BUSINESS
BEHIND THE
MARKETS
H A R R Y STENERSON, Assocfote Editor V i n y l sheet a n d f i l m industry e x p a n d s its production f r o m 3 1 million to 4 9 million pounds per quarter w i t h i n space of a y e a r . . . " S e c o n d s " still a market problem . . . Surface-coating materials stage another increase T J KCENT discussions in New York on -*•*- film, sheeting, and coated fabrics, bolore the Society of the Plastic Industry, revealed the phenomenal growth that has taken plaec in the vinyl film industry, especially over the past two years. Howard S. Bunn, Bakelite, said that since the first order was taken in October, 1939, for 10,000 lb. (by a Chicago raincoat manufacturer), vinyl film has attained at the present time a quarterly production basis of 4 8 to 49 million pounds. In the first quarter of 1949 the figure was 31 million, and in the fourth quarter, 49 million. Vinyl sheet and film business, therefore, has been able, through plant extensions, to expand some 55r/* in a year's time, and the industry frankly is unable to say whether this growth is good or bad. Mr. Bunn mentions two factors which have had much to do with the phenomenal rise of the vinyl sheet and film business. One is low cost, the other constant improvement in the quality. It was shown that in the matter of qualities, vinyl film costs less than textiles, which probably will surprise many people, also costs less than the coated fabrics required for most of the jobs performed by vinyl. Quality has shown considerable improvement since the Chicago manufacturer bought that 10,000 lb. shipment in 1939. This has been due to better plasticizers, stabilizers, pigments, and dyes that are light-stable. Better Equipment Equipment has also improved. The industry has gone in for modern Banburys and two-roll mills, allowing for the production of film far more uniform than was possible on adapted rubber calenders. A further impetus to vinyl film came from the introduction of screen printing, in 1941. Gravurc printing came only three years later. The vinyl sheeting industry is one branch of chemical manufacture that has learned to appreciate the competitive value of speed. Fast service has given retailers a big advantage over textiles, and Mr. Bunn tells us that film in an approved design has been produced in large quantities almost overnight. Embossing is one of the newer techniques considered to be a major step imparting entirelynew appearance to the film and widening its uses. There arc also some growth-restricting factors in this business. Despite the general improvement of the products, large quantities of "seconds" appear on the market. Some of these could be re-calen2046
dercd. Another adverse factor is the use of 0.003" film where 0.004" or thicker could be used. The vinyl film business was summed up with the following salient and interesting data: 1. High quality producers. There are seven of these and they perform 48% of the business, usually at the highest prices. 2. Competitive quality producers. Fourteen of them account for 39f/r of the business at competitive prices. 3. Marginal suppliers of highly varying film quality number 17. It was thought significant that this group had only 13% of the total volume. Vinyl Plasticizers M. C. Reed of the same company said that plasticizers for vinyl sheet and film vary over a wide range. Usually 4 0 to 70 parts of plasticizcr are required for each 100 parts of vinyl resin. Aliphatic and aromatic esters are the most commonly used, and there arc many hazards and difficulties faced by the finished products in which the plasticizers can play an important role. Of the many classes of compounds employed in plasticizing vinyl resins the esters account for the largest volume. In this group arc dioctyl phthalate, dibutoxycthyl phthalate, tricresyl phosphate, ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate, polyglycol fatty acid esters, alkyl ricinoleates, tetrahydrofurfuryl oleato, alkyl sebacates, azeleatcs and adipates, polyesters of dibasic aliphatic acids and aliphatic diols, and various others of lesser importance.
