MPACT, one of the largest paper and plastic packaging manufacturers in southern Africa, has officially opening its new corrugated factory in Port Elizabeth.
The company held an on-site ribbon-cutting ceremony recently, with customers, directors and employees in attendance.
“The expansion extends Mpact Corrugated’s national manufacturing footprint which enables us to consistently offer the highest levels of quality and service to our customers, many of whom are here to celebrate this milestone with us today,” said Managing Director Johan Stumpf.
“I am pleased we were able to deliver a complex project of this nature on time and within budget. The Mpact employees and our partners on the project worked hard to ensure this achievement,” Stumpf added.
Victor Korsten, CEO of Coega Dairy, a long standing customer of Mpact, attended the opening. “Coega Dairy has been associated with Mpact in Port Elizabeth since its inception. Over the years Mpact has supported us with product development, innovation and supply chain management. So today it’s a great pleasure to congratulate Mpact with its new facility and we look forward to a long relationship with the company,” Korsten said.
Mpact’s R150 million investment in Port Elizabeth is centered on a modern new corrugator supplied by leading German machine supplier BHS. The new machine more than doubles the factory’s capacity while also improving quality, production efficiencies and key sustainability metrics such as energy usage.
This is geared towards growth in demand for citrus packaging in the Eastern Cape on the back of substantial investments by Mpact’s customers in the sector.
Gustav Bell, Packhouse Operations Manager of Endulini Fruit, one of Mpact’s largest citrus customers said, “On behalf of the Endulini Group of Companies we want to congratulate you with the opening of your new upgraded state-of-the-art carton manufacturing facility. We trust this will contribute to the success and productivity of your business. Be assured that we highly value our relationship and foresee this for many years to come.”
In the final phase of the project, Mpact will install a fully-integrated printing and converting machine as well as a flat-bed die-cutter. “This work is progressing well and is on schedule for completion during the second half of 2018,” Stumpf said.
Mpact Group CEO Bruce Strong said that in the recent past the group had invested extensively in customer aligned strategic projects that position it well for growth. “Our capital investments across the group such as the one here in Port Elizabeth, the recently commissioned R765 million Felixon paper mill project and the new R100 million jumbo bin injection-moulding machine are all geared towards ensuring our customers get the best quality products that are worth their price,” he said.
Mpact is also the largest recycler in South Africa. “Besides these projects we opened a new facility last year for recycling paperboard-based milk and juice cartons, an investment of R50 million. This goes hand-in-hand with our extensive paper recycling business and our PET bottle recycling plant which was commissioned in 2015 and today supplies recycled PET for use in new beverage bottles,” Strong said.
The expansion of the Port Elizabeth plant is part of Mpact Corrugated’s extensive modernisation programme which has included investments of more than R800 million over the past six years.
“As a true measure of sustainability it is worth noting that Mpact’s Port Elizabeth factory has been in business for nearly 100 years. This investment demonstrates that we remain deeply committed to serving our customers in the Eastern Cape for many years to come,” Strong said.