Intensified focus on trendy applications

The global thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) market is projected to reach more than $27 billion by 2026, with annual growth of more than 6% during the period. Asia Pacific is set to dominate the global market, with growth opportunities in such countries as China and other Southeast Asian countries. The rapidly surging demand for TPEs posed by such industries as automotive and medical/pharmaceutical has led companies, such as Ever Polymer Co., Ltd. to intensify its efforts to capture a bigger slice of the market.  International Plastics News for Asia (IRNA) discussed with Ever Polymer Sales Director Vincent Liao how the company aims to bolster the growth of its brands beyond Taiwan to the rest of Asia and the world.  

 

IRNA: What are the important milestones for Ever Polymer?  

 

Mr. Liao: First of all, we are happy to say that Ever Polymer just celebrated its 20th anniversary and for the celebration, we invited our clients and contacts who have been with us through all these years. The celebration reflects our company’s strong reputation in the market as over the years, we have grown our market through the expansion of applications for our main product, EVERLON®.

 

Just to give you an overview of our operations. Ever Polymer set up its first plant in 1998 and in 2000, a production base began operation in Shenzhen, China. In 2008, Ever Polymer became ISO9001 certified and in 2009 obtained UL certificate, and built a second plant under Soft-teck Co., Ltd. We expanded operation/production base with CP Chemie in Malaysia in 2010. Another milestone was the setting up of the Kunshan China Office which is the Medical Business Unit in 2013 and in the same year, we passed the USP Level VI certificate.  Our Cleanroom of Class 100,000 line was built in 2014. 

 

The launch of two additional series - EVERMedi and EVERSeal – was a major accomplishment for us and this happened in 2015 then the following year, we set up new equipment - DSC and FTIR for developing new formulations fast into the target market. Last year, we also put into operation a multi-layer blown film machine and built the second Cleanroom of Class 100,000 line for strengthening the pilot testing on formulations to both food grade and medical packaging markets. 

 

Right now, our major business locations are situated in Taiwan, where Ever Polymer has its headquarters, then Huanan region in China and another one in Malaysia. In all these sites, we strive to provide specific raw materials for the benefit of mass-production capacity, by researching and developing brand-new formulas most applicable to current application trends. 

 

In terms of market reach, Ever Polymer has sales offices and agents in various countries including China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia. These offices serve as our sales and marketing arms, providing necessary services and responding to inquiries. 

 

Mr. Vincent Liao, Sales Director, Ever Polymer Co.,Ltd

 

 

IRNA: How would you define the role of Ever Polymer in today’s fast-evolving market? 

 

Mr. Liao: Since its establishment, Ever Polymer has embarked on a mission to satisfy all the application needs for TPEs in the market.  We try our best to develop all kinds of possible TPE applications for the market to maximise the benefits derived from this material. We provide our clients and upstream/downstream suppliers with the most competitive manufacturing solutions. 

 

With EVERLON as our main brand, we specialise in the development and applications of TPEs. To date, we have four major application series — EVERMedi , EVERSeal, EVERPeel and EVERAuto — all of which have been created according to different sectors. These series are aimed at satisfying the demands of the global market for top four high-end applications areas: medical devices, food packaging, commodity sector, and automobile parts. 

 

IRNA: Please explain the important applications for Ever Polymer’s breed of TPEs.  

 

Mr. Liao: Our innovations in the field of TPEs have led us to develop solutions beyond traditional applications. TPE has characteristics that are suitable for various applications. It is 100% recyclable, with high transparency, good weather and heat resistance. It has excellent electric and mechanical properties, tensile strength and tear strength, with very good elongation that can stretch even more than 500%. Moreover, it is non-toxic so it’s FDA-approved and can be processed easily through traditional machines. 

 

The EVERSeal, EVERPeel series are ideal for the production of food packaging such as food containers seal, parafilm, moisture controlling film, cap seal and easy peel film. The grades are free from heavy metals and PVC, and offer excellent sealing. They conform to the SGS FDA standards. 

 

EVERMedi is ideal for medical instruments and devices such as stopper and Euro cap, 3-layer thin film, breathing mask, medical tube, infusion bag, bag valve mask, and many more. This transparent/translucent material is free from animal-based ingredients, complies with USP Class VI and YBB standards, aside from being tested according to ISO15759.  

 

 

EVERAuto responds to the needs of the automotive sector. Targeted for auto parts, the material is geared for the production of antenna, exhaust duct, window seal and fender. The material offers such advantages as excellent compression set, chemical & oil resistance, good weather and heat resistance, and UV light resistance tested as per ASTM G154. 

 

Aside from these three series, EVERLON is the material of choice for a good number of industrial parts and products such as baby teething and children’s toys, food containers, goggles and earplug, W/P sealing, flippers and gas masks, toothbrush and shavers. That’s because EVERLON has excellent adhesion to PP or PE, high transparency, better elastic properties, heat and weather resistance. EVERLON owned formulations for overmoulding tightly to wide range of engineering plastics, such as POM & CBC; aside from being in compliance with the stringent SGS and FDA certification requirements. 

 

IRNA: How do you implement R&D as well as quality control? 

 

Mr. Liao: Ever Polymer has invested substantial resources for research and development over the years. This investment has resulted in our being able to comply with various international standards, an achievement that we consider very important in our move towards the overseas markets. We perform a series of quality management controls for each production batch, and constantly update our production lines annually to ensure high efficiency. Testing and analysing equipment in laboratories are installed for quality assurance. With accumulated 20 years of production experience, our database for supporting the demand from each requirement serves as our basis in responding to the quality requirements of the markets we serve. IRNA

 

 

Ever Polymer Co., Ltd.

Tel: +886-3 312 5717

Fax: +886-3 312 5718

E-mail: vincent.liao@everlon.com.tw

Website: www.everlon.com.tw