It is contended that the vinyl film industry is woefully weak in merchandising of the type needed to raise the level of its operations, and its products should not b e relegated almost exclusively to die low quality end of the market. The industry should b e capable of creating a demand at a.i levels, as is done in textiles. Surface-Active Agent Volume The table on this page, compiled from the Preliminary Report of the Tariff Commission for 1949, shows h o w manufacturers of these products have been able, through increased volume, to lower their cost. Materials for detergents as well as for surface-active compounds arc included in the total of 425,655,400 lb., which is some 16% higher than in 1948. An interesting highlight of the report is the costs reduction achieved in the comparatively high-priced quaternary ammonium group—from the average of $1.47 per pound in 1948 to $1.29 last year. In fact, all groups in this table were lower in cost with the exception of sulfonated aromatic petroleum compounds and aliphatic petroleum sulfonates. Petroleum sulfonates offer an interesting example of byproduct marketing. So called "white oil" in recent years has come in for so great demand that the former byproduct has become a primary market item. Only two surface-active groups in this business have shown a loss in volume; those within "nitrogen-containing agents, non-sulfonatcd," and the "oils, fats, and waxes, sulfated and sulfonated." The reduction in this last group was quite marked, and can be attributed in a large measure to the wider use of oil substitutes in leather finishing and other processing lines. While the general category of amide surface-active agents fell off from 15,850,0 0 0 lb. to around 10,780,000 lb., larger uses were made of other materials in the nitrogen-containing group, including stearamide of atninoethylethanolarnine.
Production, Surface-Active Agents, Pounds 1949 425,655,400
Sales Unit Value 1948 S 0.25 366,071,200
Grand total Quaternary ammonium compounds 1,334,800 Sulfated and sulfonated cyclic face-active agents 206,971,300 Alkyl benzenoid compounds. sulfated and sulfonated 147,149,100 Petroleum aromatic compounds, sulfonated 39,660,400 Surface-active agents, acyclic 202.311,200 Nitrogen-containing surfao —active agts. (nonsulfonated ) 14,290,100 Polyhydric alcohol esters and 14,547,300 ethers 1,384,800 Salts of fatty acids Sulfated and sulfonated acyclic sur 172,089,000 face-active agents Ester* and alcohols, sulfated and 93,279,700 sulfonated Oils, fats and waxes, sulfated and and 12,205.000 sulfonated 27,517,000 Petroleum sulfonates, aliphatic U. S. Tariff Commission. Above data arc in terms of hulk surface-active agents; i.e exclusive of all inorganic salts, water, etc. a Comparable figures not available.
C H E M I C A L
AND
Sales Unit Value $ 0.32
1.29
864,500
1.47
0.17
149,859,600
0.23
-
n
0.18 0.17
35,284,300
0.17
0.30 0.32
198,473.800 18,198,500
0.37 0.35
0.38 0.12
9,097.100 834,400
0.47
0.30
169,363,300
0.37
0.26
—
0.12 0.41
—
n
35,063,200 21,700,400
0.22 0.32
100';{< content of surface-active
ENGINEERING
agents
NEWS
THE WEEK'S PRICE CHANGES June 5, 1950 1 Advances CUHREXT
0 20' i s 0 . 1 l» i
O.203 4 0.15
o.:*7» ..
n.:w • 0 . 4 7 » ••
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0.2(5', 2 0.20 0.15 O.O'.H J O.'2'.i 0.21 0 . 1 4 ' . ..
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7.0i» 7.21 0.17» 0.21 • • 0 . 2 l u g n v s i u m . inuots, lb. A l l o y s , (* and 11 Sticks
Xylol.
PllEVIOl.-S
0.14 0.1."» 0.23 0.2.*> 0.55 0.57 0.20'/.0.22»/SI80.00 $182.50 0.15 0.1">' 4
A n i l i i t r oil. t a n k s , lb. Hc-n/.ol, an\. C ' o c o a hut t o r , lb. C 'upper, m e t a l , l b . C o p r a , ton C -oni o i l , c r u d e , l b . I >cxtrin«.\ «*wt. White Canary
0 . IS
o.5a 0.27 o.5:*«/«
K:I!.«
metni, lb. Declines
C a s e i n , i m p o r t e d , lb. C o t t o n s e e d oil, c r u d e . H C u m rosin. N\ Y . c w t . Itetsy to N a n c y X a n e y . cwt.fr I*otassiiim a.«'id tartrati; S p e r m oil. l b . N'atural. W i n t e r Bleached, Winter Tartaric acid, lb. " Pittsburgh.
s
0.05 4.81 l b . 0 . 2 0 ' '
