Uflex announces US$250m global expansion plans for flex packaging
The company already has a presence in Mexico, Egypt and Dubai and has announced plans to launch a series of new production lines to meet burgeoning demand for flexible packaging both nationally and internationally.
Uflex, with an annual income exceeding Rs30bn (€529m/ US$656m), said it hoped to almost double this figure by 2013. While growth in the Indian market was strong, the company said its target would only be attainable if it boosted its presence abroad.
New production lines
The largest project will be the setting up of a PP and polyester (PET) film project in Egypt. The first phase, slated to start at the beginning of July 2010, is a 35,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) BOPP film (Bi-axally Oriented Poly Propylene film) scheme.
The following phase to be commissioned by Q3 of 2011-12, will produce 30,000 TPA of PET and 12,000 TPA of CPP - involving a total investment of US$135 million. The Egyptian facility has established trade links with countries in the Arab Gulf, Southern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, West Asia and the CIS, said Uflex.
The company also announced enlarging its Mexican operation with a second PET film line. The move, costing US$55m, will double capacity to 52,800 TPA by Q1 2011-12. Uflex highlighted that as Mexico was a NAFTA signatory, the extra material would be eligible to be sold into the North American markets.
Domestic investment
Expansion in its native India is also an aim, with a US$60m cash injection planned by the end of Q1 2012, said the company.
"The Rs 15,000-crore (€2.6bn / US$3.2bn) domestic industry is growing at around 15 -18 per cent annually owing to the increased demand for flexible packaging products, especially in FMCG and food segments,” said company chairman and managing director Ashok Chaturvedi . “We want to become a preferred supplier of packaging materials not only in India but across the globe and are also eyeing a $1-billion turnover by the financial year 2013. That is not possible without increasing our presence and capacities in India and abroad."
