Grupo Olefinas, a U.S.-owned network of plastics manufacturing and sales operations, opened its second Mexico plant in mid-November, in San Luis Potosí.
The 50,000-square-foot, $8 million plant, called Olefinas SLP, employs 150 making multilayer film including pallet wrap and mulch film. Completed in nine months, the facility adds to Mexico warehouse and sales divisions in Mexico City, Culiacan and Los Mochis, and to a 10-year-old manufacturing plant in Tapachula.
``San Luis Potosí is geographically advantageous to us, giving access to agricultural, commercial and industrial markets,'' said Rafael Lopez-Solís, Olefinas' regional vice president for Mexico. He said the site also offers a technology-savvy and specialized work force, excellent schools and high-quality health care.
``We consider [Mexico] to be a growing market. Mexico's exports are growing in all fields, and bringing plastics with this growth. We ... have seen demand for more and for better packaging grow in recent years,'' Lopez-Solís said.
He said the slow economies in the United States and Mexico have not affected Olefina's growth significantly. The group has larger plants in Ecuador, Guatemala and Colombia, and plans to expand the San Luis Potosí site.
``We hope to double capacity in no longer than four years,'' Lopez-Solís said. He added that Grupo Olefinas is open to joint ventures and alliances.
Grupo Olefinas was established in Ecuador by Van McNeel in 1959, producing and distributing specialized plastics for agricultural applications, particularly the banana industry. Subsequent products included other types of specialized film, PET bottles and carrying crates for soft drinks.
Now Grupo Olefinas is a wholly owned subsidiary of McNeel International Corp. of Tampa, Fla. It covers markets from the United States through Mexico and Central America, to Ecuador and Colombia, and the Caribbean.
