Sidel invests US$51 million in Beijing plant

Beverage packaging equipment supplier Sidel is investing 35 million euros (US$51.5 million) to open a new 40,000 square meter plant in Beijing by mid-2008.

According to Sidel, the Beijing operation will be the companys first multi-product facility, and it will assemble all equipment found on Sidels complete lines, from blow molding to palletizing.

“Our objective is to become the undisputed leader on the Chinese bottling line market, said Sidel president Grard Stricher. This plant will enable us to significantly boost our competitiveness by eliminating customs duties and intercontinental shipping costs. We will also be able to offer faster delivery times to our Chinese customers.”

Sidel has been manufacturing products in China since 1995 when it opened its filler manufacturing plant in Beijing and its Tooling center (bottle design, and mold design and manufacturing for PET bottles) in Shanghai.

The plant is being built in the BDA (Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area) industrial zone where some of the biggest international corporations, including Tetra Pak, already have facilities.