The company has recently received notice of a preliminary anti-dumping assessment issued by the Korean Trade Commission. Fuwei was notified that its tariff rate will be 6.13 per cent, the single-lowest rate among all of the manufacturers involved in the investigation. Chief executive Xiaoan He said, “While tariffs have always been a distortion of the market force, we expect the Korean assessment to work to our advantage to further expand our presence in the overseas market.”

Despite the increase in sales revenue, the company recorded a 1 per cent drop in the number of container units sold.

The Smart Lid won a second AmeriStar Award in the 'Food – Institutional' category. Managing director Nick Bayss said, “Receiving this level of recognition within the US packaging industry is huge news for an Australian company.”

Canada general manager Chuck Garlock said that the competitiveness and demands of the market were unable to support the facility. Production is expected to continue until October after which manufacturing will be transferred to other of the company's facilities.

The news came as BWAY reported a fall in fiscal second-quarter net income to US$1.1 million from $5.4m a year earlier. Sales rose slightly to $243.6m from $234.3m in the comparable period of 2007.

As part of a plan to reduce packaging by 5 per cent by 2013, Wal-Mart Canada says that recycled materials will be used in 65 per cent of the replacement packaging and that vegetable dye will be used in the inking process.

The company has spent over R300m ($39.3m) investing in 'capital-enhancing projects and acquisitions' but says that it will now have to cut back substantially on such investments to minimise its exposure to high interest rates.

Rising oil prices mean that its new direct to sheet technology, that produces PET sheet directly from melted resin, will offer cost and energy savings that Octal believes will allow it to become the most efficient producer in the world. Under the present plans, Octal will begin production in July and reach 330,000 tonnes capacity by March 2009. This will be increased to 800,000 tonnes by 2010.

PTT (Thailand), who previously planned a now-abandoned joint-venture petrochemical project with JG Summit, is also thought to be preparing a bid, suggesting that it may be considering plastics production in the Philippines.

In the text, the association points to a misunderstanding regarding which plastics containers are affected by the assessment. “CPIA is concerned that Canadians are under the impression that BPA is widely used in plastic bottles and containers commonly found in the home. This is not the case. There is a wide range of plastics in contact with food and beverages and other consumer products which do not contain BPA and for this reason are not referenced in Health Canada's assessment of BPA.”

Chief executive Mike McDonnell said, "Our first quarter results were negatively impacted by raw material cost inflation, as well as the weakened economic environment in the US as well as in Europe. Although resin costs stabilized somewhat during the first three months of 2008, we expect continued volatility.”

Once it has been determined that that the additive will render PET bottles biodegradable, Diamant says that it intends to apply for FDA testing.

The spread between naphtha and HDPE is expected to be US$670/tonne this year, up from $668 last year. PTT Chemical produces ethylene and propylene to make plastics pellets, especially used in the packaging industry.

StabilitySolutions BARRIER is a tri-layer container for oral solid dose products that sandwiches the high oxygen barrier ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) between two layers of HDPE, in order to provide oxygen barrier protection and moisture barrier.