Food processing and packaging solutions company, Tetra Pak has announced a $33 million investment in its first plant for Packaging Closures in South Asia, East Asia and Oceania. The facility is set to capture the region’s rapid market growth for packaging with Closures, forecast to grow by more than 30 percent between 2015 to 2018.
The advanced regional manufacturing facility will be located within the company’s existing Straws and Strips Plant in Rayong, Thailand, and will become operational in early 2018. With a production capacity of more than three billion units per year, the new plant will enable customers across the region to access locally produced Closures for the first time.
“Consumers in our region are increasingly looking for packaging that is functional and convenient, in order to suit their progressively busy lifestyles” said Michael Zacka, Regional Vice President – Tetra Pak South Asia, East Asia and Oceania. “Being the industry leader, we are committed to drive innovation and help our customers address the evolving market needs. With this new facility we will be able to provide our customers with a wider portfolio of Caps and Closures, with shorter lead time and enhanced quality, efficiency and flexibility.”
Besides producing new generation Closures such as HeliCap 23, HeliCap 27 and DreamCap 26, the factory will also produce bio-based Closures, to help drive the sustainability agenda. Additionally, the location of the new factory will reduce CO2 emissions through reduced transportation from the production site to the final customer. And finally, the technology used in the plant will also minimise energy consumption during production.
The announcement comes two months after Tetra Pak announced $138 million investment in a new regional Packaging Material manufacturing facility in Vietnam, to build the company’s manufacturing footprint in Asia, alongside existing production facilities in Singapore, India and Japan.