India-based flexible packaging material major UFlex is set to massively expand its Dubai manufacturing facility, driven by rising demand for consumer packaged goods in the GCC region, a senior company executive said.
The company will add over 100 employees at the Dubai unit over the next few months as part of the expansion.
“We will be adding an additional cast polypropylene (CPP) manufacturing line with an annual production capacity of 18,000 metric tonnes at Flex Films Middle East, operating from the Jebel Ali free zone,” Apoorvashree Chaturvedi, Group Director of UFlex Ltd, told Arabian Business in an exclusive interview.
“We are also evaluating to engage in the production of green films at our UAE facility soon,” added Chaturvedi, who oversees UFlex’s operations in the Middle East and European Union.
Chaturvedi said the expansion and focus on green films production is in view of the growing demand for sustainably packaged consumer packaged goods (CPGs) in the GCC and nearby regions.
The installation of the new CPP line is estimated to cost about $15 million.
“We are confident that Flex Films will certainly be able to expand its product portfolio and gain a larger market share and wider distribution network in the GCC region, once this line (CPP) gets commissioned,” Chaturvedi said.
Flex Film’s current facilities in Dubai include a biaxial oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) line with a manufacturing capacity of 22,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) and a plasma enhanced high-barrier metallizer with 5,400 TPA capacity to manufacture value-added and specialty products.
These products cater to the packaging requirements in the UAE market and also for exports to other markets in the Middle East.
Apoorvashree Chaturvedi, Group Director of UFlex Ltd.
On the fresh hiring plans, Chaturvedi said: “Currently, we have over 150 employees [at the Dubai facility] and with the new line addition, we are looking at increasing our employee base to over 250.”
He said the company was also hopeful of its sales turnover multiplying in the Middle East region, once the new line commences production.
Chaturvedi also revealed that the company was working on entering into new partnership deals with companies in the Middle East and Africa in the wake of the current trend towards sustainable packaging in the regions.
“Flex Films Middle East is evaluating options for collaborating with more customers and brands [in the region],” he said.
The company’s key customers in the Gulf and Africa regions include AL Moutahed, Propack, Emirates Technopack, Integrated Packaging, Simpa and Graphics Systems.
UFlex, billed as India’s largest multinational flexible packaging materials and solutions company, currently has manufacturing facilities in India, the UAE, Mexico, Egypt, Poland and the US.
The company offers packaging solutions for a wide variety of products in the food and beverage sector, pharmaceuticals, contraceptives, garden fertilizers, plant nutrients, automotive and engineering components sectors in markets in over 140 countries.
Some of UFlex’ global clients include P&G, PepsiCo, Mondelez, L’Oreal, Kimberly Clark and Ferrero Rocher.
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