The Latin American polyurethane industry gathered in Mexico City in April for the inaugural UTECH Las Americas meeting. Stephen Downer spoke with several companies at the event
The polyurethane industry in Mexico is feeling optimistic and, despite the pressures the country faces from US president Donald Trump, many are still sure they can build big markets in the US.
“We were all worried about Trump at the beginning,” explained Jorge Hoth, general manager of Mexican release agent manufacturer Fusoni. “On the other hand, these free trade deals cannot be changed that dramatically and that easily. We were worried, but not so much, and I believe that things will not be as dramatic as he [Trump] indicated. Common sense is prevailing.”
His company enjoyed growth of 20-25% in 2016, and hopes to repeat that success in 2017. And with the automotive industry accounting for “close to 70% “ of his firm’s business, he feels secure.
“Our business is still growing,” he said. “We don’t see a lot of major changes in the marketplace. Our customers still have their projects. Our customers are Tier 1s, and they are doing well and we are doing well.”
Jose Lanuza Garcia, manager at Maqui-Uretanos Lanuza, a Guadalajara machinery
company, said, “I hope 2017 will be a good year. Work is coming in. I’m optimistic. If I weren’t, I would not be here.” The shoe industry represents about 50 % of the company’s business, followed by automotive filter manufacturers and construction companies.
Optimism about the US as an export destination extends beyond Mexican companies. Sitola, a German cutting machine company based in Freudenberg, sees the Mexican market as being full of growth potential. “There’s a lot of competition,” said co-president Thomas Siebel. “I think the Mexican market will grow over the next five years because of the automotive industry and also because of the US market that Mexico supplies.” Many of Sitola’s 25-30 Mexican customers operate in the automotive, furniture and medical sectors, he added.
Adrian Berriel, operations manager at polyurethane products company Taurus del Bajio, added, “We are expecting to expand in the North American market. We are exporting adhesives to five companies in the US, to Central America and Colombia.” Berriel explained that these are all companies in the automotive and footwear industries. ”We are negotiating with a Canadian company that makes TPU for escalator rails,” he added.
With exports accounting for 20% of his firm’s turnover, Taurus has ambitious plans to grow their share.”Our target is for exports to account for 80% of our business within two or three years, and the domestic market to account for the remainder.” He added that the domestic market is very erratic, and the TPU market in Mexico is “very large”.
The company is gearing up for expansion, and has recently purchased an extrusion line from Italian supplier OMS Impianti.
Taurus started its operations in the non-PU shoe sole industry, but purchased another Mexican company, Quinn, four years ago. At that time, Quinn supplied 30 tonne/year of polyurethane to the automotive, footwear and construction industries. “We are now expecting to produce 100 tonnes per month with the machine we have just bought from OMS,” Berriel said. He confirmed that this is a three-component, cast elastomer TPU extruder.
The company already has one extruder line, operating with the OMS machine and extrusion machinery purchased from Italy’s Icma San Giorgio. By the end of the year, a second line from the same combination of suppliers should be in operation.
The new OMS machine is a three-component elastomer TPU extruder. It is the second such machine Taurus has bought from OMS in the past two years. The second machine will be installed some time between September and December, Berriel said.
Alba Tooling and Engineering has concentrated on the automotive sector since its launch in Mexico in 2016. The firm operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Austria’s Alba, with offices in Queretaro, central Mexico. The company’s main market in Mexico is automotive car interiors. “We intend to grow here,” said Raul Tellez, the subsidiary’s project and sales manager in Mexico.
Alba’s three manufacturing facilities in Europe make moulds for vehicles, such as arm rests and seat backs. According to Tellez, the plan is to supply the Mexican market with tools made in Mexico. “The automotive industry in Mexico is growing fast, and for this reason we need to have all the things that the automotive market needs in Mexico.”
Mould making company Frimo is taking on more staff at its 45,000 sq ft (4,200m2) plant in Mexico which opened a year ago, according to technical sales manager Carl Szczygiel.
The expanded facility is close to Audi’s assembly plant in the state of Puebla. “We are expanding like crazy,” Szczygiel said. “We already have 48 people working there. And we are supposed to have 78 by Christmas. All the forecasts show the Mexican economy is stable and that there will be continued growth until 2021.”
GNP growth in Mexico in 2017 is projected at 2%/year, according to government figures. “The company is producing automotive interiors at the Mexico plant,” Szczygiel added. “We have Tier 1 customers mostly, but have development programs and prototypes with OEMs. We also have some Tier 2 customers.”
