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AT THIS moment, trying to make sense of whatever momentum may have been gained over the course of the year, it’s opportune to express thanks to the leaders of our industry,...
THERE’S been a lot of bad news of late and, with the economy inching along, a lot of the guys have got a little despondent. Manufacturers urgently need at least some discernible growth, even a few
WE LIVE in challenging and interesting times to say the least… and now it’s becoming complicated too, very complicated...
THE industry in South Africa and around the world faces probably its toughest challenge yet, that of dealing with the massive pressure placed on it and its partners to reduce and even eliminate the large quantities of plastic packaging litter that are entering and polluting the...
WE WISH to congratulate President Cyril Ramaphosa on his election as leader of South Africa and many if not most of you will agree that, even in the few months...
A SOUTH African National Standard (SANS) for polyethylene chemical and water storage tanks has been approved and adopted after a virtual marathon process by ARMSA. The tank standard is a fit for purpose guarantee on...
VOLUME 15 ISSUE 6
Recommendations on recyclability of plastic products
released by working group
THE Working Group assembled by Plastics/SA to help break the impasse between convertors and recyclers on...
THERE have been a rash of sector conferences recently and we’ve been fortunate to host quite a large number of international delegates, some of who have made interesting observations.
One of the most relevant was that by Zoran Davidovski of the...
THERE have...
THE fallout from the plastic bag levy of 2002 continues, and it’s not a good story.
There was optimism in some quarters at the time, 15 years ago, when the bag levy legislation was passed and there were plans for recycling and cleanups and job creation and...
VOLUME 14 NUMBER 2
ADDING value to a product or service has become quite a slick sales pitch and increasingly popular these days, but it’s not always easy to achieve. One area where we do see this happening in, quite unexpectedly, is that of material compounding – and even...
A lot of people are...
THIS year’s K show achieved an exceptional result, with attendance of over 230,000 trade visitors from over 160 countries – up from 218,000 at the last event in 2013. That 5.5% increase was a good achievement for the show. The organisers put it down to the ‘globally...
VOLUME 15 NUMBER 5
Are we being out-competed by global groups?
DUCKING and diving can be a necessary strategy, especially in crossfire situations, which is not entirely unlike operating in the current market conditions. One such scenario...
VOLUME 14 ISSUE 4
THE third quarter of 2016 has seen some interesting movement in the industry, with three of South Africa’s more significant companies involved in acquisition activities.
WEST African International, the diversified material supply business, has been bought by enX Group in a major transaction which will...
MOST companies around the country and even across the region are finding the going tough at the moment but it’s not as if one can switch the lights off and walk out … although some people have been known to do that – and leave the lights...
ISSUE 14 NO 2
PROPAK AFRICA has come and gone and it should be a relief to many that the event – which is to a large extent a window to our industry – went off successfully.
The state of the packaging sector is also in many ways a...
VOLUME 14 ISSUE 1
VOLUME 13 ISSUE 6
Many in local plastics industry do well over challenging period
2015 has come and gone and for many of us it wasn’t the best of years, although most of us are still here and, well, enjoying things in Africa.
It may come as a healthy...
VOLUME 13 ISSUE 5
IF YOU have recently become more interested in global economic trends, trying to understand how emerging markets are getting hammered and the Rand seems to continue its never-ending downward spiral, you are not alone.
But no...
IT’S COME as a surprise to me that several commentators as well as many citizens out there are surprised to hear that things are going quite nicely at many of the businesses in our industry around the country.
As a matter of fact, even some convertors and suppliers are surprised to hear that others are doing, well, fine.
It’s inevitable that the mood in...
VOLUME 13 ISSUE 3
AFRICA’S not for sissies, but you really have to be on your game to achieve a good outcome for your associates and...
VOLUME 13 ISSUE 2
Sale of companies causes jitters … but it’s good news
THE industry has been the scene of some big transactions of late, with the biggest being the sale of Nampak’s Flexibles business to Amcor, the Aussie-global packaging group.
VOLUME 12 ISSUE 6
Unexpected growth of rPET demand
OUR main story this issue is about the expansion of Extrupet’s PhoenixPET plant in Johannesburg. Extrupet is in the process of tripling its food-grade rPET capacity, and will in the near future be producing about 1750 tons a month of the...
VOLUME 12 ISSUE 6
VOLUME 12 ISSUE 5
Rise in production during the strike can’t solve the problem, maybe it is the problem
PRODUCTION actually increased in some cases during the recent strike … but that’s not going to solve your problem or THE problem for that matter.
The fact that production increased was mainly the result of owners and...
VOLUME 12 ISSUE 4
Women are buoying our industry
WITH August 9 being National Women’s Day, it’s appropriate that we – for the first time – pay tribute to the women who are buoying our industry!
The various sector associations which have emerged in the industry over the past...
VOLUME 12 ISSUE 3
Astrapak turnaround provides relevant lesson for all businesses
REMEMBER the days when Astrapak was the flavour of the month, garnering glowing revues from the financial press? Well, those days are gone … but in its place we now have a fascinating revival story, with the Astrapak management involved in a 2-year turnaround programme...
VOLUME 12 ISSUE 2
Record breaking and radical projects underway
BEHIND-THE-SCENES and unseen by almost all, interesting developments are taking place in the industry – even in these challenging times.
We have fortunately been privy to some of these projects lately and are happy to report about them here....
VOLUME 12 ISSUE 1
Sasol EPU5 is seriously impressive
I WAS PRIVILEGED recently to be a guest of Sasol Polymers at the launch of the Sasol group’s new Ethylene Purification Unit (‘EPU5’) at Sasolburg.
For anyone involved in the polymer or chemicals business in South Africa,...
WITH 13 of the 19 gold, silver and bronze awards available in six categories (in the four main packaging groups, glass, metal, paper & board and plastics), plastics entries took well over half the awards at the IPSA Gold Pack Awards in October – and capped that with the IPSA Gold Pack Trophy for 2013 too.
That was one of the most obvious positives for the industry over the past year, and there were...