Jindal Films Americas LLC, already known for making biaxially oriented polypropylene film, will spend $120 million to expand into polyester films.
A new polyester films plant in LaGrange, Ga., is expected to have an annual capacity of 71,500 tons and begin production in early 2019, the company said.
"The plant would be composed of two lines, enabling Jindal Films to provide a product offering both thin specialty and thick specialty films," the company said in a statement.
News of the new production capabilities comes after Jindal Films Americas already installed a new metalizer in LaGrange, which is part of a previously announced $180 million relocation and expansion project. "This current expansion project is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2018, doubling the current capacity of the Americas division of Jindal Films," the company said.
Jindal Films Europe also is considering an expansion into polyester films, the company said. That unit recently announced plans to expand its metalizing capabilities in Brindisi, Italy, in a move that will add 10,000 tons of capacity in the second half of this year.
The company also recently inaugurated its new Global Technology Innovation Center in Virton, Belgium, and announced an expansion of BOPP film production at that location.
Jindal Films part of BC Jindal Group of New Delhi, India, a business conglomerate that also owns Jindal Poly Films Ltd., which calls itself India's largest producer of PET and BOPP films.
Jindal Films Americas also has a facility in Shawnee, Okla. The company ranked 17th in Plastics News' most recent survey of North American film and sheet manufacturers, with estimated sales of $520 million
