Elopak, which has had representative offices in Beijing since 2000, is to build a state-of-the-art production plant in China with an annual capacity of around 700M cartons/year.
The liquid food packaging manufacturer says establishing a Chinese subsidiary will enable it to provide a more efficient customer response and significantly improve its service and delivery times to the country’s market.
The investment is a joint venture with Japanese company Nippon Paper-Pak, with Elopak holding a 75% majority shareholding. The two companies already have a 10-year working relationship.
“China is experiencing a substantial growth in the liquid food market and a local presence is mandatory if we are to be part of this opportunity,” says Elopak president and chief executive officer Bjorn Flatgård who recently signed the joint agreement in Tokyo.
The new factory will print and convert materials for beverage cartons using advanced technology, with the principal product being Pure-Pak cartons, formed and filled at customer locations.