Plastic & Chemical Trading Exhibiting at Propak Cape 2026

Plastic & Chemical Trading (P&CT) has come a long way from its beginnings around a dining room table. Today, the company combines decades of industry experience with leading technology partnerships to help plastics manufacturers find the right machinery, processes and supporting equipment for their operations.

This October, P&CT will be exhibiting at Propak Cape 2026, where visitors can meet the team and discuss the production challenges, opportunities and ambitions shaping their businesses.

Where the P&CT Story Began

The story starts with founder Roger Cockram, who established a trading business in London in the 1970s called PACT, an abbreviation for Plastic and Chemical Trading.

After returning to South Africa and spending around a decade with Halogen Distributors, which held the Toshiba injection moulding machinery agency, Roger returned to trading and started a new business from his dining room table.

PACT wasn’t an option for the company name in South Africa, as it was already associated with the Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal. So, in 1989, Plastic & Chemical Trading was established instead, complete with a hand-drawn logo that remains part of the company’s identity today.

Initially focused on plastic and chemical raw materials, the business reached a turning point in 1996 when KraussMaffei approached P&CT to become its South African agent. From there, P&CT evolved into the machinery supply and technical service business it is today.

More Than Machinery

P&CT now works across a wide range of plastics processing applications, with solutions spanning injection moulding, extrusion, thermoforming, PET preform systems, automation, process cooling and supporting ancillaries.

The company’s approach, however, goes beyond supplying an individual piece of equipment.

P&CT combines machinery with process design and supporting technologies to help customers build efficient, competitive production environments. This is backed by decades of practical experience and partnerships with leading international equipment manufacturers.

As Director Ben Cockram explains:

“At P&CT we have amassed the partnerships and the experience to be able to offer people the right machinery, the right process design and supporting ancillaries to ensure you can be competitive.”

Meet P&CT at Propak Cape 2026

Propak Cape 2026 takes place from 27–29 October at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), bringing together professionals from the packaging, processing, plastics, printing and labelling industries.

For P&CT, the exhibition is an opportunity to meet manufacturers face to face and discuss what they want to achieve, whether that means increasing capacity, improving efficiency, introducing automation, developing a new process or investing in new machinery.

“Our competence extends to experience in specific fields,” says Ben. “If our expertise and your needs are aligned, come and meet us at Propak to explore together what you aim to achieve.”

From its beginnings in 1989 to the technical partnerships it offers manufacturers today, P&CT has continued to evolve alongside the plastics industry.