Amid growing demand for plastics machinery made in China, Germany’s KraussMaffei (KM, Munich; www.kraussmaffei.com) has touted plans to start production of its injection moulding “MX 850-6100” series at its facility in Haiyan / China. With a clamping force ranging from 8,500 - 40,000 kN, the range is specifically designed for hard continuous operation, combining short machine times with quick cycles and high moulding output, KM said.

KM said it has seen a continual rise in orders for extruder machinery produced at its plant in Haiyan, too. “We are the market leader with our twin-screw series in the area of PVC, pipe and profile extrusion, and recorded a substantial rise in incoming orders for PO pipe extrusion last year,” according to Fan Kai Jun, general sales manager for Extrusion Technology at KM’s Chinese subsidiary. Recent orders include the one placed by leading Chinese pipe producer Chinaust Group (Zhoushou City; www.chinaust.com/en) for a line to produce PP pipes up to a diameter of 400 mm. Fan added that demand for polybutene pipes used in infrastructure is also rising, pointing to a recent order by Zibo Jielin Plastic Pipe (Zibo, Shandong) for such a line.

KM has also carved out a role for itself in special material processing, including in the field of C-PVC. The German company has received several orders from Youli Holding Group (Zhejiang; www.china-youli.com), one of the country’s largest C-PVC producers. The most recent order, KM says, was for a “KMD 130-26” twin-screw extruder to produce pipes up to 800 mm and sheets. KraussMaffei Berstorff’s twin-screw extruders are also used to process new C-PVC materials with improved chemical properties. The latter units are already employed by several leading Chinese processors.