David S. Smith (Holdings) plc has expanded its plastics processing into Spain with two new operations making shipping containers and corrugated packaging.
DW Plastics, the beverage crate injection molding business of London-based Smith, started an injection molding plant in Cardona, Spain, north of Barcelona, earlier this year. The new facility employs 20 and has two Stork injection presses, which moved from DW's plant in Bilzen, Belgium.
With growth strong in the bottled water, beer and soft drinks sectors, crate demand is rising. DW expects to add new molding capacity at the plant within two to three years, said DW Managing Director Francis Isenborghs.
With the Bilzen facility and another crate plant in Kielce, Poland, running at full capacity last year, DW also launched a plant in the Dominican Republic to handle crate production for a local brewery. The 43,000-square-foot plant in Santo Domingo is operating six presses making crates for Cervezeria Nacional Dominicana SA, Isenborghs said.
Meanwhile, Smith's unit that extrudes and converts polypropylene and polycarbonate single- and double-wall sheet has acquired a Spanish company. Kaysersberg Plastics of Kaysersberg, France, acquired Carton Pl stico SA of Alcala de Henares, near Madrid. Its single plant operates one extrusion line.
The new owner expects to grow the business, which is not at full capacity, and to expand the number of lines it runs within a year, according to Jean-Bernard Vassogne, general manager of Kaysersberg Plastics.
``The acquisition of Carton Pl stico gives us a solid base in the Iberian Peninsula. We are expecting significant growth in market share in Spain from sales of both existing products and new lines under development,'' Vassogne said.
Kaysersberg Plastics manufactures a range of packaging including Correx-brand extruded PP sheet through its Correx Plastics Ltd. operation in Gloucester, England.