Canpack to enter the US beverage can market with a plant in Pennsylvania

Canpack, the Poland-based canmaker, is planning to build its first beverage can plant in North America.

With a global beverage can footprint in Europe, the Middle East and more recently in South America, Canpack has bought land in Pennsylvania where it will build a can and end plant along with an R&D centre. The canmaker is reportedly investing US$366 million in the venture.

The target is for the beverage can plant to be operating in the fourth quarter of 2021, but a statement from the canmaker did not reveal what its capacity would be. If its other plants are a guide, the plant at Olyphant near Scranton will start with an initial capacity of about 1 billion cans and ends a year, with room for expansion to 2bn cans or more.

Canpack’s decision to enter North America comes at a time when demand for aluminium beverage cans in the market – the world’s largest at almost 100bn cans a year – has been rising dramatically with brands looking for alternatives to plastics and emerging products such as hard seltzers driving annual growth of more than 5 per cent.

Both Ball and Crown have been racing to increase capacity with new plants and additional production lines, but their construction has been interrupted by travel restrictions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

Canpack is owned by Giorgi Global Holdings, which also has agricultural and food packaging businesses in Pennsylvania. Chief executive Peter Giorgi said that he was “extremely excited to bring Canpack into the United States, the world’s largest aluminium beverage can market”.

Giorgi continued: “Despite many attractive locations, we chose Pennsylvania not only because it’s my home and home for many of Giorgi Global Holdings other agricultural and food packaging businesses but also because of the warm welcome we have received from Governor Wolf and the Governor’s Action Team, the Department of Community and Economic Development, the Department of Environmental Protection, Senator John Blake, Representative Kyle Mullins, the Lackawanna County Commissioners, the Borough of Olyphant and the Mid-Valley School District.”

Roberto Villaquiran, chief executive of Canpack, also commented: “Canpack is a great company with a phenomenal growth platform and we are absolutely thrilled to be entering the US market where we will be better able to serve our global customers’ beverage can needs.

“Our customers are among the largest beverage producers in the world, and to truly be their partner, we need to be here, in the United States.”

“Sustainability and being a responsible corporate citizen that gives back to the local community are fundamental to Canpack. Investing in the conversion of a brownfield site to a state-of-the-art aluminum can manufacturing facility and operations center which creates local jobs and benefits the community, while creating essential packaging products that can be recycled again and again is consistent with Canpack’s focus on sustainability, being a responsible corporate citizen, and passionately serving the needs of our customers.”