Germany's Weidenhammer Packaging Group, has announced that it will open a new plant in Chile in January 2015, while its Russian plant in Vladimir, near Moscow, also being significantly expanded.
The company made the announcement in its annual financial report for 2013 which showed sales growth of around 2.5 percent from 2012.
Sales increased to 251 million euros ($347.3 million) in 2013 from 245 million euros ($339 million) in 2012.
The company says that in 2013 Germany remained its strongest market and growth was also seen from European markets like Belgium, France and the United Kingdom. Its corporate subsidiary Weidenhammer UK in Bradford achieved double-digit sales growth for the third year in a row.
Weidenhammer says that in the year ahead it is focusing on extremely impermeable barrier packaging for food.
“We see a growing market demand, driven to some extent by higher legal hygiene requirements for bulk products and packaging,” said CEO Ralf Weidenhammer.
Weidenhammer currently has 12 production sites and employs 1,100. The company says it aims to cover 100 percent of its energy needs with solar power by 2020.