Smurfit Kappa to expand plant in Mexico

Ireland-based Smurfit Kappa Group plc (SKG) has announced it is investing $22 million to expand its corrugated plant in Culiacan, Mexico. The company says the project demonstrates its “continued commitment to the Mexican market with expanded capacity, capabilities and product offerings for local customers in the fresh produce segment.”

The investment will modernize and expand the plant, SKG says, via the installation of what it calls “high-tech state-of-the-art machinery” and the construction of a new 10,900-square-meter (117,000-square-foot) building that will include a new corrugator and an automated rotary die cutter (RDC) that will be fully operational by the end of 2021.

The facility will produce corrugated boxes made with a moisture barrier that helps resist condensation. “These new offerings will also result in more sustainable operations at the facility with [the] use of paper that is 100 percent recyclable and can be reused at SKG mills,” states the company.

In Mexico, SKG also operates the Los Reyes Paper Mill. SKG invested $62 million at that facility in 2017 to install a new recycled-fiber-fed paper machine at the mill, located north of Mexico City.

That production line, known as PM6, has a production capacity of 100,000 tons of recycled-content containerboard per year. At the time, SKG said PM6 would “facilitate greater integration within the group’s converting plants and significantly increase the energy efficiency of the Los Reyes plant.”

The downstream Culiacan investment is intended to “match the fast-growing demand for sustainable packaging solutions from agriculture and fresh produce customers,” SKG says. The region is home to 40 percent of the total agricultural production for Mexico and has some of the largest producers of packaged food and beverages, adds the firm.

“Our Culiacan plant has for a long time been a significant employer in the region, and this will continue to be the case with this new investment, with a need for new operational and administrative roles, and the workforce at the plant expanding to over 300 employees,” comments Jorge Angel, CEO of Smurfit Kappa Mexico.

Juan G. Castaneda, CEO of Smurfit Kappa The Americas, says, “This investment will enable us to meet the increasing demand for innovative and sustainable packaging solutions not only in the region but also across Mexico.”