Focus Product Scheme (FPS), Focus Market Scheme (FMS), Vishesh Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojana (VKGUY) Scheme, Status Holder Incentive Scrip (SHIS) Scheme, Market Linked Focused Product (MLFPS) Scheme, Served From India Scheme (SFIS) and Agri. Infrastructure Incentive Scrip (AIIS) Scheme, for import of goods as per conditions of these Schemes. Now these scrips shall be permitted to be utilized for payment of Excise Duty for domestic procurement. Earlier only scrips under SFIS were so permitted for procurement of goods from domestic market. Now all scrips would be permitted to source from domestic market so as to encourage manufacturing, value addition and employment. This will be an important measure for import substitution and will help in saving of foreign exchange in addition to creating additional employment.

i. Use of “delivery against acceptance (DA)” terms not to be encouraged for export of carpets / handicrafts

INDUSTRY UPDATES


Export of Handicraft items and export of Hand-Made Woollen Carpets including other fl oor coverings like Woolen Durries, Druggets, Gabbas, Namdhas and Shaggy shall not be allowed on the basis of “Delivery against Acceptance (DA)” terms, unless they are covered by Bank Guarantee or ECGC guarantee. This would signifi cantly protect the business and fi nancial interests of small exporters.

j. Simplifi cation of procedures

Import under Advance Authorisation (AA) will henceforth be permitted at any of the EDI ports, irrespective of EDI port in which the AA has been registered. There would be no requirement of Transfer Release Advice (TRA). This would facilitate imports under AA and would signifi cantly bring down transaction costs of the exporters.

Exports shipments from Delhi & Mumbai through Post, through Courier or through e-Commerce shall be entitled for export benefi ts under FTP. An Inter-Ministerial Task Force constituted by the Ministry of Finance would expeditiously look into various aspects to the feasibility of enabling shipments through all postal locations.

Exporters will be henceforth permitted to give single revolving Bank Guarantee for different transactions.

k. Visakhapatnam airport recognised under export promotion schemes

Visakhapatnam Airport has been identifi ed as a new Port for the purpose of benefi ts under Export Promotion Schemes.

l. Duty free import of embellishments for exports of synthetic made-ups

At present duty free import of embellishments is allowed against exports of Handloom made-ups, Cotton made-ups and Polyester made-ups. This facility will now be extended to the export of Synthetic made-ups.

m. New “e-BRC” initiative: a major EDI initiative

An extremely challenging and signifi cant EDI initiative, “e-BRC” has been launched by DGFT. “e-BRC” would herald electronic transmission of Foreign Exchange Realization from the respective Banks to the DGFT’s server on a daily basis. Exporter will not be required to make any request to bank for issuance of Bank Export

and Realization Certifi cate (BRC). This will establish a seamless EDI connectivity amongst DGFT, Banks and Exporters. “e-BRC” would facilitate early settlement and release of FTP incentives / entitlements. This is a signifi cant step to reduce transaction cost to the exporters.

n. Search based “ITC (HS)” on DGFT website

DGFT has published a new, updated, ITC (HS) classifi cation of Export and Import items. Facility has been provided to search / enquire about the current Import Policy of an item by entering either ITC (HS) Code of that item or brief description of that item. This would be of major help to trade and industry as well to academicians and researchers.

o. Market & product diversifi cation

� 7 new markets are being added to Focus Market Scheme (FMS). These countries are Algeria, Aruba, Austria, Cambodia, Myanmar, Netherland Antilles, and Ukraine

� 7 new markets are being added to the Special Focus Market Scheme (Special FMS). These countries are Belize, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Morocco, and Uruguay.

� 46 new items are being added to Market Linked Focus Product Scheme (MLFPS). This would have the effect of including 12 new markets for the fi rst time.

� MLFPS is being extended till 31st March 2013 for export to USA and EU in respect of items falling in Chapter 61 and Chapter 62.

� 110 new items are being added to the Focus Product Scheme (FPS) list.

� 2 new items are being added to VKGUY. These are roasted cashew kernel, and protein concentrates & textured protein substances.

1.2 Targets for Infrastructure -FY 2012-13

The global economy is passing through diffi cult times. It is therefore imperative to take measures to give a boost the economy. There is a need to revive business and investor sentiment. In this context, infrastructure investment plays a major role. In the short term, it boost investment rates across the economy. In the long run, it will remove the supply constraints that affect industry and trade.

INDUSTRY UPDATES


The targets that were setup in the Prime Minister’s meeting on different infrastructure sectors for the year 2012-13 are:

Ports� The target for FY 12-13 will consist of a total of 42

projects. These will be for a value of Rs 14,500 crores and a capacity of 244 MTPA. This is three times what was achieved last year.

� Two projects for brand new Major Ports will be taken up during the year.

