Tetra Pak has announced plans to invest €36m over a period of three years in its packaging material plant in Izmir, Turkey, to complete a €60m technology upgrade project at the plant.
The proposed investment is said to be in addition to €25m made in September 2012.
According to the packaging major, the investment will be made to upgrade the plant enabling it to increase its capacity to ten billion packs.
The investment will also broaden the capability of the plant to produce a wide range of Tetra Pak packages.
Following the upgrade, the plant will produce 15 sizes and forms of packages including Tetra Brik Aseptic 1000 Edge, Tetra Gemina Aseptic 1000 Crystal and Tetra Top 500 Midi and Tetra Top 1000 Carton Bottle.
Tetra Pak Greater Middle East & Africa cluster vice president Amar Zahid said the new machines will be in operation by January 2015 and the company will be in a position to offer a range of packaging options to its customers.
"Customers in this region are not only growing, but also eager for innovation that could set them apart from competition. During the last three years, our customers have launched more than 100 products in new packages," Zahid added.
"Tetra Pak has been operating in the Greater Middle East region for more than 40 years, delivering 25 billion packs per year to more than 200 leading brands."
Within Tetra Pak, Greater Middle East has an annual growth rate of 10% during the past decade and is said to be one of the best performing regions.
As part of its investment made in 2012, the company inaugurated a new VT laminator, which commenced production in January 2013 and increased packaging production capacity to about six billion from five billion packs. It has the capability to laminate all types and sizes of Tetra Pak packages.
Image: Tetra Pak's packaging material plant in Turkey. Photo: courtesy of Tetra Pak International S.A.
