Production.
Statistics of production of synthetic resins in Great Britain are available only for 1934 and 1935. They are given in table [25].
Table 25.—Synthetic resins: Production in Great Britain, 1934 and 1935
| Type | 1934 | 1935 |
|---|---|---|
| Pounds | Pounds | |
| Solid, liquid, cured, uncured, and hardened | 25,558,400 | 13,283,200 |
| Molding powder, 50 percent or more resin | 25,872,000 | |
| Laminated sheets, rods, blocks, tubes | 1,164,800 | 1,646,400 |
| Total | 26,723,200 | 40,801,600 |
Source: Great Britain. Board of Trade, Census of Production.
Capital invested in the British industry is reported as 15,000,000 pounds sterling and direct employment as 20,000 people.
Tar-acid resins.—Many large moldings are made in England, such as large radio cases, desk files, trays, and drain boards. Cast phenolic resin production has just been started in England.
Among the novelties recently produced in England is a toy railway molded of tar-acid resin. The trains and track spacers are of nonconducting resin; the molded rails are made conductive by a thin covering of metal which is pressed in and secured at the ends. Two trains may be run on the same set of rails at different speeds, or one can go forward and another backward, since the two outer rails are separate conductors, the third rail acting as a common return.
Molded piano parts are being tried in an attempt to solve the troubles hitherto encountered with wood, owing to variations in humidity. Resins have long been used in facing the keys, but the production of piano action parts has presented many technical difficulties. The secret of success with molded resin parts lies in molding the joints in position when the main body is molded. There are 88 sections in each piano.
Urea resins.—British Cyanides, Ltd., well-known makers of synthetic resins in England, acquired the Pollopas patents for the manufacture of urea resins in the United Kingdom, in certain continental European countries, and in the British Empire except Canada. The agreement called for a full exchange of patents and other information with the other licensees of the Pollopas patents. These arrangements were made for the purpose of consolidating the patent position and for the pooling of technical data already existing on manufacture, with the object of improving quality.
Acrylate resins.—An outstanding development in Great Britain has been the production of the thermoplastic resins known as Diakon and Perspex. These are made from methyl methacrylate and are developments of the Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd. Diakon is for molding powders and Perspex is in the form of cast sheets, rods, tubes, and optical forms.
These new commercial resins are considered the best combination thus far obtained of strength, transparency, and light weight. Applications in England include fittings for aircraft, transparent inspection covers for machinery, medical equipment, instrument windows, lenses and prisms in optical systems, and aircraft windscreens. They are used in subways for lenses for deflecting and diffusing light and in battery cases and coil forms.
The general properties of the acrylate resins include transparency to both visible and ultraviolet light, almost unlimited color range, resistance to acids and alkalies, and superior electrical properties.
Aniline resin.—Panilax is an aniline-formaldehyde condensation product made in England. It has high electrical and thermal insulating properties, great mechanical strength, is odorless and odor repelling, and practically unaffected by water, oil, and alkalies.
Organization.
Most of the British producers of synthetic resins are members of the British Plastics Federation, Ltd.
Several years ago a 10-year contract was made between the Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd. and the Toledo Synthetic Products Co. (now Plaskon Co.) of Toledo, Ohio. This agreement provides for an exchange of all technical and commercial information on urea-resin products and processes and the granting of free licenses under present or future patents.
Agreements probably also exist between the British Bakelite Co. and the American firm on tar-acid resins; between Nobel Chemical Finishes, Ltd. and E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. on alkyd resins; between British Thompson Houston Co., Ltd., and the General Electric Co. on alkyd resins; between Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd. and du Pont on acrylate resins; and between Beetle Products Co. and American Cyanamid Co. on urea resins.
Foreign trade in resins.
British imports of synthetic resins, by principal sources, are shown in table [26].
Table 26.—Synthetic resins: Imports into the United Kingdom, in selected years, 1930-36
| [1,000 pounds] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source | 1930 | 1931 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 |
| British countries. | 1 | (1) | 5 | 2 | 19 | 24 |
| Germany | 508 | 1,621 | 2,267 | 2,259 | 1,476 | 914 |
| Netherlands | 679 | 667 | 151 | 114 | (2) | (2) |
| UNITED STATES | 119 | 229 | 656 | 902 | 986 | 1,056 |
| All other countries | 65 | 281 | 246 | 257 | 323 | 435 |
| Total | 1,372 | 2,798 | 3,470 | 3,534 | 2,804 | 2,429 |
1 Less than 500.
2 Included in “All other countries.”
Source: Official statistics of the United Kingdom.
British exports of synthetic resins to principal countries are shown in table [27].