� These will be in East Coast (Andhra Pradesh) and West Bengal.

� TThe total investment will be Rs 20,500 crores for a capacity of 116 MTPA.

� The total capacity which will be awarded this year will be 360 MTPA with an investment of Rs 35,000 crores.

Roads� Total Road length to be awarded in FY 12-13 will be

9,500 kms, an increase of 18.7% over last year. The investment will rise by 73.6%.

� 4,360 kms of roads will be awarded for maintenance under the OMT (Operate, Maintain, Transfer) system for the fi rst time.

Civil Aviation� Work on Itanagar airport would be commenced by AAI. The

total investment on AAI projects will be Rs 2100 crores.

� Three new Greenfi eld Projects will be awarded in FY 13. These will be at Navi Mumbai, Goa and Kannur.

� New international airports will be declared in 3 or 4 of the following locations this year - Lucknow, Varanasi, Coimbatore, Trichy and Gaya.

� An airline hub policy would be fi nalised and Hubs would be operationalised at Delhi and Chennai in FY13.

� By end-July 2012, additional PPP projects would be fi nalised for 10-12 existing airports and for 10-12 greenfi eld airports. These would be awarded during the year.

� PPP in airport operations would be explored.

RailwaysThese targets are only for PPP projects. The regular

operational and investment targets are known.

� Dedicated Freight Corridor - PPP for the Sonnagar - Dankuni stretch will be awarded in FY 12-13.

� Elevated Rail Corridor, Mumbai with a total investment of Rs 20,000 crores will be awarded in awarded in FY 12-13.

� The concessions for two locomotive manufacturing units at Madhepura and Marhowra will be awarded.

� Station redevelopment of 4/ 5 station will be done in PPP mode.

� Proposal and approach for a High Speed Corridor (Bullet Train) from Mumbai to Ahmedabad will be fi nalised.

Power� The capacity addition target for this year will be 18,000

MW (17,957 MW to be precise) including 2,000 MW to be added by the Kudankulam Atomic Power Project.

� The power generation target is 930 billion Units, an increase of 6.2%.

� Ministry of Power is increasingly laying transmission lines with higher voltage (765 KV in place of 400 KV) and consequently of higher transmission capacity per kilometre.

Coal� CIL will disptach 470 MT of coal to all sectors, an

increase of 8.8%. Of this, it will dispatch 347 MT coal to the power sector in FY 12-13 against 312 MT dispatched last year (a 11.2% increase).

2. Corporate Sector

2.1 Foreign Tourist Arrivals and Foreign Exchange Earnings

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) during the Month of May, 2012 was 3.72 lakh as compared to FTAs of 3.55 lakh during the month of May, 2011 and 3.32 lakh in May, 2010. There has been a growth of 4.6% in May 2012 over May 2011 as

INDUSTRY UPDATES


compared to a growth of 3.3% registered in April 2012 over April 2011. FTAs during the period January - May 2012 were 28.05 lakh with a growth of 7.8% as compared to the FTAs of 26.02 lakh with a growth of 11.4% during January- May 2011 over the corresponding period of 2010.

Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) during the month of May 2012 were Rs. 5562 crore as compared to Rs. 5047 crore in May 2011 and Rs 4358 crore in May 2010. The growth rate in FEE in rupee terms in May 2012 over May 2011 were 10.2% as compared to 15.8.% in May 2011 over May 2010. FEE from tourism in rupee terms during January- May 2012 were 37275 crore with a growth of 25.4% as compared to the FEE of 29723 crore with a growth of 11.6% during January-May 2011 over the corresponding period of 2010.

FEE in US$ terms during the month of May 2012 were US$ 1023 million as compared to FEE of US$ 1124 million during the month of May 2011 and US$ 951 million in May 2010. The growth rate in FEE in US$ terms in May 2012 over May 2011 was -9% as compared to the growth of 18.2% in May 2011 over May 2010. This decline was partly due to depreciated value of Indian Rupee in May 2012 as compared to May 2011. FEE from Tourism in terms of US$ during January- May 2011 were US$ 7297 million with a growth of 10.6%, as compared to US$ 6598 million with a growth of 13.3% during January- May 2011 over the corresponding period of 2010.

2.2 Direct Tax Collections increased by 13.02 Percent in 2011-12

Gross direct tax collections during April-March of the Financial Year (F.Y.) 2011-12 was up by 13.02 percent and stood at Rs.5,90,077 crore as against Rs.5,22,104 crore in the same period in F.Y.2010-11. While gross collection of corporate taxes was up by 11.52 percent. The gross collections on this account stood at Rs.3,96,208 crore as against Rs.3,55,267 crore during the F.Y. 2010-11. The Gross Collection on account of personal income tax was up by 16.20 percent and stood at Rs.1,93,042 crore as against Rs.1,66,130 crore in F.Y. 2010-11. Net direct tax collections during the F.Y. 2011-12 stood at Rs.4,94,799 crore, up from Rs.4,46,935 crore in the same period in F.Y.2010-11, registering a growth of 10.71 percent.

