Packaging companies see investment opportunities
Four food packaging companies have announced separate manufacturing investments in sites ranging from Asia to the Americas.
Toray Industries, Rapak, Constantia Hueck Foils and Shamrock Specialty Packaging all recently unveiled financing ranging from the US, Mexico, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan.
Toray Industries’ decision on a series of investments in Asia totaling around 3bn yen (US$32m) is to enhance the ability of the vapor deposition facilities for food packaging films.
Vapor deposition drive for Toray
Toray Advanced Film (TAF) will introduce, at Fukushima, the vapor deposition equipment to produce aluminummetalized polypropylene (PP) film for packaging applications, operating from October.
Penfibre Sdn. Berhad (PFR) in Malaysia will also introduce the same equipment with technical support from TAF and start production of metalized polyester (PET) film for packaging in April 2014.
Thai Toray Synthetics (TTS) has recently completed its capacity increase of cast polypropylene (CPP) film for vapor deposition.
In the packaging vapor deposition film market, aluminum-metalized film, which accounts for 30% of TAF’s packaging film business, has the biggest share in Japan reflecting its strong adhesion to substrates, gas barrier property, and product lineup achieved with overseas collaboration.
The latest vapor deposition equipment to be introduced at the Fukushima Plant has a production capacity of 580 tons per month, which roughly doubles the current packaging aluminum vapor deposition capacity to 1,100 tons per month, said Toray.
PFR in Malaysia has the film-forming facility of PET film with a capacity of 3,600 tons per month and the investment in vapor deposition equipment with a capacity of 375 tons per month is for metallization processing of PET film.
TTS in Thailand has been using a vapor deposition facility with a capacity of 400 tons per month, and brought its total CPP film-forming capacity up to 550 tons per month by adding equipment in October 2012.
Rapak boost Thailand business
Rapak, a business unit of DS Smith Plastics which specialises in liquid bag-in box packaging and filling systems, has opened a manufacturing facility in Chachoengsao, Thailand.
The facility is positioned to service Rapak customers in the South East Asian region so they can benefit from reduced lead-times, lower inventories and freight costs.
“Bag-in-Box packaging solutions are expected to continue to grow as customers and end users become more familiar with its demonstrated environmental credentials, variety of dispensing applications and cost advantages over other traditional forms of liquid packaging,” added Simon Mander, managing director of Rapak Asia Pacific.
Constantia to expand US site
Constantia Hueck Foils, an Austria-based manufacturer of foil and film based packaging, will expand its production facility in Richland County, USA. The $12m investment is expected to generate 15 jobs.
“This expansion will allow us to increase our capacity and better serve our customers. South Carolina has been a perfect fit for our operations, provided a positive economic environment and a talented workforce,” said Steve Godwin, president of Constantia Hueck Foils.
Constantia Hueck Foils will expand its Northpoint facility with 15,000 square feet of space and additional equipment. Construction of the site addition is expected to begin in April and be completed by October.
Shamrock in Mexican expansion
Illinois-based Shamrock Specialty Packaging has expanded its production capacity at its C iudad Juarez, Mexico manufacturing site.
Shamrock’s Mexican operations are conducted under the banner of the Tecma group of companies Mexico Shelter Manufacturing Partnership (MSMP).
The production plant is now 30,000 square feet and employs 30 people compared to 12,000 square feet and a workforce of 10 when it was established in 2007.
Workers at the plant manufacture corrugated packaging, partitions, build ups, pads and inserts, and they produce die cuts and single, double and triple wall cartons.
Jim Owens, company president, said: “Ciudad Juarez has evidenced itself as an increasingly attractive market for our products, and our partnership with the Tecma Group of Companies has enabled us to capitalize on the potential that it continues to offer.”
