panel for home laundry units are being tested. A faucet molded of ABS costs about a third as much as a faucet made of die-cast brass, the conventional material. Shoes and Pipe. Other major markets for ABS resin have been growing, too. Last year, shoe heels consumed about 13 million pounds of the resin. This figure is up only slightly from 1962's level. Formerly dominated by acrylics, the market for shoe heels is now almost saturated with ABS. About 10 million pounds a year of ABS resin is used to make pipe. Widely used in mobile homes, ABS pipe is now going into residential housing. A substantial amount of ABS resin is used to make telephones, too. About 9 million pounds of the plastic went into this market last year. ABS has been replacing cellulose materials primarily in colored phones. More recently, it began moving in on the black variety. Appliances and Auto Are the Big Uses for ABS Resins 1963 CONSUMPTION (millions of pounds)
USES
Appliances Automobiles* Shoe heels Pipe Telephones Luggage Miscellaneous and exports Total
26 22 13 10 9 5 15 100
Source: C&EN estimates *1964 model year.
Newer applications for the material include furniture, lawn equipment, building products, vending equipment, and outdoor signs. Auto Bodies. ABS sales could get a big boost from U.S. Rubber's Expanded Royalite—a nonhomogeneous thermoplastic derived from ABS resin. Advantages of Expanded Royalite, according to U.S. Rubber, are strength, lightness, and low manufacturing cost. The material is now being used in trailers, truck engine covers, hood and fender assemblies, and cases for inflatable life rafts. Ford and other major auto makers have been testing Expanded Royalite in experimental auto bodies. Ford is planning to bring out a small sports car with a one-piece plastic body. However, the company hasn't said whether it will make the car of ABSderived material or of glass fiber-reinforced polyester, the only plastic now used for auto bodies. 26
C&EN
JAN.
13,
1964
Plastics Output Hit Record in 1963 Production totaled 9 billion pounds, 13% ahead of 1962, says the Society of the Plastics Industry U.S. production of plastic materials set another record in 1963—the 11th consecutive year of increase in output. Total production came to about 9.00 billion pounds, according to the Society of the Plastics Industry. This represents a 139' gain above the 1962 level of 7.94 billion pounds (actual production). Three plastics groups accounted for 60% of the total 9.00 billion pounds produced. Pol\ ethylene output was about 25% of this total. In 1963, some 2.19 billion pounds of polyethylene were produced, up 9% from the nearly 2.02 billion pounds produced in 1962, SPI estimates. Vinyls held about 19.5% of the total. Some 1.74 billion pounds were produced last year; this compares with 1.56 billion pounds produced during 1962, SPI says. The third large-volume plastic material is polystyrene. Production jumped 14% from 1962 to 1963 and reached a level of 1.45 billion pounds in 1963, SPI says. While volume output of polypropylene is still small compared to some plastic materials, it showed the greatest percentage increase from 1962 to 1963, SPI points out. Output hit 187 million pounds in 1963, compared to 145 million pounds in 1962, SPI estimates. A survey of SPI members "reveals an air of guarded optimism" among firms in the plastics industry for the
coming year. Of 1031 firms surveyed, SPI received about a 44% response. When asked how their companies' business was in 1963, 106 replied excellent; 325, good; and 12, poor. Some 305 companies say their sales volume during 1963 was higher than the past year. Lower sales volume was reported by 58 companies; 84 companies replied that volume was about the same as in 1962. Profits were higher in 1963 for 197 companies. Lower profits were reported by 60 companies, and 180 companies said they would have the same profit. The SPI survey also covered business conditions for the first six months of 1964 and how they might compare to the first half of 1963. As for sales, 29% of the respondents expect higher sales in 1964. Only 1% expect lower sales. In a similar survey a year earlier, only 22% expected higher sales in 1963; 1% were expecting lower sales. About 6% expect higher selling prices for the first half of 1964. About 4% expect lower prices. In the similar survey a year ago about 4.5% predicted higher prices for the first six months of 1963 and 6% looked follower prices. SPI looks for another record year for plastic materials in 1964. It expects an 8% increase in production with the level reaching 9.75 billion pounds this year.
Polyethylene Holds Nearly 25% of Total Plastics Volume 1962 (Actual) 1963 (Estimate) (Millions of Pounds)
Polyethylene Vinyls Polystyrene Phenolics Alkyds Melamine and urea Polyesters Polypropylene Cellulosics Epoxy Source:
Society of the Plastics Industry
2195 1747 1458
2016 1566 1274
718 552 503 253 187 149 89
690 549 489 212 145 158 86.5
% Change
+ 9% +12 +14 + 4 + 0.7 + 3 +19 +29 - 6 + 3