Growth in wealth tax was 14.56 percent. The Gross Collections on this account stood at Rs.787 crore as against Rs.687 crore in the same period during the F.Y.2010-11. Growth in Securities Transaction Tax (STT) was -20.95 percent. The Gross Collections on this account stood at Rs.5,656 crore as against Rs.7,155 crore in the same period during the F.Y.2010-11. Refer Table 1

Table 1Direct Tax Collections during Financial Year 2011-12

2011-12 2010-11Corporate Tax 396208 355267Income Tax 193042 166130Gross Direct Tax 590077 522104Net Direct Tax 494799 446935Wealth Tax 787 687Securities Transaction Tax 5656 7155

Source: Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India

2.3 Railway Revenue Earnings during April - May 2012

The total approximate earnings of Indian Railways on originating basis during 1st April - 31st May 2012 were Rs. 19878.89 crore compared to Rs. 16581.96 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 19.88 per cent.

The total goods earnings have gone up from Rs. 11337.52 crore during 1st April - 31st May 2011 to Rs. 14150.01 crore during 1st April - 31st May 2012, an increase of 24.81 per cent.

The total passenger revenue earnings during fi rst two months of the fi nancial year 2012-13 were Rs. 4940.02 crore compared to Rs. 4553.00 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 8.50 per cent.

The revenue earnings from other coaching amounted to Rs. 505.10 crore during April-May 2012 compared to Rs. 470.66 crore during the same period last year, an increase of 7.32 per cent.

The total approximate number of passengers booked during April-May 2012 was 1380.73 million compared to 1336.25 million during the same period last year, showing an increase of 3.33 per cent. In the suburban and non-suburban

INDUSTRY UPDATES


sectors, the number of passengers booked during April-May 2012 was 700.38 million and 680.35 million compared to 687.29 million and 648.96 million during the same period last year, showing an increase of 1.90 per cent and 4.84 per cent respectively.

3. Market TrendsBSE: The 30 share BSE Sensex increased by 5.8 per

cent and closed at 16,718.87

NSE: Nifty increased by 5.7 per cent during the week and closed at 5068.35

Dollar: The value of Rupee appreciated by Rs. 0.15 against the US dollar during the week and closed at Rs 55.36 per dollar.

Euro: The value of Rupee depreciated by Rs. 0.34 against the Euro and closed at Rs. 69.21 per euro.

Gold: Prices of gold decreased by Rs. 515.45 per 10 grams during the week and closed at Rs. 29290.37 per 10 grams.

Silver: Prices of silver decreased by Rs. 206.62 per kg during the week and closed at Rs. 54568.36 per kg.

Crude Oil: The prices of crude oil decreased by USD 3.19 and closed at USD 98.4 per barrel.

Forex Reserves: India’s Foreign Exchange reserves decreased by USD 2.4 billion to USD 285.86 billion during the week-ended June 01, 2012.

4. Global Developments

4.1 US Q1 non-farm output fallsUS non-farm productivity fell more than expected in the

fi rst quarter as companies gave more hours to employees but only modestly expanded output, revised data from US labour department. Productivity slipped at a 0.9 per cent annual rate, a sharper decline than the 0.5 per cent initially reported by the government.

4.2 The global economy growth declines: United Nations Projection

The UN has cut down its growth forecast for India for the year 2012, predicting a 6.7 per cent growth rate rather than a 7.7 per cent rise predicted earlier, while listing euro debt crisis as the biggest threat to world economy.

In its World Economic Situation and Prospects mid-year update, the UN said the global economic situation continues to be challenging and global growth will likely remain tepid in 2012 following a marked slowdown in 2011.

The global economy is projected to grow by 2.5 per cent in 2012 and 3.1 per cent in 2013, following a growth of 2.7 per cent in 2011, a slight downward revision from previous forecasts.

An escalation of the euro area debt crisis could result in severe turmoil in fi nancial markets and a sharp rise in global risk aversion, leading to a further weakening of global growth.

Most regions of the world would also be expanding at a pace below potential.

Economic growth in South Asia is projected to be moderate to 5.6 per cent in 2012, down from 6.1 per cent in 2011 as the region continues to face signifi cant regional and global headwinds.

India's economy is forecast to expand by 6.7 per cent in 2012, after growing by 7.1 per cent in 2011.

Weak demand in developed countries and a slowing Chinese economy are likely to weigh on economic growth in East Asia.

