Market Snapshot: Medical Devices

With other markets taking a nosedive, medical devices are still in high demand. But don’t rush to make the switch to this segment until you know exactly what’s involved.

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2008 resin pricing year in review

A year that looked to be defined by record-high resin prices, with key polymers testing and breaking the historic high water mark of $1/lb in July, finished with a pricing collapse that brought many materials to multiyear lows. The run up largely synched with the rapid inflation in oil, which peaked at just under $147/barrel in July, ending the trading year below $40/barrel.

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2008 Quotable

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw $120/barrel oil; I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw $75/barrel oil.”

Bill Sanderson, analyst with Purvin & Gertz on volatility in oil prices in 2008. Speaking at CMAI’s World Petrochemical Conference in March 2008, Sanderson said the U.S. debt crisis, which has forced the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, has driven financial investments into oil, which has in turn pushed prices up. In July, petroleum peaked at nearly $147/barrel, as 2009 approaches, it has dipped below $40/barrel.

 

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Wittmann Battenfeld, Sumitomo Demag born in 2008

The economic challenges of 2008 brought together companies in new partnerships—some predictable, others not. In late 2007, Battenfeld Kunststoffmaschinen GmbH (Kottingbrunn, Austria) filed for insolvency after being sold on Dec. 21, 2007 to OOD Private Equity Ltd., a London-based firm only formed in November 2007. News of that sale by Munich-based private equity firm Adcuram, which acquired Battenfeld’s injection business in October 2006, arrived at the Kottingbrunn headquarters with no forewarning.

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  • Market Snapshot: Medical Devices

    With other markets taking a nosedive, medical devices are still in high demand. But don’t rush to make the switch to this segment until you know exactly what’s involved.

  • 2008 resin pricing year in review

    A year that looked to be defined by record-high resin prices, with key polymers testing and breaking the historic high water mark of $1/lb in July, finished with a pricing collapse that brought many materials to multiyear lows. The run up largely synched with the rapid inflation in oil, which peaked at just under $147/barrel in July, ending the trading year below $40/barrel.

  • 2008 Notable

    14.4 million
    14.1 million
    13.8 million
    13.5 million

    Over the course of the year, that was the total North American vehicle production that Tier One supplier Lear forecasted for 2008, revising the figure downward with each new quarterly statement. According to WARD’s North American Vehicle Production summary, through November, 12.2 million vehicles were produced in North America in 2008, down 15.6% from 14.4 million over the same 11-month span in 2007.

     

  • 2008 Quotable

    “I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw $120/barrel oil; I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw $75/barrel oil.”

    Bill Sanderson, analyst with Purvin & Gertz on volatility in oil prices in 2008. Speaking at CMAI’s World Petrochemical Conference in March 2008, Sanderson said the U.S. debt crisis, which has forced the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, has driven financial investments into oil, which has in turn pushed prices up. In July, petroleum peaked at nearly $147/barrel, as 2009 approaches, it has dipped below $40/barrel.

     

  • Fakuma brings machinery news

    At the Fakuma trade show in Friedrichshafen, Germany in October, Michael Wittmann, managing director of the eponymous auxiliary equipment manufacturer, said that group sales for the 2008 fiscal year for Wittmann Battenfeld reached about €250 million, with 140 million from Wittmann and the remainder from Battenfeld. Most importantly, he said, each of the firms could report a positive EBIT. Mid-term, he added, the goal is to double Wittmann Battenfeld’s revenue by 2011, and bring production to 1500 units/yr.