FDA approval for microwave food processing

The Canmaker : "A wider variety of ambient packaged foods could be possible in future following the approval by the US Food & Drug Administration of an alternative to the traditional canning process.

The process, which combines pressure cooking with microwave techniques, has been developed by Professor Juming Tang of the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Washington State University.

While conventional retorting and sterilisation processes take up to an hour and often under pressure, the process developed by Prof Tang takes about four minutes.

Prof Tang has been working on high-quality military meal-to-eat rations that could be used for the retail markets. He has also been working on the world’s first pilot-scale 27 Mhz RF sterilisation units for large institutional food trays. With this process the processing time for six-pound trays was reduce to 20 minutes from between two and two-and-a-half hours with conventional techniques.

How the process could be used for metal packaging is not clear. Unless the container is shallow, in which case the microwave heating is more evenly distributed, the food is shielded and hot heated homogeniously."

Xerox launches silver ink for printed electronics

packagingnews.co.uk: "Xerox is looking to develop applications for its new low-cost silver ink that can print circuitry onto flexible materials such as plastics, films and textiles.

The printing firm is now looking for manufacturers and developers to allow them to test and evaluate potential applications. Xerox said the technology was suited to products like pill boxes that track how much medication a patient has taken and display screens that roll up to fit into a briefcase.

The silver ink allows circuits to be printed like a continuous feed document without the extensive clean room facilities required in current chip manufacturi"

Coca-Cola chooses Can of the Year bottles

The Canmaker : "Coca-Cola has started using lightweight aluminium bottles of the type that won The Canmaker magazine’s Can of the Year Award for 2009, and looks set to expand its use of them when a high-capacity manufacturing plant is expected to be completed in the US in about 18 months.

The plant will be built with an eventual capacity for 3.5 billion bottles by Exal Corporation, whose chief executive Delfin Gibert says has a number of customers keen to use the bottles. It is expected to be the first of a number of plants to be set up in various geographic regions throughout the world, a project that was first announced in 2007."

Denmark's G&M opens canmaking joint venture in China

The Canmaker: "Denmark’s Glud & Marstrand inaugurated a joint-venture canmaking project in China earlier this week.
Called Hebei G&M Co Ltd, the plant was set up in collaboration with Chinese packaging company Inpac Hebei Co at Qian’an city, in Hebei province. It is making rectangular tinplate luncheon meat cans similar to those Glud & Marstrand produces in Europe."

Weidenhammer wins first order for its 'plastic can.'

Factiva: "German packaging company Weidenhammer's PermaSafe container, a plastic alternative to glass jars and tinplate packs, will be used as packaging to a range of sausages marketed by German retailer Mueller's Hausmacher Warts. The PermaSafe container protects food products for a maximum of 12 months and cuts energy consumption during manufacture and transport because it is lighter than glass or metal packaging. The prototype developed for Muellers is an injection moulded, polypropylene container with a capacity of 150 grams and has a re-closable and easy-peel top."

At last, an alternative to traditional tinplate packaging

packaging: "Viscount Plastics and Dulux have achieved a breakthrough in plastic packaging technology set to invigorate the Australian paint industry. It will change the traditional use of the metal paint can forever.

Dulux has exclusively released Viscount Plastics’ new plastic container in its professional applicator product range.

To the uniformed, it may seem that Dulux is simply following the trend of its international peers. After all, plastic packaging technology is nothing new."

However, what is new and what has excited those of us who don’t enjoy watching dry paint contaminate our containers, is the innovative development of a proven paint skinning adhesion technology for the first time.

This patented technology has also provided a recyclable alternative to the traditional metal paint can.

The solution behaves in a similar manner to its metal alternative, of course without the tendency to dent or rust and is now being used commercially within the Australian and New Zealand paint market.

Ball increases presence in China

www.cantechonline.com: "can making company reached an agreement to buy the remaining majority interest in the joint-venture can and end plant it operates at Sanshui.