Average regional growth is projected to slow from 7.1 per cent in 2011 to 6.5 per cent in 2012. Growth in China is forecast to slow from 9.2 per cent in 2011 to 8.3 per cent in 2012.

Refer Table 2

INDUSTRY UPDATES


Table 2

Growth of world output

County/Region 2010 2011a 2012b 2103cIndia 8.9 7.1 6.7 7.2World 4.1 2.7 2.5 3.1Developed economies 2.7 1.4 1.2 1.8United states of America 3.0 1.7 2.1 2.3Japan 4.4 -0.7 1.7 2.1European union 2.0 1.6 0.0 1.2EU15 2.0 1.4 -0.1 1.1New EU Members 2.3 3.0 1.7 2.8Euro area 1.9 1.5 -0.3 0.9Other European 1.7 1.8 1.1 1.3Other developed countries 2.8 2.3 2.3 2.6Economies in transition 4.1 4.5 4.0 4.2South -Eastern Europe 0.5 1.0 0.6 1.8Commonwealth of Independent States and Georgia 4.5 4.8 4.3 4.4Russian Federation 4.0 4.3 4.4 4.4Developing Economies 7.5 5.9 5.3 5.8Africa 4.6 2.1 4.2 4.8East and South Asia 8.8 6.9 6.3 6.8East Asia 9.2 7.1 6.5 6.9China 10.4 9.2 8.3 8.5South Asia 7.1 6.1 5.6 6.1Western Asia 6.2 6.9 4.0 4.4Latin America and the Caribbean 6.0 4.3 3.7 4.2South America 6.4 4.5 3.8 4.4Brazil 7.5 2.7 3.3 4.5Mexico and Central America 5.6 4.1 3.4 3.9Mexico 5.8 4.0 3.4 3.9Caribbean 3.4 2.5 3.3 4.0Least developed countries 5.8 4.0 4.1 5.7Memorandum items:World Trade 13.1 6.6 4.1 5.5World output growth with PPP -based weights 5.0 3.7 3.4 4.0

Source: UN/DESA

a Partly Estimateb Forecast, based in part on project LINKc Includes goods and services

INDUSTRY UPDATES


Cash Reserve Ratio and Interest Rates(Per cent per annum)

Item/Week Ended 2011 2012May 13 Apr. 6 Apr. 13 Apr. 20 Apr. 27 May 4 May 11

1 2 3 4 5 6 7Cash Reserve Ratio (per cent)(1)

6.00 4.75 4.75 4.75 4.75 4.75 4.75

Bank Rate 6.00 9.50 9.50 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00Base Rate(2) 9.25/10.00 10.00/10.75 10.00/10.75 10.00/10.75 10.00/10.75 10.00/10.50 10.00/10.50Deposit Rate(3) 7.75/9.50 8.50/9.25 8.50/9.25 8.50/9.25 8.50/9.25 8.00/9.25 8.00/9.25C a l l M o n e y R a t e (Weighted Average)(4)

7.39 9.27 8.86 8.47 8.37 8.37 8.37

(1) Cash Reserve Ratio relates to Scheduled Commercial Banks (excluding Regional Rural Banks).(2) Base Rate relates to fi ve major banks since July 1, 2010. Earlier fi gures relate to Benchmark Prime Lending Rate

(BPLR).(3) Deposit Rate relates to major banks for term deposits of more than one year maturity.(4) Data cover 90-95 per cent of total transactions reported by participants.Call Money Rate (Weighted Average) is

volume–weighted average of daily call money rates for the week (Saturday to Friday).

Turnover in Foreign Exchange Market #(US $ million)

Position Date Merchant Inter-bankFCY/INR FCY/FCY FCY/INR FCY/FCYSpot Forward Forward

Cancel-lation

Spot Forward Forward Cancel-lation

Spot Swap Forward Spot Swap Forward

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12Purchases Apr. 30, 2012 2,597 1,748 1,173 488 715 271 6,744 7,658 1,154 3,816 2,095 265May 1, 2012 + May 2, 2012 2,663 1,263 321 327 440 318 6,497 7,633 883 3,343 1,102 102May 3, 2012 2,456 1,123 320 369 138 101 7,441 8,953 1,313 2,308 1,100 211May 4, 2012 2,887 1,596 330 117 149 126 7,911 10,908 1,098 2,440 922 236SalesApr. 30, 2012 3,012 1,914 1,436 492 780 259 6,429 9,504 1,310 3,980 2,203 262May 1, 2012 + May 2, 2012 2,971 1,308 345 308 439 303 6,090 8,927 795 3,391 1,132 110May 3, 2012 2,331 1,451 287 366 125 100 7,150 8,987 1,168 2,332 1,144 212May 4, 2012 2,277 1,974 639 90 320 103 7,533 11,651 1,139 2,631 1,036 236FCY: Foreign Currency. INR: Indian Rupees. + Market closed.Note: Data relate to purchases and sales of foreign exchange on account of merchant and inter-bank transactions.

