BakuPack opens new facility to expand cardboard packaging production in Azerbaijan

AZERBAIJAN – Azerbaijan-based cardboard packaging producer BakuPack has inaugurated a new manufacturing facility at Sumgayit Industrial Park, strengthening the country’s domestic packaging capacity and supporting growing regional demand for corrugated and box packaging.

The project was supported by a ₼2 million (US$1.18 million) loan from the Azerbaijan Business Development Fund under the Ministry of Economy.

Spread across nearly three hectares (30,000 square metres), the facility will deploy Turkish and Chinese production technologies and is designed to produce up to 55 million square metres of cardboard and box packaging annually.

According to BakuPack, the project will be implemented in two phases. The first phase focuses on the manufacture of cardboard boxes for local and export markets, while the second phase will introduce recycling operations to process locally sourced raw materials used in cardboard production.

This circular approach is expected to reduce reliance on imported inputs while supporting Azerbaijan’s broader sustainability and industrial development goals.

The Azerbaijan presidency said the new plant will help meet both domestic and overseas market demand and create 64 permanent jobs.

As a resident of Sumgayit Industrial Park, BakuPack also benefits from tax and customs exemptions valued at approximately ₼1.3 million (US$764,400), improving the project’s long-term commercial viability.

State-backed industrial incentives continue to play a central role in attracting manufacturing investment.

The presidency noted that industrial park residents are provided with ready-made infrastructure at the state’s expense, including gas, electricity, water supply, wastewater systems, internal road and rail links, and fibre-optic internet connectivity, all aimed at promoting entrepreneurship and industrial diversification.

The opening ceremony was attended by President Ilham Aliyev, underscoring the strategic importance of packaging and materials manufacturing in Azerbaijan’s non-oil economic development agenda.

During the visit, Aliyev also laid the foundation stone for another packaging investment at Sumgayit Industrial Park – a polypropylene (PP) and laminated bag production facility.

The new plant, to be operated by manufacturer Nun, will incorporate German technology and target annual output of 1,680 tonnes of laminated bags and 1,440 tonnes of PP bags

The investment is expected to expand Azerbaijan’s flexible packaging capabilities and serve food, industrial, and consumer goods markets.

The BakuPack project comes amid rising global investment in packaging and recycling infrastructure.

Recent industry announcements include Polysmart Packaging’s US$60 million plan to build Nigeria’s largest plastic recycling facility.

Sharp’s more than €20 million investment in European pharmaceutical packaging sites to meet demand for injectable products, and Borealis’ €49 million expansion at its Burghausen, Germany site to scale production of Borstar Nextension polypropylene.

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