With a major investment of EUR 40 million in a now operational production asset, Ahlstrom-Munksjö cements its market position, upgrading its production platform in its well-established Beverage & Casing business.
A top-of-the-line asset
The advanced Voith paper machine line was installed on the Chirnside site in the Scottish Borders. This investment enables an improved product portfolio, higher quality, and significantly increased manufacturing capacity in addition to upgraded supply-chain security.
The machine is now starting commercial grade production, marking a new era for the Beverage & Casing Business. To consolidate the success of the new line, the Radcliffe long fiber production facility in Scotland has also expanded to enable seamless vertical integration.
“Commissioning the new paper machine allows us to serve our existing customers faster and better whilst facilitating our growth ambitions,” says Philippe Sevoz, Vice President of Beverage & Casing business. “Thanks to our Chirnside and Radcliffe team’s extensive knowledge and capabilities in Tea, Coffee and Casing we can continue to provide best-in-class innovative and sustainable products to our customers worldwide and can cement our unique position to become our customers’ supplier of choice.”
A unique capability: Spunbond PLA
In addition to the new production line, the business boasts an exclusive capability of Spunbond PLA. The know-how in this rare technology was developed throughout several years – Ahlstrom-Munksjö was one of the pioneers working with PLA.
Ahlstrom-Munksjö has a leading position with its BioWeb® and Fiber+ offering for tea filter materials, both compostable and manufactured without the use of oil based heat seal fibers. In the single-serve coffee market, Ahlstrom-Munksjö is also present with compostable options both in Europe and the USA.
As sustainable and plastic-free alternatives are driving demand and innovation in numerous consumer and non-consumer markets alike, the business also intends to develop tailored products for different applications with this unique capability.
Poised to become preferred global sustainable specialty materials supplier
With expanded capacity, Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s is one of the only producers with a truly global production imprint, allowing for optimal logistics flexibility and product availability for our North American customers. The combined assets are global leaders in heat-seal tea and coffee filters, in addition to fibrous meat casing materials.
“The investment shows our long term commitment and our ambition to grow and become global leaders in coffee, tea and casing materials,” says Mark Ushpol, Executive Vice President of the Food and Consumer Packaging Division. “The strong demand for plastic-free solutions gives us a strategic opportunity to leverage our competence and capabilities in advanced custom-made fiber based materials, enabling us to further strengthen our relationship with our customers.”
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