INDUSTRY UPDATES


Foreign Exchange Rates – Spot and Forward Premia

Foreign Currency

2012 Annual Appreciation(+) / Depreciation(-) (per cent)

May 14 May 15 May 16 May 17 May 18 May 14 May 15 May 16 May 17 May 181 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

RBI's Reference Rate (` Per Foreign Currency)US Dollar 53.7118 53.8400 54.2925 54.3875 54.8755 — –16.59 –16.99 –17.11 –17.85Euro 69.2260 69.1730 68.8719 69.3003 69.4885 — –7.43 –7.70 –7.22 –7.47

Inter-Bank Forward Premia of US Dollar (per cent per annum)1-month 8.15 7.69 7.74 7.50 7.76 3-month 7.15 6.91 7.22 6.91 7.03 6-month 6.33 6.17 6.30 6.10 6.23 — Market closed on the corresponding day of the previous year.Note: 1. The unifi ed exchange rate system came in to force on March 1, 1993.

2. Euro reference rate was announced by RBI with effect from January 1, 2002.

Foreign Exchange Reserves

Item

Variation overAs on May 18,

2012 Week End-March

2012End-December

2011Year

r Bn. US$ Mn. r Bn. US$ Mn.

r Bn. US$ Mn.

r Bn.

US$ Mn.

r Bn. US$ Mn.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Total Reserves 15,852.4 290,000.5 229.9 –1,801.5 791.1 –4,397.0 47.7 –6,688.2 2,003.0 –18,534.6(a) Foreign

Currency Assets +

14,055.7 256,117.2 224.1 –1,742.4 *

750.6 –3,951.5 49.2 –6,816.1 1,601.0 –21,084.6

(b) Gold $ 1,398.0 26,617.9 — — 15.5 –405.2 –20.1 –2.4 342.2 2,827.4(c) SDRs @ 241.4 4,399.3 3.5 –35.5 12.8 –70.0 5.5 –29.7 35.4 –186.1(d) Reserve Position

in the IMF**157.3 2,866.1 2.3 –23.6 12.2 29.7 13.1 160.0 24.4 –91.3

+Excludes ` 36.9 billion/US$ 673 million invested in foreign currency denominated bonds issued by IIFC (UK).* Foreign currency assets expressed in US dollar terms include the effect of appreciation/depreciation of non-US currencies (such as Euro, Sterling, Yen) held in reserves. For details, please refer to the Current Statistics section of the RBI Bulletin.** Reserve Position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), i.e., Reserve Tranche Position (RTP) which was shown as a memo item from May 23, 2003 to March 26, 2004 has been included in the reserves from the week ended April 2, 2004 in keeping with the international best practice.@ Includes SDR 3,082.5 million (equivalent to US$ 4,883 million) allocated under general allocation and SDR 214.6 million (equivalent to US$ 340 million) allocated under special allocation by IMF done on August 28, 2009 and September 9, 2009, respectively.$Includes ̀ 314.6 billion (US$ 6,699 million) refl ecting the purchase of 200 metric tonnes of gold from IMF on November 3, 2009.

INDUSTRY UPDATES


Government of IndiaMinistry of Commerce & Industry

Department of CommerceUdyog Bhawan

Notifi cation No. 118 (RE-2010)/2009-2014New Delhi, the 30th May, 2012

Subject: Exemption for export of pulses to the Republic of Maldives.

1. S.O.(E) In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 5 of the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation)

Act, 1992 (No.22 of 1992) as amended, read with Para 2.1 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2009-2014, the

Central Government hereby makes the following amendment in the Notifi cation No. 15 (RE-2006)/2004-

09 dated 27.06.2006 read with Notifi cation No. 109 (RE – 2010)/2009-2014 dated 27.03.2012.

2. Export of pulses had been prohibited vide Notifi cation No. 15(RE-2006)/2004-09 dated 27.06.2006

which had initially been imposed for a period of 6 months and is presently extended till 31.03.2013 vide

Notifi cation No. 109 (RE – 2010)/2009-2014 dated 27.03.2012.

3. Now, 73 MTs of pulses is being allowed for export to the Republic of Maldives through MMTC Ltd. during

the period 2012-13 which is an exception to the prohibition imposed by the above notifi cations.

4. Export of 80 MTs of pulses to the Republic of Maldives through MMTC Ltd. during the period 2013-14

would also be exempted from any export ban.

5. Effect of this notifi cation: 73 MTs of pulses for the year 2012-13 and 80 MTs of pulses for the year 2013-

14 to the Republic of Maldives would be permitted to be exported through MMTC Ltd.

