NEWS / Press Releases

Northstar Captures Top Position in the Manufacturing of Vinyl Sheet Piling.
July 28, 2005 Kennesaw, GA

In an effort to continue it's expansion of markets for vinyl sheet piling, Northstar announced today that it has formed strategic alliances with two of the largest extrusion operations in North America, Royal Group Technologies, and Westlake Chemical Corporation.  Together, these two companies and their subsidiaries manufacture, blend, and convert over three billion pounds of PVC compound annually and are well suited to help Northstar in its growth. 

"Our goal has been to bring lead times down, improve quality, and to continue to provide new and innovative product offerings to our customers", said Northstar President, Jeff Moreau.   "These new ventures will accomplish all of these goals.  In addition to Northstar's current manufacturing capacity, which will remain unchanged, these two new ventures can create between 40 and 60 million pounds of available capacity during the first year alone.  New tooling that is on order will also expand our capabilities."

Royal has been in full production and delivering product to Northstar customers since the middle of July.  Westech will be in production by the first week in August. Northstar customers will begin to see a dramatic decrease in production lead times as these facilities come on-stream.

Royal Group Technolgies is North America's largest extrusion company, converting over 1.4 billion pounds of PVC annually.  Royal owns a near 60% market share of the North American vinyl window market and recovers over 95% of its window regrinds from its manufacturing base.  This high grade material is one way that Royal will make Northstar the dominant player in the market. 

In addition, any question regarding the source of the raw material or it's grade is laid to rest.  Royal is able to insure the quality and the source for Northstar.   "We're very excited about the Northstar   opportunity  and  look  forward  to  bringing the Royal  resources  to  bear  on   this market ", said Angelo Bitondo, President of Royal's Custom Profile Group. 

Westlake Chemical Corporation Exemplifies the Term, "Vertical Integration". 

Operating in two vertically integrated business segments, Olefins and Vinyls, Westlake Chemical Corporation uses internally produced basic chemicals to manufacture higher value-added chemicals and fabricated products such as PVC windows and doors, pipe, fencing and deck and railing products. Westlake is one of the few fully integrated producers of vinyls and fabricated products in North America.  By adhering to a philosophy of continuous improvement and cost efficient production strategies, Westlake provides its customers the consistent high quality, value added products needed in a globally competitive market.

The Northstar profiles will be manufactured by Westlake's Westech Building Products Division.

Westech is a subsidiary of Westlake Chemical Corporation.  Westech extrudes high-grade vinyl (PVC) resin compounds at state of the art processing facilities using high-performance additives and advanced blending technologies for enhanced durability and performance.

"Northstar will create a line of vinyl sheet piling of unmatched quality", said Moreau. "We look forward to setting a higher bar and a higher expectation in the mind of the consumer". 

In addition to the profiles currently manufactured by Northstar, an entire new line of vinyl sheet piling will hit the market by the end of 2005.  "This new line of profiles will be manufactured at both Royal and Westech and will represent much of what we've learned from years of experience in the sale and installation of vinyl sheet piling. It will also reflect the manufacturing expertise of our new partners.  Big changes are on the way because in years' past, we were extremely limited in our ability to experiment with new ideas and widebody profiles. That is no longer an obstacle and our customers should be very encouraged", said Moreau.

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