Intertape Polymer commissions second line for water-activated tapes

As part of a two-year expansion plan, Montreal’s Intertape Polymer Group Inc. (IPG) has commissioned its second water-activated tapes line at the Midland, N.C., which will boost the facility’s production of commercial tapes.

Water-activated tapes are primarily used in the e-commerce market for carton sealing which can help reduce both pilferage and workforce injury from repetitive motion as well as provide the option for attractive prints on the tape.

“The e-commerce market is the fastest growing segment of our business. Our expansion at Midland enables us to match production with the growth in demand we are experiencing now and anticipate in the future,” Greg Yull, president and CEO of IPG, said in a statement. “This second line is an important element of our two-year capital investment plan in which we targeted US$80 to US$90 million in deployed capital. Given the growth in e-commerce as a proportion of the retail market, the expansion at Midland, together with our acquisition of protective packaging solutions, strengthens our product bundle for our direct accounts that are leaders in the e-commerce market.”

IPG completed construction of the Midland facility in 2017 and commissioned the first line in the fourth quarter of 2017 for total invested capital of approximately US$48 million. The second line, which is a sister line to the first, doubles the capacity of the facility and was installed for total invested capital of US$13.4 million.

In addition to the Midland facility, IPG also produces water-activated tapes at its Menasha, Wisconsin, facility.

With dual headquarters in Montreal and Sarasota, Fla., IPG manufactures a variety of paper- and film-based pressure sensitive and water-activated tapes, polyethylene and specialized polyolefin films, protective packaging, woven coated fabrics and complementary packaging systems for industrial and retail use. The company has approximately 3,500 employees with operations in 29 locations, including 22 manufacturing facilities in North America, two in Asia, and one in Europe.