The twenty second meeting of the GPRA

May 30, 2017

The twenty second meeting of the Global Phenolic Resins Association (GPRA) was held May 11 and 12 in Shanghai.  Attendees focused on various topics around Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) for phenolic resin producers including latest updates on regulatory aspects regarding Formaldehyde and Phenol, both used as the key raw materials for the production of phenolic resins by all member companies.

Members have successfully managed to cope with increasing regulatory demands globally and phenolic resins production enjoyed a healthy growth in recent years. GPRA members produce phenolic resins that are safe and effective products, which allow them to be used in a broad range of growing industrial applications.

General safety standards for the production of phenolic resins were elaborated, kicked-off by presentations from Hexion (S. Füßl) and by a special guest speaker from CMS Legal (Mr. K. Wang). GPRA wants to ensure that all GPRA members are operating at a high level of HSE protection and that good guidance is provided for those non-GPRA phenolic resin producers who want to improve HSE protection and performance.

All attendees, including new the member company Metadynea, represented by Dr. R. Theuer as well as companies with an observer status like Huettenes Albertus (Germany) and Shandong Shengquan New Materials (China) gave company updates.

Information about current trends in foundry applications were presented by Shandong Shengquan New Materials (Z. Tang) for China, by Forace Polymers (V. Garg) for India and by Huettenes Albertus (B. Müller) for Europe. The important role of the Chinese foundry market, which accounts for approx. 50% of the global market as well as features of the use of phenolic resins versus inorganic binders were discussed in the presentations, among others.

The meeting was concluded by presenting the economic situation and outlook in major markets of the world. China growth is expected to see some improvement as it showed the highest growth rate (6,9%) in the first quarter of 2017 since 6 quarters, whereas India is likely showing still higher growth rates of 7-8%. Southeast Asia as a region will continue to grow, however with pronounced differences between the countries. Growth in Europe is expected to level out at about 1.8% for both, 2017 and 2018 and for the US at about 2.5% in 2017. Latin American economies will remain under pressure with just little signs of an economic recovery and Russia seems to be slowly emerging from a two-year recession.

The meetings were held in the presence of DNU - Treuhandbuero, an independent consulting group ensuring that all discussions comply with all national and international laws. All members have signed the anti-trust compliance documents.

Participants at the Shanghai GPRA meeting represent the companies listed below:

AICA, Fenolit, Forace Polymers, Hexion, Huettenes Albertus, Kolon Industries, Metadynea, Prefere Resins, SI Group, Shandong Shengquan New Materials, UCP Chemicals and CPRA (Chinese Phenolic Resin Association).

The next meeting of the GPRA is scheduled for November 29 and 30, 2017 in Rome.

The GPRA Chairmen are Dr. Joerg Talbiersky of UCP Chemicals, representing Europe and Sang Ho (“Shane”) Lee of Kolon Industries, representing Asia. The chair for the Americas is vacant currently. Membership in the GPRA provides excellent value to its members as the only organization, which allows proper meetings between phenolic resin industry representatives from around the globe.

The Mission of the GPRA is: 'To enhance the reputation of the global phenolic resins industry with all its stakeholders by highlighting the unique contribution offered to society by these resins and to foster safe management of phenolic resins throughout their lifecycle’

Further information may be found on the GPRA website at www.gpraweb.com. Questions or comments related to the GPRA may be sent to:

Dr. Nausch Unternehmensberatung GmbH
- Treuhandbuero -
Hallbergstrasse 5
D-40239 Duesseldorf
Tel.: +49-(0)-211-68 78 940
Fax: +49-(0)-211-68 78 935
www.dnu.eu