From the Sector

Among the winners, the Gold Winner Award distinguishes further the EarthColors range - out of the 330 entries - as one of the most innovative products of the industry in what is one of the highlights of the OutDoor Show held in Friedrichshafen, Germany, until June 21, 2017.
EarthColors are Archroma's patent-pending new method of creating warm ternary shades from nature. These high performance dyes are synthesized from natural waste products of the agriculture and herbal industries, such as almond shells and rosemary leaves, replacing the oil-based raw materials typically used in dyestuff manufacture. Earthcolors are available in a range of six dyes, covering a palette of natural shades. They are fully traceable from the source to the shop – thanks to NCF chip attached on the clothing hangtag.
Visitors at Archroma's booth (A4-306) will also be able to discover why company’s such as Kathmandu and Flocus who have selected EarthColors. The technology will also be on display in a special exhibition and on the official website of the OutDoor show.
“We are extremely proud to receive one of the most prominent Awards in the outdoor industry”, commented Nuria Estape, Head of Marketing & Promotion for Archroma’s Brand & Performance Textile Specialties business, after the ceremony. “The OutDoor Industry Award will surely help us convince more brands and retailers to explore and adopt more nature-friendly solutions from Archroma.”

Composites use in Building and Construction will be highlighted at JEC newest event dedicated to this specific Composites Industry next month in Chicago, IL, USA. The numerous and diverse benefits that these innovative materials bring to the Building Industry will help overcome the coming challenges such as, urbanization, increase of natural disasters (floods, storms, tsunamis, earthquakes…), along with the decrease of non-renewable raw materials and the high standard levels set by the society in terms of lightness and fluidity. Composites Materials bring answers and opportunities to tackle those issues in sustainable, durable and reliable manners. Solutions like ease of fabrication (Owens Corning), structures durability (Biteam), anti-seismic reinforcement (DowAksa), use of end-of-life products such as recycled bottles of water (Premier Composites Technologies), aerial forms (Optima Projects Ltd) or again energy saving (Armageddon Energy).

Following its strategy to address every Composites End-user, the JEC Innovation Awards will reward these 6 Composites Innovators in Building & Construction that will change the way we build.
If the majority of submissions relied on glass fibers, which is common in the Construction field, we see an increased interest in carbon fibers, especially for structural applications. And similarly to all sectors of the composite industry, thermoplastics are gaining in importance in Construction. Therefore, to promote the growing use of composites as a construction material, 6 categories are awarded, covering a large panel of applications and possibilities.

JEC Asia is on the threshold of 10 years. In November of this year, not only does it transfer the composites exhibition to Seoul for the first time, but it will also highlight the composites industry in End-Users Markets, such as the development of materials for Transportation (including Automotive & Aeronautics), renewable energies, Building & Construction, Electrical & Electronic Equipment (EEE) or again Sports & Leisure.
JEC Asia is the annual grand occasion for composites industries in Asia. Every year thousands of professionals and more than 200 companies from more than 45 countries across Asia-Pacific come together in this place creating innumerable business opportunities.

“In 2016, Asia represented 43% of the global Composites Market in value i.e. $35,26 Bn. This important market needs to be addressed in accordance with its needs and specificities. For instance, in volume, Asia accounts for 27% of the global weight of Composite use in EEE; if we add China, this figure raises to 66% of the world usage in Kilo Tons. Thanks to our partnerships with Asians clusters, government and Industries, and also thanks to our permanent office in Singapore, we are stronger in bringing dedicated content and solutions to Composites professionals in Asia or interested in the Asian markets.” comments Mrs. Frédérique Mutel, JEC Group President & CEO. “Besides, JEC Asia steering committee is mainly composed of Asian academics, industrialists and officials to make sure that the November event will perfectly fit current and future interest for this region”, she adds.
Conferences on Composites in Automotive, Aeronautics, IT & EEE and Sports & Leisure are already planned in the agenda.

 SAMPE China 2017 takes place in Beijing on May 10-12, 2017 and Hexcel is exhibiting at the event as a leader in advanced composite technologies. At booth #A60 Hexcel’s displays will demonstrate the wide range of composite materials supplied by Hexcel to customers in China.
Display parts will include the A350 XWB rudder skin and belly fairing panel made by Hexcel customer HMC (Harbin Hafei Airbus Composite Manufacturing Center), a joint venture established by Hafei and Airbus in 2009. Since then Hexcel has been a strategic supplier to HMC of composite materials for packages including the Airbus A320 elevator, HTP spar and rudder, and the A350 XWB belly fairing, rudder, elevator and section 19 maintenance door.

Other booth displays include HexTow® carbon fiber, a helicopter canopy made from HexPly® prepreg, and a structural sandwich made from HexWeb® honeycomb and HexPly® prepreg.
Hexcel will also display a section of a composite beam manufactured by hot forming Hexcel’s HexPly® M21 UD carbon fiber prepreg. Other promotions include HexFlow® RTM6-2 resin system a 2-component version of HexFlow® RTM6 for resin transfer molding. A number of OEMs have qualified this infusion system designed for aerospace primary structures, which has a high Tg and provides excellent hot/wet performance from a flexible cure cycle. RTM6-2 also has a long shelf life and has no transportation restrictions.

Reflecting the enthusiasm of China’s home textiles market, the 2017 Spring Edition of Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles wrapped up last month with strong increases across the board. This year, the fair hosted 204 exhibitors (2016: 182) from eight countries and regions and attracted 18,596 trade buyers (2016: over 12,080) travelling from 69 countries and regions to source, a 12% and 53% increase respectively. Most exhibitors were offering finished products such as bedding, duvets, pillows and towelling, in-line with the Spring Edition’s focus on these during the peak domestic sourcing season for such products.

Ms Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd commented: “We are pleased with the big increase in visitors attending this year, and believe the fair is now firmly established in the domestic industry’s calendar as a key sourcing event at the beginning of the year following its return last year after a break. The timing of the fair within the domestic sourcing season for finished products as well as the four concurrent textile shows also played a part in this increase, but we are most pleased that this growth has led to satisfactory results for the majority of our domestic and international exhibitors this edition.”