Tetra Pak has announced that it is to invest an additional €30m at its hi-tech 620m RMB (€61m) plant in Beijing to double production capacity from eight billion to 16 billion packs/year to meet growing Chinese dairy market demand. In the first instance a second laminator will be installed, which will come on stream in the first quarter of next year.
Announcing the expansion plans, Tetra Pak ceo Denis Jönsson said: “The Chinese dairy industry saw a 26% average growth rate between1993 and 2004, and we believe that it will continue to grow at an average rate of around 15% for the next five years.”
Tetra Pak says this investment will see the Beijing plant become a world showcase for the production of packs specifically designed for use in Tetra Brik Aseptic and Tetra Fino aseptic filling systems, adding that other Tetra Pak production facilities, such as those at Kunshan and Foshan, “boast world-class efficiency, with the effective implementation of World Class Manufacturing”.