(Anup K. Pujari)

Director General of Foreign Trade

NOTIFICATIONS & CIRCULARS


Government of IndiaMinistry of Commerce and Industry

Department of Commerce(Directorate General of Foreign Trade)[ISO 9001:2008 Certifi ed Organisation]

Udyog Bhawan, H-WingMaulana Azad Road, New Delhi-110011

*****Policy Circular No. 65 (RE-2010)/2009-14

Dated 18/05/2012

Subject: Treatment of Capital Goods sourced from SEZ and import of spares for such Capital Goods

under EPCG Scheme – Para 5.2A of FTP– reg.

1. Kind attention is invited to Policy Circular No. 54 dated 23.02.2012. A question has arisen whether the

Capital Goods sourced from Special Economic Zone (SEZ) would be treated as ‘imported goods’ and

whether spares for such Capital Goods may be imported under the EPCG Scheme – Para 5.2A of FTP.

2. The matter has been examined and it is clarifi ed that Capital Goods sourced from SEZ are treated as

‘imported goods’. Hence, EPCG Scheme-under Para 5.2A is available for import of spares for such imported

Capital Goods (i.e. sourced from SEZ) with reduced EO. Besides this, EPCG Authorization for “Spares”

is also allowed under Para 5.2 {as clarifi ed in Policy Circular No. 12 dated 17.01.2011 (Point No. 2)}.

3. This issues with the approval of Director General of Foreign Trade.

(Rita M ahna)

Deputy Director General of Foreign Trade



GOVERNMENT OF INDIAMINISTRY OF FINANCE

(DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE)

New Delhi, dated the 24th May, 2012Notifi cation No. - 46 / 2012 - Customs (N.T.)

G.S.R. 385 (E). – In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 75 of the Customs Act,

1962 (52 of 1962), sub-sections (2) and (2A) of section 37 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 (1 of 1944), and section 93A

read with sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 94 of the Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 1994), read with rules 3, 4 and 5 of the

Customs, Central Excise Duties and Service Tax Drawback Rules, 1995, the Central Government, hereby makes the

following amendments in the notifi cation of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue),

No.68/2011-Customs(N.T.), dated the 22nd September, 2011 published vide number G.S.R. 712 (E) dated the 22nd

September, 2011, namely:-

In the said notifi cation, in the Schedule, in Chapter 71, for tariff items falling under heading 7113 and the entries relating

thereto, the following tariff items and entries shall be substituted, namely :-

“711301 Articles of jewellery and parts thereof made of gold

Gms. Rs.100.70 per gram of net gold content (.995 or more purity) in the jewellery

Rs.100.70 per gram of net gold content (.995 or more purity) in the jewellery

711302 Articles of jewellery and parts thereof made of silver

Kg. Rs. 2590.80 per Kg of net silver content (.999 purity) in the jewellery

Rs.2590.80 per Kg of net silver content (.999 purity) in the jewellery

711399 Others Nil Nil ” Nil Nil ”

(Rajesh Kumar Agrawal)

Under Secretary to the Government of India

Note: The principal notifi cation No. 68/2011-Customs (N.T.), dated the 22nd September, 2011 was published in the Gazette

of India, vide number G.S.R. 712(E), dated the 22nd September, 2011 Extraordinary, part II, Section 3, Subsection (i)

and was last amended vide notifi cation No. 75/2011-Customs (N.T.) dated the 28th October, 2011 vide number G.S.R.

787(E), dated the 28th October, 2011.



Government of IndiaMinistry of Finance

(Department of Revenue)(Central Board of Excise and Customs)

Notifi cation No. 47/2012 - Customs (N. T.)New Delhi, 31st of May, 2012

S.O. … (E).– In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Central Board of Excise & Customs, being satisfi ed that it is necessary and expedient so to do, hereby makes the following amendment in the notifi cation of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.), dated the 3rd August, 2001, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Section-3, Sub-section (ii), vide number S. O. 748 (E), dated the 3rd August, 2001, namely:-

In the said notifi cation, for TABLE-1 and TABLE-2, the following Tables shall be substituted namely:-

TABLE-1

S. No. Chapter/ heading/ subheading/ tariff item

Description of goods Tariff value US $(Per Metric Tonne)

(1) (2) (3) (4)1 1511 10 00 Crude Palm Oil 447 (i.e. no change)2 1511 90 10 RBD Palm Oil 476 (i.e. no change)3 1511 90 90 Others – Palm Oil 462 (i.e. no change)4 1511 10 00 Crude Palmolein 481 (i.e. no change)5 1511 90 20 RBD Palmolein 484 (i.e. no change)6 1511 90 90 Others – Palmolein 483 (i.e. no change)7 1507 10 00 Crude Soyabean Oil 580 (i.e. no change)8 7404 00 22 Brass Scrap (all grades) 42709 1207 91 00 Poppy seeds 3896

