Oji Fibre Solutions unveils $30M investment in Penrose plant
Oji Fibre Solutions unveils $30M investment in Penrose
paper bag plant
Oji Fibre Solutions (OjiFS) has
unveiled upgraded and expanded facilities at its Penrose
(Auckland) paper bag manufacturing plant. The $30 million
capital investment lifts production capacity and provides a
world- class food safety environment that aims to future
proof the business and continue to set the global standard
in dairy bag production.
The new facilities were officially opened on Friday by the Minister for Economic Development, Hon Simon Bridges.
OjiFS chief executive Jon Ryder said the event marks one of the first milestones in an exciting new chapter in the company’s history.
“The decision to invest $30 million into this site was made in February 2015, within months of the purchase of our business (formerly CHH Pulp, Paper and Packaging) by Oji Holdings and Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) in November 2014. It is a strong sign of Oji’s commitment to New Zealand and our intent to grow the Oji Fibre Solutions business in NZ and Australia.”
Dr Ryder said the business has traditionally been a supplier of commodity products – the Penrose investment reflects its transition to become more of a solutions company for its customers.
“We are determined to develop a portfolio of value added products that address the sectors we support; in this case dairy, flour and sugar. Our investment provides a world- class food safety environment which is vital to ensure the integrity of the supply chain,” he said.
The investment project has seen the extension of the plant’s existing hygiene hall and upgrade of a conversion line that produces multi-walled bags for dairy and food powder packaging. It entailed upgrading of all aspects of critical hygiene, installation of state of the art bag-making equipment and construction of an additional 3,000m2 of onsite warehousing and associated facilities.
Purpose built and equipped to meet the Ministry of Primary Industries’ guidelines for the design and construction of dairy facilities, the facilities also comply with stringent customer engineering standards for food safety. The new conversion line produces 48 million 25kg dairy and food powder bags per year, bringing total production to around 100 million bags per annum.
Oji Fibre Solutions is a
leading supplier of multi-ply paper bags in New Zealand. In
addition to supplying the dairy and food bag market, its
Penrose business also produces tens of millions of paper
bags for a diverse range of market segments including
cement, vegetables and food products. Its current market is
primarily domestic however the business has rapidly growing
export volumes to Australia, the Pacific Islands and South
America. Key customers include major dairy processing
companies in New Zealand, Australia and South America along
with other large scale food product manufacturers
ENDS