Table 27.—Synthetic resins: Exports from the United Kingdom, in selected years, 1930-36
| [1,000 pounds] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source | 1930 | 1931 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 |
| British countries | 138 | 170 | 992 | 1,350 | 1,788 | 2,732 |
| Sweden | 40 | 69 | 242 | 452 | 558 | 650 |
| Denmark | (1) | (1) | 99 | 140 | 159 | 150 |
| Belgium | (1) | (1) | 104 | 205 | 237 | 203 |
| Italy | (1) | (1) | 49 | 95 | (1) | (1) |
| Argentina | (1) | (1) | 28 | 198 | 156 | 238 |
| All other countries | 104 | 171 | 366 | 505 | 735 | 1,084 |
| Total | 282 | 410 | 1,880 | 2,945 | 3,633 | 5,057 |
1 Not available; included in “All other countries.”
Source: Official statistics of the United Kingdom.
FRANCE[15]
Producers.
Statistics of French production and sales of synthetic resin are not available. Larousse Commercial Illustré describes the French synthetic resin industry as not important and estimates the output in
1930 at 2,000,000 pounds. The Revue Général des Matières Plastiques, most important technical review in France, estimates the production in 1931 as about 3,500,000 pounds.
The comparatively few French companies producing synthetic resins are, for the most part, under British or German control. The types of synthetic resin made in France, the trade names, and the names of the manufacturers, follow:
Bakelite.—Tar-acid molding compounds and laminating materials; cast phenolic resins; Cie La Bakelite, Bezous, Seine.
Plastose and Ferodo.—Tar-acid molding compounds; Société Ferodo-Plastose, Saint Ouen, Seine.
Pollopas.—Urea molding compounds and laminating materials; Établissements Kuhlmann, Paris.
Foreign trade.
French imports of synthetic resins are classified under tariff item No. 0376 bis: Synthetic resins (solid or resinous products of the Bakelite, Albertol, Plastose types, etc.) derived from the condensation of aldehydes with phenols, amines, and amides. Several subclassifications are shown: (a) Soluble in oil and not polymerizable, (b) which may be rendered insoluble and infusible, and (c) infusible. Imports in recent years, from principal sources, are shown in table [28].
Table 28.—Synthetic resins: French imports, by types and by countries, 1931 and 1933-37
| [Pounds] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source | 1931 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 19371 |
| Soluble in oil | ||||||
| Germany | 563,860 | 1,003,860 | 1,359,600 | 1,164,470 | 1,085,766 | (2) |
| UNITED STATES | 174,900 | 126,280 | 185,680 | 284,458 | 162,699 | (2) |
| United Kingdom | 184,800 | 131,120 | 80,520 | 109,789 | 18,960 | (2) |
| Austria | 35,640 | 162,580 | 193,564 | 575,180 | (2) | |
| Netherlands | 49,720 | 16,755 | (2) | (2) | ||
| All other countries | 4,620 | 5,720 | 3,080 | 11,023 | 33,069 | (2) |
| Total | 928,180 | 1,352,340 | 1,791,460 | 1,744,059 | 1,875,894 | 1,794,985 |
| Molding compounds | ||||||
| United Kingdom | 21,780 | 71,060 | 10,340 | 11,243 | 23,589 | (2) |
| Germany | 248,600 | 49,060 | 20,460 | 68,563 | 39,242 | (2) |
| Switzerland | 13,200 | 31,900 | 11,464 | (2) | (2) | |
| UNITED STATES | 11,220 | 18,920 | 22,660 | 20,062 | 66,799 | (2) |
| Belgium | 31,240 | 49,500 | 7,716 | (2) | (2) | |
| All other countries | 3,080 | 4,840 | 6,173 | 5,732 | (2) | |
| Total | 284,680 | 183,480 | 139,700 | 125,221 | 135,362 | 105,380 |
| Molded, cast, and laminated articles | ||||||
| Germany | 12,980 | 7,700 | 4,840 | 9,039 | 17,857 | (2) |
| Netherlands | 220 | (2) | ||||
| Austria | 4,840 | 440 | 220 | (2) | ||
| United Kingdom | 220 | (2) | ||||
| UNITED STATES | 220 | 220 | (2) | |||
| All other countries | 1,320 | 1,984 | (2) | |||
| Total | 19,140 | 8,360 | 5,280 | 9,479 | 19,841 | 8,377 |
1 Preliminary.
2 Not separately reported.
Source: Consular reports.
Exports of synthetic resins from France, by principal markets, are shown in table [29].
Table 29.—Synthetic resins: French exports 1931 and 1933-37
| [Pounds] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destination | 1931 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 |
| Belgium | 203,060 | 224,180 | 186,780 | 113,757 | 165,565 | (1) |
| Argentina | 69,080 | 91,300 | (1) | (1) | (1) | |
| Switzerland | 16,940 | 12,787 | 37,258 | (1) | ||
| Italy | 12,980 | (1) | (1) | (1) | ||
| All other countries | 4,840 | 29,260 | 15,180 | 54,895 | 36,376 | (1) |
| Total | 220,880 | 322,520 | 310,200 | 181,439 | 239,199 | 417,772 |
1 Not separately reported.
Source: Consular reports.