WEB EXCLUSIVE: Germany’s Evonik Industries (in the U.S., Evonik Degussa Corp., Parsippany, N.J.) has resumed full operation of its reconstructed CDT (cyclododecatriene) feedstock plant at the Marl site, less than a year after it was destroyed by fire and explosion.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Vestamid HT plus polyphthalamide (PPA) from Evonik Industries High Performance Polymers in Germany (in the U.S., Evonik Degussa Corp., Parsippany, N.J.), is being used in gearshift lever parts for a major European auto company.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: New Vestakeep Ultimate grade of PEEK from Evonik Industries in Germany (U.S. office in Parsippany, N.J.) boasts 25% higher impact strength than other PEEK resins.

Last fall’s K 2010 fair in Germany drew dozens of materials suppliers to show off hundreds of new products, aimed especially at packaging,medical, automotive, and electrical/electronics.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: In this month’s Starting Up section, we report on a new nylon 410, based on castor oil, from DSM of the Netherlands and Evansville, Ind.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: May will see a number of price hikes in nylons, styrenic block copolymers, and thermoset (unsaturated) polyesters:BASF hiked nylon 6 by 5¢/lb on May 3, while DSM raised nylon 6 extrusion and compounding grades 10¢ on May 1.

Two suppliers have come out with a new type of flexible, translucent, semicrystalline nylon based 100% on renewable sebacic acid from castor oil.

In December, about a dozen representatives of European chemical companies gathered in Aachen, Germany, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of a quiet revolution in plastics.

Evonik Degussa Corp., High Performance Polymers, Parsippany, N.J., has introduced Vestamid HTplus, a polyphthalamide (PPA) resin for metal replacement in molded fuel systems and pump and filter-system housings.

Part II of our review of the big JEC international composites show in Paris focuses on resins and reinforcements. (Part I, last month, covered process enhancements, thermoplastic composites, machinery, and tooling. See Learn More box.)

This first of two articles on directions in TPE development focuses on styrenic, copolyester, polyamide, and TP urethane elastomers. The following article covers olefinics—TPOs, TPVs, and POEs.

Since September, the former Degussa AG of Germany has become Evonik Degussa, the Chemicals Business Area of the new Evonik Industries group in Germany.

The top of the thermoplastic performance pyramid is growing more crowded and more finely differentiated due to heightened demand for lighter, tougher alternatives to metals, ceramics, and thermosets.

The industry’s broadest line of highly heat- and chemical-resistant thermoplastics is being fortified with several new amorphous and crystalline materials in the so-called “ultra-performance” category.

The so-called “format war” has finally hit the streets.

Beefing up its expertise in high-temperature polymers, Degussa AG in Germany is acquiring the patents of Ticona GmbH of Germany related to polyaryl ether ketones.

3D molded interconnect devices were supposed to be the 1980s' breakthrough for plastics in electronics—but they flopped. New processes that make market entry faster, simpler, and less costly have recharged MIDs' prospects.