EGYPT – Indian packaging film manufacturer Uflex, through its subsidiary Flex P Films Egypt, has announced plans to set up a PET production plant at the Egyptian petrochemical site, Ain Sokhna.
The plant with a capacity of 360,000 t/y is to be built in the SIDC Industrial Park. The investment is reportedly around US$110 million (€100m), with this being the first-ever PET production facility for the film manufacturer.
The project is to be implemented in two phases. Phase one is scheduled to start operations in the first half of 2024, while phase two is expected to be implemented by mid-2025. More than 700 jobs are to be created at the site.
The SCZONE chairman welcomed the Indian company’s decision to expand its plant in Egypt to cover the domestic market and to export to Middle East countries.
“We are preparing to conduct a promotional tour in India to attract more Indian investments within SCZONE,” said Gamal El-Din.
In September 2022, Zawya Projects reported in a statement that SIDC attracted 12 investors with total investments estimated at 94.3 million Egyptian pounds (US$3 million) in 2022.
Since 2011, Uflex has operated a production facility for BOPP, polypropylene cast films, and PET films near Cairo.
The total capacity is 114,000 t/y, plus post-processing capacities for metallization. The PET pellets produced in Ain Sokhna should mainly supply the PET film production near Cairo.
The rest is intended for the domestic market and export, Sanjay Tiko, executive director of Flex Egypt, is quoted as saying.
The European market is likely to be one of the main targets, and Uflex might also want to supply BOPET film production in the Emirates.
With sales of more than US$1.75 billion and more than 10,000 employees, Uflex produces films and flexible packaging.
Flex Films is the global film production division of Uflex with a production capacity of more than 510,000 t/y worldwide.
Its BOPET, BOPP, and CPP films are supplied to customers worldwide in the food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and non-food sectors.
Meanwhile, Uflex is not the only PET producer in North Africa country. According to Plasteurope.com’s Polyglobe database, Thailand’s Indorama Ventures has so far been producing PET at a capacity of 540,000 t/y in Egypt – at the same site as the one now planned by Uflex. This would increase the current output in the country by about two-thirds.
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