Ball has owned 35% of the soft drinks manufacturer Guangdong Jianlibao Group Co since 1992.
The can making company will acquire the plant and related assets for around $90 million in cash and assumed debt. Ball has also entered into a long-term supply agreement with Jianlibao. The deal is expected to be completed next year, subject to customary regulatory approvals."

Coke announces plans to move drinks to 'bottle of the future'

packagingnews.co.uk: "Coca-Cola has unveiled plans to move its soft drinks to bottles made from a PET material that is partially derived from plants, and set a target of two billion bottles by the end of next year.

The company's PlantBottle packaging is partially manufactured from PET plastic developed from sugar cane and molasses crops destined to become ethanol. It is being introduced to selected product ranges.

The soft-drinks giant will bottle a range of its key brands, including Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fresca and Dasani, in the new packaging across Denmark, Canada, and the US."

Bao Steel supplies Coca-Cola with steel drinks cans

The Canmaker "Foshan Bao Steel Can Making Co, a subsidiary of Chinese steel producer Bao Steel, has started supplying Coca-Cola’s franchise bottler in Hong Kong with two-piece beverage cans.

Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong Co is said operate the fastest canning line in China with filling speeds of up to 2,000 cans a minute.

More than 500,000 cans have been supplied by Bao Steel’s canmaking plant at Foshan in Guangdong province to Coca-Cola in Hong Kong."

The German tinplate packaging market

EUWID:: "As 2009 draws to a close, signs are mounting that the two main factors which characterised this year for suppliers of packaging and caps made of tinplate – the economic or consumer crisis as well as costs of upstream products – have led to the expected downturn in deliveries in most packaging segments. However, the scope of volume losses did vary considerably, depending on the segment and even within individual segments. A large issue that packaging suppliers were chewing on in the middle of the fourth quarter was the uncertainty of price and contract developments as of 1 January 2010."

Latinusa to double tinplate capacity

Metals Place: "Indonesia’s PT Latinusa plans to double its tinplate production capacity to 250,000 tpy by 2013/14 by adding a second tinplate line. Current capacity is 130,000 tpy, with actual production expected to rise from 90,000 tonnes this year to 120,000 tonnes in 2010, President Director Ardhiman Trikaryawan Akanda told Bisnis Indonesia. Part of the expansion plan is to boost sales to Australia, which now has no domestic tinplate capacity.

Latinusa is currently in the process of divesting 55% of its equity to a Japanese consortium headed by Nippon Steel and is planning a public offering of another 20%. The expansion plan may also require bank loans of some US$60 million."

ArcelorMittal Spain rearranges coil supply to tinplate lines

Factiva: "ArcelorMittal Spain could be relocating the cold rolling and galvanising lines from its Etxebarri plant to its Avils steelworks over the next few weeks, according to local industry rumours. However, the company tells Steel Business Briefing that the only change taking place is a reorganisation of coil deliveries.

“With the aim of maximising synergies in its industrial operations, ArcelorMittal has decided to supply the tinplate lines of its factory in Etxebarri with cold rolled coils from the company’s site in Avils,” ArcelorMittal Spain comments. Up until now, the Etxebarri plant only received hot rolled coils from Avils.

The company claims this reorganisation will result in lower costs and improvement in the quality of the products. It should thus contribute to ensuring the long-term sustainability of ArcelorMittal’s tinplate production in Spain."

Nampak boss plans to 'fix, sell or close' 20% of sites

packagingnews.co.uk: "Nampak's new chief executive Andrew Marshall has said he will 'fix, sell or close' one in five of the South African group's global operations as the group revealed a 61% drop in pre-tax profit.

Full-year results to 30 September, published yesterday, showed that while revenue had risen 6.1% to R19.6bn (1.57bn) in the last year, pre-tax profit had fallen 61% to R272.3m.
The fall in profits was blamed on losses in the group's corrugated business, lower volumes across the group, the collapse of key milk bottle customer Dairy Farmers of Britain in the UK and losses at the group's carton printing site in Leeds and at a number of smaller South African businesses."

