Huhtamaki: Expansion in Asia
Finnish packaging group Huhtamaki is to expand flexible packaging capacity in Asia. It is to build a new production facility in North India and add a new production line to the recently opened plant in Vietnam. The combined value of these investments is E20 million.
The company reckons about 15 per cent of its net sales comes from emerging markets. In India it has four facilities with 1,300 people producing mainly flexible packaging for food and non-food sectors. Construction of the new plant will start in the last quarter of this year with commercial production planned to begin in mid 2006. It will supply premium flexible packaging and labelling systems to major customers in North India.
Huhtamaki opened its Vietnamese plant near to Ho Chi Minh City last year where it employs more than 160 people making flexible packaging for the food and non-food sectors. The new line is expected to be in commercial production in the second quarter of 2006.
Huhtamaki Group has 70 manufacturing and sales units in 36 countries with 15,500 employees. 2004 net sales amounted to Eur 2.1 billion.