Tetra Pak has upgraded its packaging material plant in Ponta Grossa, Brazil to meet its products’ demands in domestic and export markets.
The €65m upgrade will increase the plant's packaging capacity by 70% to 13 billion packs, bringing the Brazilian total to 22 billion packs.
Started in 2012, the upgrade also enables the plant to produce a wide range of packages and sizes including Tetra Brik Aseptic 1000 Edge, Tetra Gemina Aseptic 1000 and Tetra Top.
Tetra Pak North Central & South America cluster vice president Paulo Nigro said Brazil is the second largest market for the company globally.
"When we started operating in the country 57 years ago, our monthly production was about 25 million packs, which today represents just half-a-day's output," Nigro added.
Since 2007, demand for carton packaging in Brazil has been increasing at 5.5% CAGR. In 2013, the company sold 13 billion Tetra Pak packages.
In addition to this, there is an increased demand from other markets in Latin America such as the Andean and Caribbean countries, which forced the company to boost its capacity.
The latest upgrade of the plant is said to be a strategic move that enables the company to stay a step ahead of customer needs, for volume growth, as well as for product differentiation and improved functionality.
"This investment demonstrates our commitment to supporting customers in the Latin American region with products and services of exceptional quality and performance, helping them to achieve their growth ambitions," Nigro concluded.