TABLE-2

S. No. Chapter/ heading/ subheading/ tariff item

Description of goods Tariff value (US $)

(1) (2) (3) (4)1 71 or 98 Gold, in any form, in respect of which the benefi t of

entries at serial number 321 and 323 of the Notifi cation No. 12/2012-Customs dated 17.03.2012 is availed

501 per 10 grams

2 71 or 98 Silver, in any form, in respect of which the benefi t of entries at serial number 322 and 324 of the Notifi cation

No. 12/2012-Customs dated 17.03.2012 is availed

899 per kilogram”

(Abhinav Gupta)Under Secretary to the Government of India



RBI/2011-2012/585A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No.131

May 31, 2012

Overseas Direct Investments by Indian Party-OnlineReporting of Overseas Direct Investment in Form ODI

1. Attention of Authorised Dealer Category - I (AD Category - I) banks is invited to A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 36 dated February 24, 2010, wherein ADs were advised about the operationalisation of the online reporting system of overseas direct investments (ODI) with effect from March 2, 2010. The system, inter alia enables online generation of the Unique Identifi cation Number (UIN).

2. Under the online reporting system, AD Category – I banks could generate the UIN online under the automatic route. However, reporting of subsequent remittances under the automatic route as well as the approval route was to be done online in Part II of form ODI, only after receipt of the letter from the Reserve Bank confi rming the UIN.

3. It has now been decided to communicate the UIN in respect of cases under the Automatic Route to the ADs/Indian Party through an auto generated e-mail to the email-id made available by the AD/Indian Party. Accordingly, with effect from June 01, 2012 (Friday), the auto generated e-mail, giving the details of UIN allotted to the JV / WOS under the automatic route, shall be treated as confi rmation of allotment of UIN, and no separate letter shall be issued by the Reserve Bank to the Indian party and AD Category - I bank confi rming the allotment of UIN.

4. It may also be noted that the subsequent remittances under the automatic route and remittances under the approval route are to be reported online in Part II of form ODI, only after receipt of the e-mail communication/confi rmation conveying the UIN.

5. The applications in form ODI for overseas direct investment under the approval route would continue to be submitted to the Reserve Bank in physical form as hitherto, in addition to the online reporting of Part I of the Form as contemplated in A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 36 dated February 24, 2010.

6. AD Category - I banks may bring the contents of this circular to the notice of their constituents and customers concerned.

7. The directions contained in this Circular have been issued under Section 10 (4) and 11 (1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999) and are without prejudice to permissions / approvals, if any, required under any other law.

(Dr. Sujatha Elizabeth Prasad)Chief General Manager-in-Charge



RBI/2011-12/588UBD.BPD.(PCB).Cir.No.40/16.11.00/2011-12

June 5, 2012

Bank Rate

Please refer to our circular UBD.BPD.(PCB).Cir.No.32/16.11.00/2011-12 dated April 26, 2012 advising that the Bank Rate, stands revised from 9.50 per cent to 9.00 per cent with effect from April 17, 2012 and all penal interest rates on shortfalls in reserve requirements, which are specifi cally linked to the Bank Rate also stands revised. In this connection, we advise that the interest rate on refi nance for SSI under Section 17(2)(bb) read with Section 17(4)(c) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 also stands revised to 9.00 per cent with effect from April 17, 2012.

Yours faithfully,(A.Udgata)

Chief General Manager-in-Charge

RBI/2011-12/526

UBD.BPD.(PCB).Cir.No. 32/16.11.00/2011-12

April 26, 2012

Bank Rate

1. Please refer to our circular UBD.BPD.(PCB).Cir.No.26/16.11.00/2011-12 dated March 7, 2012 on the captioned subject. As announced in the Monetary Policy Statement 2012-13, the Bank Rate stands adjusted by 50 basis points from 9.50 per cent to 9.00 per cent with effect from April 17, 2012.

2. All penal interest rates on shortfall in reserve requirements, which are specifi cally linked to the Bank Rate, also stand revised as indicated in Annex.

(A.Udgata)Chief General Manager-in-Charge

Encl: as above

AnnexPenal Interest Rates which are linked to the Bank Rate

Item Existing Rate Revised Rate(Effective from April 17, 2012)

Penal interest rates on shortfalls in reserve requirements (depending on duration of shortfalls).

Bank Rate plus 3.0 percentage points (12.50 per cent) or Bank Rate plus 5.0 percentage points(14.50 per cent).

Bank Rate plus 3.0 percentage points (12.00 per cent) or Bank Rate plus 5.0 percentage points(14.00 per cent).



