2022 K Fair Conference: Düsseldorf, Germany
CMT Materials, the leading provider of plug-assist materials for the thermoforming industry, recently exhibited at the K-2022 show in Düsseldorf, Germany, which ran from Oct. 19th-26th. CMT highlighted its newly developed material – HYTAC-HTF – and it was well received by the market.
It has been 3 years since the last K-Show and much has happened in that time. The plastics industry has seen trends in consumer buying behavior change throughout the COVID-19 pandemic; and it was interesting to hear from the European market what challenges and opportunities have come from these events. The largest growth area in thermoforming seems to be food packaging, especially take-out/delivery containers.
As more and more people continue to order food for home delivery, the pressure on the plastics industry to keep up with this demand was high. Many thermoformers had to choose a plug assist material that would deliver clear, transparent food packaging while also being durable enough to handle the volume of parts. HYTAC-B1X was the plug assist material of choice for many customers in Europe as it offers superior machinability and the durability of a thermoplastic.
“While it was terrific to see old friends, key contacts and meet many newcomers to the industry, we saw real value in hearing the challenges in the market. The new high temperature material we recently introduced, HYTAC-HTF, was well received for the performance it provides with multi-layer barrier films. Additional pressures in the industry to reduce plastic consumption also had many people now working with us to optimize specific plug material selections, plug designs and plug processing techniques to further reduce their starting gauge thickness.” said John Moy, Sales & Marketing Manager for CMT Materials.
As more thermoformers are migrating to PP and PET, they need a more advanced plug assist material to be able to handle these complex polymers. With the forming temperature of PP being so narrow, it is imperative that the plug assist material does not take heat away from the sheet. HYTAC-HTF was introduced as high performance material that has a service temperature of 450F (230C) and an even better performance than C1R in deep draw applications.
One challenge that many of our customers face is the laminate build up on their plug assist material when working with barrier and multilayer films. Since these layers heat up at different temperatures, customers are constantly having to shut down the line so that they can clean off the plugs as the residue sticks to the material. HYTAC-HTF is comprised using our smallest microspheres, allowing customer to polish the material to a mirror-like finish. This prevents the laminate from sticking to the material and allows our customers to run their machines without having to worry about these barrier layer films.
K-Fair not only provides an insight into the European market, but also from markets all over the world. CMT had the chance to speak to many customers from India, China, South Korea, Columbia, Brazil, etc about what trends they are seeing in their respective markets. Many customers in India expressed interest in B1X and HTF for use in making clear PP cups. CMT is seeing an increased demand for clear PP and PET cups throughout Asia and this is spurred by consumer habits and thermoformers using more complicated plastic films.
CMT is excited to see the market adoption of HYTAC-HTF and we look forward to attending the next K-Show in 2025.
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