Laminados Extruidos Plasticos SA de CV of Guadalajara expects its film and sheet sales to increase about 20 percent this year, up from about $15 million in 2009.
During the next five years Laminex expects growth of between 200 and 400 percent, said commercial manager José Juan Alcaraz.
Most of the growth will come from the sectors of advertising — which accounts for 60 percent of sales — and packaging — 30 percent, Alcaraz said. He described packaging as the Mexican film and sheet manufacturing industry's most competitive sector. The industry as a whole is “highly competitive,” he added.
He said Laminex has not been hurt at all by the global economic downturn.
In addition to serving the Mexican market, Laminex exports to the U.S. and Central America. The firm employs about 100 in its sheet manufacturing operations alone.
In the past couple of years Laminex has invested $400,000 in new equipment, spending $200,000 on an extrusion line, $100,000 on a rewinder and a similar amount on a guillotine.