RBI/2011-12/591

DBOD.No. Leg.BC. 108/09.07.005/2011-12

June 6, 2012

Strengthening the Regulatory Framework for Unclaimed Deposits

1. Please refer to paragraphs 102 and 103 of the Monetary Policy Statement for the year 2012-13, announced

on April 17, 2012 proposing certain measures for strengthening the Regulatory Framework for Unclaimed

Deposits.

2. In terms of our Circular DBOD.No.Leg.BC.34/09.07.005/2008-09 datedAugust 22, 2008 detailed

instructions have been given to banks on dealing with unclaimed deposits/inoperative accounts. They

have been advised to fi nd the whereabouts of the customers and their legal heirs. These instructions,

inter alia, include i) annual review of accounts in which there are no operations, ii) operations in such

accounts to be allowed after due diligence, and iii) no charge to be levied for activation of inoperative

accounts, etc.

3. Despite the above instructions, banks have not been pro-active in tracing customers linked with unclaimed

deposits/inoperative accounts. Also, the need to identify the owners of these unclaimed deposits/

inoperative accounts is closely linked to KYC due diligence. Therefore, in terms of our circular DBOD.

No.Leg.BC.81 /09.07.005/2011-12 dated February 7, 2012 banks were advised that they should display

the list of unclaimed deposits/inoperative accounts which are inactive/ inoperative for ten years or more

on their respective websites by June 30, 2012. The list so displayed on the websites must contain only

the names of the account holder(s) and his/her address in respect of unclaimed deposits/inoperative

accounts, etc.

4. On a review, with a view to further strengthen the regulatory framework for inoperative accounts and

unclaimed deposits, banks are advised to put in place a Board approved policy on classifi cation of

unclaimed deposits; grievance redressal mechanism for quick resolution of complaints; record keeping;

and periodic review of such accounts.

5. The fi rst periodic review of unclaimed deposits/inoperative accounts should be put up to their respective

bank Boards by September 30, 2012.

Yours faithfully,

(Deepak Singhal)

Chief General Manager-In-Charge



Government of India: Long and Medium-Term Borrowings – 2012-2013

(Face Value in ` Billion)

Gross Amount Raised Net Amount Raised

2012-13 (Up to May 18,

2012)

2011-12 (Up to May 20,

2011)2011-12

2012-13 (Up to May 18,

2012)

2011-12 (Up to May 20,

2011)2011-12

1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Total 980.0 600.0 5,100.0 390.0 585.3 4,364.2

2. RBI’s OMO * : Sales 11.1 6.1 82.8

Purchases 319.2 6.2 1,425.0

* RBI’s sales and purchases include transactions in other offi ces and transactions on behalf of the State Governments and others.

Commercial Paper Issued by Companies (At face value)(r Billion)

Fortnight EndedTotal Amount Outstanding

Reported During the Fortnight

Rate of Interest (Per cent) @

1 2 3

Apr. 15, 2011 1,055.2 308.4 7.15 - 12.30

Jul. 15, 2011 1,283.5 298.2 8.10 - 13.25

Oct. 15, 2011 1,664.6 292.4 8.75 - 13.50

Jan. 15, 2012 1,528.3 274.7 9.00 - 14.50

Mar. 31, 2012 911.9 176.3 9.75 - 15.25

Apr. 15, 2012 1,103.5 235.5 8.51 - 14.50

@ Typical effective discount rate range per annum on issues during the fortnight.



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R R Plast Extrusions.................................................................................................................................Fan Fold

Anupam Heaters...................................................................................................................................................5

Polymechplast ......................................................................................................................................................6

NU - VU CONAIR India. .......................................................................................................................................8

Ferromatik Milacron. .............................................................................................................................................9

Merit Polyplast. ...................................................................................................................................................10

Ampacet Asia......................................................................................................................................................12

Steer. .............................................................................................................................................................14-15

Adriot Control Engineers Pvt. Ltd. ......................................................................................................................16

LOHIA Starlinger.................................................................................................................................................28

AIPMA Industrial Park.........................................................................................................................................29

Kenya Plast ........................................................................................................................................................30

AIPMA MOU with Sidbi .......................................................................................................................................31

9th PlastiVision India 2013 .................................................................................................................................32

AIPMA WFO ......................................................................................................................................................33

Windsor .............................................................................................................................................................34

Thermoplastic Elastomers 2012. ........................................................................................................................35

Reliance Polymers..............................................................................................................................................36

E-Tec India..........................................................................................................................................................40

Garodia Impex. ...................................................................................................................................................55

Boolani Engineering ...........................................................................................................................................57

Sri Lanka Plast ...................................................................................................................................................58

Kabra Extrusion Technik Ltd.. .............................................................................................................................59

Vora Packaging. .................................................................................................................................................60

JKP Masterbatches ............................................................................................................................................61

Pramukh Poly Products ......................................................................................................................................72

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