US thermoplastics manufacturer Polymer Technology & Services (PTS) has signed a technical collaboration and licensing deal with India’s Formulated Polymers Limited (FPL) to supply PTS’ flame-retardant products in Asia. Tom Hooper, president of the Murfreesboro, Tennessee-based company, said FPL will now be able to offer flame-retardant products approved by the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) to plastics processors supplying the electrical and electronics industry in India and Southeast Asia. “This is an important step in our strategy at PTS to reach those processors around the world demanding high-performance UL-compliant flame retardant compounds,” Hooper commented.

UL is one of several companies approved by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to perform safety tests and certify products to a nationally recognized standard. Under the agreement with the Indian firm, PTS will transfer its technology for more than 40 UL-certified products. PTS’ compounds are based on polycarbonate (PC) or PC-based blends, polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and ABS and are used most frequently in electrical devices.

Both PTS and FPL have technical collaboration agreements with French company Eurostar Engineering Plastics, under which they produce and distribute Eurostar’s range of more than 120 Starflam UL-certified flame-retardant polyamides. In separate news, PTS opened a new site in Guadalajara, Mexico, this month. PTS Mexico, which will offer more than 200 UL-listed engineering resins to local customers, said its capability in application development and customized products will fill a “tremendous unmet need.”

“Mexico’s economy has excelled relative to other Latin American economies in recent years largely due to flourishing manufacturing sectors, including supporting markets such as electronics manufacturing, aerospace, and automobile industries,” said Eddie Oropeza, vice president of sales and business development at PTS Mexico, adding that a move from traditional bases such as South Korea or China to Mexico and the inclusion of Mexico in the proposed trade agreement Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would increase the country’s participation in global supply chains.