Klöckner Pentaplast reveals worldwide growth plans
The plants involved are Santo Tirso, Portgual, Cotia (São Paulo), Brazil and the firm’s first manufacturing site in Suzhou, China.
Investment includes $7.2m in its Santo Tirso, Portugal to boost its European production capacity for polyester films used for food and consumer packaging.
The start-up of the extrusion line is targeted for winter 2013 and will add 8,000 metric tons of capacity.
“The investment will further support our strong market position and to fulfil our customer requirements for high performance rigid film solutions in Europe,” a kp spokesman told FoodProductionDaily.com.
Begin in China
kp will open its first Chinese production site in the Suzhou Industrial Park (Suzhou, China) which is scheduled to open Spring 2013 and will produce packaging films for the growing domestic Chinese market.
The first phase of operations will focus on transverse direction oriented shrink-label films and house production equipment, production control systems, and a research and development laboratory.
The $29.5m investment in the site will increase global shrink-films capacity by 6,000 metric tons.
“Klöckner Pentaplast has a strong global presence in leading and emerging markets where we have chosen to strengthen and expand our geographical presence while leveraging our global position in key segments,” the spokesman added.
Brazil growth
At the Brazilian site PVC calendaring capacity will be increased by 12,000 metric tons to service the pharmaceutical, food, print, card, and general-purpose thermoforming markets.
The $15.1m (€11.6 Mio) investment will see the calendering capacity coming online in Spring 2014 followed by matte calendering capacity in Fall 2014.
The capacity further complements the existing film production capacity at two facilities in Latin America, Villa del Totoral, Argentina, and Cotia, Brazil.
The expansion will enable more innovation such as the Pentaform SmartCycle polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) films, consisting of 100% post consumer recycled (PCR) content sourced from beverage bottles, which was unveiled at the trade show Pack Expo last week.
“At kp, we believe in offering our customers options to meet their specific sustainable packaging goals. SmartCycle films are just one option that helps our customers meet these types of goals.
“In recent years, we have continued to make major investments in capacity expansion, acquisitions, and new product development to support our key markets," he concluded.
