SIG Combibloc Opens New Brazilian Plant

90 million Euros will be invested in the new factory. Key factors in the choice of site were the easy access, with very good road and airport connections, and the availability of well qualified specialist staff.

Jul 19 2011 --- SIG Combibloc, one of the world's leading systems suppliers of carton packaging and filling machines for beverages and food, has now brought its first packaging plant in Brazil into operation, after just 12 months' construction time. With the aim of driving forward the globalization of its operations and to further participate in the dynamic development in growth markets, SIG Combibloc decided to set up a packaging plant in Campo Largo, near Curitiba in the Brazilian federal state of Paraná. 90 million Euros will be invested in the new factory. Key factors in the choice of site were the easy access, with very good road and airport connections, and the availability of well qualified specialist staff.

“In the new packaging plant, we'll be starting with a production capacity of one billion carton packs per annum. Thanks to significant growth, in a further stage of expansion within just two years' time we will be doubling the capacity to two billion carton packs”, says Rolf Stangl, CEO of SIG Combibloc Group.

Brazil has experienced very strong economic growth over the past few years. According to the country's Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Brazil's gross national product increased by 7.5 per cent in 2010. In addition, an improved income distribution pattern is resulting in dynamic consumer behaviour, and making foods and drinks in aseptic carton packs extremely popular. Brazil is shaping up to be one of the biggest markets of the future for the beverage carton. In 2010, the volume of products in aseptic carton packs in Brazil came to approximately 8 billion litres – this was 75 per cent of the total volume in South America. Experts anticipate annual growth of 6.4 per cent. By as early as 2014, the volume is expected to hit 10 billion litres. “In the past year alone, our business in Brazil has increased by 60 per cent. For us, that means our new factory is working at full capacity right from the start. We continue to have ambitious targets, and we want to expand much faster than the market does”, says Ricardo Rodriguez, Cluster Head South America at SIG Combibloc.

In 2010, more than 15 billion carton packs were sold in South America – 62 per cent of these were in medium package sizes (500 to 1,100 ml) and 38 per cent were small package sizes (125 to 350 ml). In line with this demand, in the new Brazilian packaging plant in Curitiba production will focus initially on the medium-sized combiblocStandard, combiblocMidi and combifitMidi carton packs, as well as the small formats combiblocSmall, combifitSmall, combiblocMini and combifitMini.

The new site will cover 130,000 square metres in total, with 13,000 square metres having been built in the first stage of construction. To begin with, the new production plant will employ 225 staff. Rolf Stangl: “With the new factory, we're in a position to keep up with the growing demand for aseptic carton packs. We're able to respond more quickly and flexibly to customer needs. And in addition, having a local presence with a production plant here means clear advantages when it comes to logistics and service”.