A selection of recent project demonstrates the pervasive influence of the automotive sector on the plastics sector.In Opelika, Ala., Maxforma Plastics, a division of Korea's Hanwha L&C Corp., is making a $14-million investment in a 100-employee plant that will produce bumper back beams and cores.
      The 80,000-sq.-ft. (7,432-sq.-m.) plant, located in Northeast Opelika Industrial Park, is just one of the many suppliers to the just-opened Hyundai Motor Manufacturing of Alabama plant in Montgomery.
      Bumpers are big in northern France too, where Plastic Omnium is investing $36 million in a new plant in Ruitz in order to serve a nearby Renault plant in Douai. The 60-job facility will start up full production in mid-2006.
      Meanwhile, the Korean connection stretches to Dubnica, Slovakia, where Hanil E-Hwa is investing $1.8 million in the production of plastic moldings for Kia, which is building a plant in Zilina. Expected to launch production in the first half of 2006, the facility will employ 400.
      In Thailand, Japanese plastic parts maker Nifco will build its second Thai plant in Chon Buri province by December 2005, in order to serve both increased Japanese automotive plant demand and increased orders for its motorcycle products.