In early November 2012, Polyplastics (Tokyo / Japan; www.polyplastics.com) – a joint venture between Ticona (Sulzbach / Germany; www.ticona.com) and majority shareholder Daicel (Tokyo / Japan; www.daicel.com) – opened an independent sales office in Frankfurt / Germany (for most recent coverage, see Plasteurope.com of 07.09.2012). Located in the city’s Industriepark Hoechst, Polyplastics Europe will import and distribute plastics. The company is headed by Satoshi Nishiwaki.

This is the latest in a string of signs that the two joint venture partners may be parting ways. Previous signals included a dissolution of their worldwide distribution activities and Polyplastics’ acquisition of Ticona’s feedstock supplier LCP Leuna Carboxylation Plant (LCPG, Leuna / Germany; www.lcp-carboxy.com).