Spanish mould release agent company Concentrol is focusing its Latin American efforts on the Mexican automotive market, international commercial manager Jordi Serrambasa said “We have a long way to go,” he said. “I don’t think we have more than 10–15% of the Mexican market. We are focusing our efforts on the automotive and footwear industry. Automotive is bigger.”
His company sells 15–20 tonne/year of release agents to 20–25 customers in the region. “We hope to double this in the next two years,” he added.
“We have made good contacts here at UTECH Las Americas. We have met potential customers from South and Central America. It has been a very good place as a meeting point.”
While the automotive industry is clearly of particular interest to companies in the Mexican polyurethane market as it is possible to produce components that can be specified in cars for many years, other regulations such as tougher building codes in the US also represent an opportunity for the Mexican polyurethane sector, according to Maxima Dimension.
Maxima produces about 300 tonne/month rigid polyurethane insulation, which is a relatively expensive product to transport because of its high volume and low density. However, the company is planning to build on its growing local base, and start to export rigid boardstock to the US market, according to its president, Alfonso Garza. “We are planning to export a little bit to the United States. We have already started,” he said.
The Mexican market for polyurethane insulation products is strong and resilient, added Alfonso Roel, a member of the Maxima’s management team. “There is nothing that makes us think it will slow down,” Roel said. “We are confident that there will be growth in the national PU market. We think the rigid segment will grow at 15% at least this year.”
“Companies are expanding their operations into other geographical areas such as Europe and Asia. We have seen growth in Latin America. Our customers export.
Garza added that the company is in a position to export to the US because of raw materials at “very good prices from China and other places”.
While Mexico’s export and automotive sectors may be world class, driven by international companies’ product specifications, local products can be a different matter, claimed Steve Hoong, general manager of Singapore’s RIM Polymer Industries.
“In China, they are energy conscious and environmentally conscious,” Hoong said. “Here they are using technology that is not environmentally friendly. If I look at China and the Far East, Mexico is behind.”
Hoong suggested that the key to change is “innovation, research and development that looks into the formulations of rigid foam to see how they can have a combination of different blowing agents to improve the insulation factor in order to achieve energy savings”.
Fabrizio Brambilla, OMS’s Milan-based area manager, sums up the view of many of the
exhibitors of the Mexican market: “The signs are good,” he said. “We’re hoping for a 5% annual growth over the next five years. Over the past five years, there was a slowdown. People were not willing to buy equipment, cheap or expensive. They were just on stand-by, looking for the right moment to do business. We feel this is a growing market situation.”
Fusoni’s Hoth, who joined the company earlier this year, is optimistic about prospects for the Mexican market in the next five years. ”New investments are coming into the country and there are some exciting projects, specifically automotive,” he said.
M Chemical comes back to Mexico
Mexico City — M Chemical Company reopened operations in Mexico earlier this year, the firm’s vice president of technology, Ravi Joshi, said.
“We have set up our own office here and we have a sales team here,” he said. “We have done some business in Mexico in the past.” Asked whether M plans to establish manufacturing operations in Mexico, he said that it depends on how business progresses, and that they got some good leads at the show.
“We think there’s a good market here, but it will be very specialised and that is our strength.” The company, which is based in Los Angeles, California, was founded in 1956 and has a presence in several countries in Europe, as well as India, Asia, North America and South America, particularly Brazil.
Chemours to offer Opteon in Latin America this summer
Mexico City — Blowing agent company Chemours will have supplies of its Opteon 1100 material in Latin America for the summer, said Angel Escarcega.
He told attendees at his presentation at UTECH Las Americas that the product will be available from June 2017. Speaking before his presentation, he said that he had been trialling the material in South America in blends with other blowing agents, and that it had been well received. “South American countries are moving away from HFC 141-b blowing agents and examining a range of alternatives,” he added.
FEMA looking for distributor
Mexico City — Italian Cutting Systems (FEMA) exhibited at UTECH Las Americas hoping to find a distributor in South America.
“This is our first time at an exhibition in Mexico,” said ceo Fedele Marchetti, (pictured).
“In the past, we have sold some machinery in Mexico.”
He said he follows the UTECH shows closely. “This experience is good for our firm because we are together with all the big operators in polyurethane.”
The company has 30 employees and Marchetti claims it is ready to open up in new markets. “This exhibition will help us to find a distributor,” he said, adding that he had met a few candidates and will make a decision in two or three months. “I think Mexico could be a good market,” he added.