Indonesian tinplate producer to get public share listing

Factiva: "Indonesia’s PT Krakatau Steel will be offering the public an 18% shareholding in its tinplate subsidiary, PT Pelat Timah Nusantara (Latinusa), on 14 December, company sources confirmed. Another 2% of the tinplate maker will be offered to employees and the management.

State-owned Krakatau sold the majority 55% share in Latinusa on 11 November to a Japanese consortium for nearly $60m. As Steel Business Briefing previously reported, Nippon Steel will hold 35%, while Mitsui & Co will hold 10% and trading companies Metal One Corp and Nippon Steel Trading 5% each.

Last week, Nippon Steel said that the acquisition will enable it to strengthen its tinplate business in the growing Asian market. It also plans to supply more tin mill black plate to Latinusa.

PT Krakatau Steel will retain a 20.1% share in the tinplate company after the Indonesia stock exchange listing is completed. The offering period for the listing is scheduled as 7-8 December and PT Bahana Securities has been appointed underwriter for the offering. PT Baruna Inti Lestari will hold the remaining 4.9% share in Latinusa.

Latinusa is operating at 100,000-110,000 tonnes/year of its 130,000 t/y plant in Cilegon, West Java. Nippon Steel plans to lift the production capacity to 160,000 t/y but details of the expansion schedule have not been finalised"

Destocking over but restocking yet to happen: ThyssenKrupp

Factiva: "erman flat products maker ThyssenKrupp Steel believes inventories at European traders, service centres and many end-customers are at very low levels still, according to ThyssenKrupp Group’s chief financial officer Alan Hippe. “The destocking is at an end, but the restocking has not happened yet, so that is still something in the pipeline which makes us positive,” he said in a recent conference call"

here is a mixed picture across customer industries and product groups, Hippe commented in the call monitored by Steel Business Briefing. “Some groups are moving, some groups are not moving: when you look at yellow goods, mechanical engineering and heavy plate, these areas are still suffering from high inventories and relatively weak consumption,” he said. On the other hand, “when you look at auto and tinplate markets, these markets are positive, and some service centres are already very busy,” Hippe added.

ThyssenKrupp’s crude steel output (including its share in HKM) increased by 70% quarter on quarter in July-September 2009 to 2.6m tonnes, although year-on-year the figure was still down by 27%. In its full fiscal year October 2008 to September 2009, crude steel production was at a “historically low level” of 9.2m t. Also in full year 2008/2009, the steel division’s sales fell by 31% to €9.9bn, and the division posted a loss of €486m.

Erdemir goes to appeal to oppose Competition Authority fine

Factiva: "Turkey’s biggest flat steel producer Erdemir has applied to the state council to appeal against the Competition Authority’s decision of 19 June. The authority had fined Erdemir to pay 0.02% of its gross income because of violating competition rules. The case concerned its stakes in ArcelorMittal Packaging Turkiye and Borelik.

Erdemir has 25% share in ArcelorMittal Packaging Turkey – a tinplate service centre – and a 9.34% share in Borelik, a cold rolled and galvanised strip producer, as Steel Business Briefing reported.

Erdemir said in September 2008 that it had decided to end its partnership with ArcelorMittal Packaging Turkiye and Borelik, as reported."

Brazilian mill discounts domestic tinplate to fight imports

Factiva: "Brazilian steelmaker CSN has been discounting its coiled tinplate prices for local distributors by 10%, in an effort to meet competition from imports, Steel Business Briefing learns from a domestic source.

According to the source, coiled tinplate is currently being sold for R$3,700-3,800/tonne (US$2,145-2,203/t), including taxes and truck freight. Imported tinplate offers are cheaper than domestic material, so this rebate has became necessary due to import pressure.

The source believes, however, that the discount will not be extended, since foreign producers have already announced a 5% hike on tinplate prices for December, SBB notes"