Perlen Packaging (Perlen / Switzerland; www.perlenpackaging.com), the packaging arm of Chemie + Papier Holding’s (CPH, Perlen; www.cph.ch), has announced its intention to build a new polyvinylidene chloride (PVdC) film coating plant at its site in Anápolis / Brazil. With a capacity of 6,500 t/y, the plant is expected to commence operations in the first quarter of 2022.

The investment, said to be in the “higher single-digit millions”, will further bolster the company’s activities in Latin America following its acquisition of Sekoya Indústria e Comércio (Anápolis) in 2018 (see Plasteurope.com of 24.01.2018). Sekoya has since been renamed Perlen Packaging Anápolis.

Perlen said it is also providing a loan to its Brazilian arm for the construction of a new calendaring facility for mono PVC film production in Anápolis. The company offered no capacity details or an onstream date for this plant. Additionally, the Swiss company said it will acquire the remaining 40% share in Perlen Packaging Anápolis.

“By taking these actions, we will be able to cover the full supply chain with our local Brazilian production facilities, from mono films to coated blister pack films,” said Perlen Packaging CEO Wolfgang Grimm. “This will help us further consolidate our leading position in the region’s market for films with high-barrier properties.”

The new film coating plant will be the division’s third, joining similar facilities in Switzerland and China. Peter Schildknecht, CEO of CPH added that the investment “marks a further step in our strategy of reducing our dependence on paper production and on the Swiss franc, and of expanding in the growing markets of the emerging nations.”

Current forecasts say Latin America’s pharmaceutical markets will grow 6-9% annually between now and 2024. Brazil, with a population of more than 200m, is the world’s sixth-largest pharmaceuticals market, and Perlen said annual sales in Latin America have experienced a double-digit percentage rise since the Sekoya purchase.