West Pharmaceutical Services Has Begun Constructing a Compression Molding Plant in China

West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. has begun constructing a compression molding plant in Shanghai, China, to handle new growth and expand its presence in the Asia-Pacific region. While West is growing in Asia, it's consolidating in the U. S. and Europe, closing a plant in Pennsylvania and cutting operations at a site in England. West also is planning to build a component manufacturing facility in India. It expects to begin construction on the complex in early 2012 but did not release further details. The Shanghai plant will span about 128, 000 square feet and be located adjacent to a West injection molding factory that opened in September 2009, according to a company spokesman. The new facility primarily will produce elastomeric stoppers and employ about 50, he said, and cost between $25 million and $30 million. The market for stoppers in China, in terms of units, is already as large as those in the U. S. and Europe, he said. West's growth in the Asia-Pacific region has been in the range of 20 percent per year the last few years and it will continue to grow, primarily because of changes in the Chinese economy and health care in the country, the spokesman said. The company held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction on the Shanghai compression molding plant June 15. It's expected to begin manufacturing at the facility in January 2013. The new plant in Shanghai is being established "to provide better service to our customers in China, offering shorter lead times for delivery of our world-class pharmaceutical packaging products, and creating new, flexible capacity to meet the growing needs of new customers in China and throughout the Asia-Pacific region, " according to Morel. Transportation costs and importation issues also will be favorably impacted with the addition of a facility, the spokesman said. In terms of percentage gains, he said, the Asian market has been the fastest growing region for West worldwide and, "on the other hand, our presence there compared to the U. S. and Europe is relatively small. We believe that, to compete and fully participate in that growth and to support our global customers operating there, we need to produce there. " In addition to the firm's injection molding plant in Shanghai, the device and component manufacturer's presence in the Asia-Pacific region includes a factory in Singapore, which makes elastomeric stoppers and metal seals using compression and injection molding technologies, along with sales offices in Australia, China, India and Singapore. The second factory in Shanghai and the new sites in India will enlarge that base. West also recently invested in the Singapore plant to add technologies such as its Westar wash process. In addition, the company is an equity partner of Tokyo, Japan-based Daikyo Seiko Ltd., a global manufacturer of ultra-clean pharmaceutical packaging and medical device components, founded in 1954. Source: Plastics News