Jokey Plastik is investing €20m to build a plant in Russia with 50% dedicated to food packaging.
The plastic packaging site in Uljanovsk will be built in 2013 with production starting in 2014.
The new plant Jokey Plastik Uljanovsk OOO will implicate an investment volume of approximately €15-20m and provide up to 120 jobs.
Jokey said the plant, situated 850 km east of Moscow, is to further strengthen its presence on the Russian market to meet the requirements of its Russian customers.
Russian market leader
Christof Koelschbach, sales director of Jokey Holding, told FoodProductionDaily.com that the firm had been in Russia for eight years and had established a €40m turnover to become the market leader in central and eastern Russia.
“We are following our customers and trying to meet demand in quality and quantity to keep growing in the market.
“We are producing high quality packaging with the demand on high on protective packaging.”
The firm's Belarus site provides 90% of the supply to Russia and sales and distribution services to Moscow.
The new plant ensures the security of supply for the continuously growing market with its attractive customer potential and increasing purchasing power, said Jokey.
“The Russian market is of great interest to us and Uljanovsk offers an ideal location to supply companies throughout Russia,” said Herbert Kemmerich, CEO of the Jokey Holding.
“We are very happy, that the building project could be agreed upon within a very short time.”
The company operates in Germany, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Serbia, Belarus, Turkey, Algeria, Egypt and Canada.
Turkey expansion
Jokey is also constructing a Turkish plant which is muted to start production in Q1 2013 with a 50% output of food packaging.
“We want to grow in the food market and the old factory didn’t fit what was needed,” Koelschbach added.
“We are targeting to grow in all markets but some will grow faster than others with some under the euro crisis.
“Overall, we are trying to grow in Russia and Africa with our plant in Egypt so we can meet the demand of our customers. We want to grow, healthily and organically and not just fast.”