Smurfit Kappa completes €12m investment at Spain plant

Smurfit Kappa's Bag-in-Box division has announced the completion of a €12 million investment at its plant in Ibi, Spain.

The state-of-the-art flexible material production facility, which began operating earlier this year, is one of the most advanced Bag-in-Box manufacturing plants in Europe.

As a result of the investment, the plant has gained more than 4,000m2 of extra production space which will be equipped with advanced machinery. This equipment will allow the plant to complete the full production cycle of Bag-in-Box packaging solutions, and allow for greater specialisation in film manufacturing. It is also expected to reduce carbon emissions for the plant's flexible materials portfolio by 21 per cent.

Thierry Minaud, CEO of Smurfit Kappa Bag-in-Box, said: "This strategic investment represents an important step for Smurfit Kappa Bag-in-Box Spain. In addition to introducing innovative technology to create a fully integrated plant for Bag-in-Box production, it will allow us to increase our production capacity to better respond to market demands."

Victor Juan, film manager at Smurfit Kappa Ibi, added: "These new facilities will accelerate the development of new, more sustainable films with the highest performance to meet the needs of our customers for high quality Bag-in-Box packaging solutions, and further strengthen our commitment to the environment."

The Ibi manufacturing plant has been in operation for 45 years; since it was acquired by Smurfit Kappa in 2007, the number of employees based there has more than doubled.

18 June 2021 - Bethany Whymark