GUANGZHOU, CHINA — Production will start by the end of this year at biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film manufacturer Gettel Group China Co. Ltd.'s sixth plant, in Huishui, Guizhou province, the company announced at Chinaplas.
Gettel claims to be the world's biggest BOPP producer, turning out 316,200 metric tons last year. Sales for the year were 3.2 billion RMB ($516 million), said Jenny Yang, the company's international trade department manager.
Gettel also has factories in Chongqing; Panjin, Liaoning province; Suqian, Jiangsu province; Tongcheng, Anhui province; and at the company headquarters in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province. In all, Gettel has 13 BOPP production lines from Siegsdorf, Germany-based Brückner Maschinenbau GmbH. It plans to add another Brückner line next year at the Chongqing plant, Yang said.
Each factory has more than 200 workers. Spreading factories throughout China provides better customer service. “The customer can save on freight costs,” Yang said.
BOPP film is primarily used for packaging and labels. The company offers a wide variety of BOPP products, including film for adhesive tapes; lamination-grade film; heat-sealable film; matt film; metalizing-grade film; pearlized film; and bag-grade film.
Gettel began exporting in 2009. Last year it exported 8 percent of its production, mostly to Asian and Middle Eastern buyers, up 40 percent from the previous year, Yang said.
The strong Chinese currency has had negligible effect on Gettel's bottom line. “We import the raw materials [PP resin] and we export [finished product]. So for the BOPP [export] business, there's not a big effect,” Yang said.
Even though Chinaplas mainly focuses on suppliers, not finished plastic products, Yang said she was having good success meeting with foreign customers. This Chinaplas, in Guangzhou, was Gettel's second. The company tentatively plans to attend NPE2018 trade show in Orlando, Fla.
Gettel was founded in 1989 as Cangnan Third Plastic Industry Corp. It moved into BOPP production in 2003, Yang said.
