The biggest recent industry development regarding China is the re-opening of its borders for business. Covid and the ensuing “zero-covid” lockdown policies imposed on the world’s second largest economy certainly wreaked havoc on business in the region, but that’s all about to change.

Brian Klein, founder of strategic advisory firm Ridgepoint Global and a special contributor to the news outlet Grid, remarks, “To be sure, 2023 has started off with a bang. The economy rebounded in January, according to official Chinese statistics. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) has raised estimates for China’s GDP growth this year to 5.3% from 4.4%, though with a heavy caveat that 2024 may not look as rosy. And investors are pouring back into the region, eager to capitalize on new demand that will likely outpace the rest of the world. Overall, this is welcome news at a time when recession fears persist in the US and Europe.”

In line with an overall economic rebound is growth in the packaging sector. According to research firm Mordor Intelligence, China’s flexible packaging market is expected to reach a CAGR of 4.3% over the forecast period 2022-2027. The rapid growth in demand from end-user industries such as food, pharmaceutical and medical, personal care, and household care is expected to create significant demand for flexible packaging products in China.

According to the firm, “Despite the presence of a large base for packaging in the country, flexible packaging still recorded the most substantial growth and the fastest among all packaging types, driven by its low cost and many product advantages. Furthermore, the demand for frozen food in China is on the edge of further growth, owing to the government’s rapid development of food outlets and reduced tariff barriers on frozen food imports.”

Increasing demand for convenient food packaging is also a major growth driver, Mordor Intelligence reports. “Better food quality, safety, and longer shelf life of packaged food are significantly in demand, resulting in an increasingly convenient packaging market,” the firm states. “Chinese consumers’ increasing inclination toward products containing fish, meat and vegetables, mainly retort-packed to keep them shelf-stable, is a factor driving the market. Moreover, ready-made meals have also gained popularity among consumers in the country.”

Despite the recent uncertainty and complexities brought on by the pandemic, several label and packaging companies have been active, with plant openings and other strategic initiatives.

Maxcess opens new RotoMetrics facility

Maxcess recently announced the opening of a new RotoMetrics, a Maxcess brand, rotary diecutting factory in Huzhou, China. The new plant manufactures and refurbishes magnetic cylinders for flexible die applications, as well as solid rotary die tooling.

The new facility will provide customers in China and the Asia Pacific (APAC) region with better products and convenient localized services. “This is exciting news for Maxcess,” said Nang Young, VP/GM APAC, following the opening of the plant. “After more than a year of preparation and development, we are very pleased to see magnetic cylinders being produced in Huzhou. The pandemic brought great challenges, but with hard work we overcame difficulties and made the production line run as scheduled. We sincerely look forward to working with customers and partners to produce these products locally, so our customers can work better, faster and smarter.”

With approximately 5,000+ square meters of manufacturing space, the new facility provides products and services for customers in packaging, labeling, rotary processing and other industries.

“Localized production is a win-win strategy,” explains Daisy Dai, operations director, APAC. “For customers, compared with imported products, the products produced in our Huzhou factory not only have significant value advantages but also provide faster delivery times. In addition, we can provide customers with services such as refurbishment and maintenance for magnetic cylinders, as well as blade sharpening for solid rotary dies, which will offer convenient maintenance for local customers.”

The Huzhou factory is an important facility in Maxcess’ global manufacturing footprint. To ensure a consistent production process and high manufacturing standards, the main production elements for the Huzhou factory were imported from the United States. In addition, the processes and operating systems, quality management systems, supply chain systems and warehouse systems are consistent with Maxcess’ global standards to guarantee high product quality.

Following up on the news of the Huzhou plant opening, Maxcess announced adding to the plant’s capabilities the production of solid rotary dies, enabling faster lead times on solid dies for APAC customers.

“We are very excited to be able to now produce two key RotoMetrics products directly from our Huzhou plant,” comments Young. “Earlier in the year, we began production of magnetic cylinders for flexible dies, and now we have full-scale production of solid rotary dies, enabling our customers to get the rotary die products they need faster.

“RotoMetrics is a household name in rotary diecutting solutions, known for excellent materials, unmatched precision, complementary tooling solutions to enhance performance, and long die life,” concludes Young, adding, “Being able to produce solid rotary dies in China will improve local competitiveness in price, delivery, support and service.”

Fedrigoni forms manufacturing partnership

The Fedrigoni Group has entered into a strategic manufacturing partnership with a specialty paper mill and producer of translucent papers in Quzhou, Zhejiang province, China. As part of the deal, Fedrigoni Group has provided a loan to an acquisition vehicle, set up by two former Arjowiggins senior executives, in consideration for a call option, giving Fedrigoni the opportunity to take over the company in the longer term.

With 130 employees and an annual production capacity of 7,000 tons, the Quzhou mill is a manufacturer of translucent papers (sold under the brands Gateway, Idem and Sylvicta) for applications ranging from industrial design and graphic applications to packaging for food, consumer electronics and luxury products. Fedrigoni will therefore strengthen its presence in the Asian market – where the group already has a wide distribution network in China, Hong Kong, Philippines, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, 11 warehouses and a self-adhesive materials production plant in Hefei – with its first paper mill in China.

Besides strengthening its geographical footprint in Asia, this transaction will lead Fedrigoni to further expand its product portfolio in the translucent papers segment by acquiring manufacturing capabilities, which has the potential to increasingly replace plastic in packaging as a fully recyclable mono-material, thanks to the award-winning Sylvicta brand. Product innovation linked to the transition from plastic to paper is one of the largest investment areas for Fedrigoni and a key pillar of its ESG strategy and roadmap toward 2030.

Amcor opens flexible packaging plant

To continue capitalizing on the growth potential of flexible packaging, Amcor has announced the opening of its new manufacturing plant in Huizhou, China. With an investment of almost $100 million, the 590,000-square-foot plant is the largest flexible packaging plant by production capacity in China, further strengthening Amcor’s ability to meet growing customer demand throughout Asia Pacific, the company says.

The new facility is expected to employ more than 550 people, who will produce flexible packaging for food and personal-care products. The plant comes equipped with the first automated packaging production line in China. This, along with high-speed printing presses, laminators, and bag-making machines, can deliver double-digit reductions in manufacturing cycle times.

Amcor says it is deploying the first smart production and operation system in China’s flexible packaging industry, which includes smart laser scanners, light curtains, high-standard machine guarding and multiple quality-control points. All key process equipment is also CE-certified to stringent European Union health, safety and environmental requirements. Other benefits of the new facility are traceability throughout the production cycle, a climate-controlled environment and low-carbon emissions.

“This investment is testament to our commitment to grow with our customers in China and throughout Asia Pacific by bringing the best of Amcor’s global expertise closer to them,” states Xin She, vice president and general manager of Amcor Greater China. “The world-class capabilities of our new plant are designed to enable us to exceed our customers’ expectations of quality, responsiveness and innovation.”

The plant features three labs with innovative testing and analytical capabilities to fully leverage the expertise from the recently opened Amcor Asia Pacific Innovation Center in Jiangyin, China, helping to accelerate the development of responsible packaging solutions.

The new Huizhou site also includes a number of sustainability features, including the latest regenerative thermal oxidizers (RTO) system to reduce harmful emissions, as well as numerous energy-reduction, heat-recovery, low-power consumption and rainwater harvesting systems to help reduce its carbon footprint and environmental impact.

Labelexpo set for return to Shanghai

Tarsus Group, organizer of the Labelexpo Global Series, has announced that the postponed Labelexpo Asia 2022 will now take place at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) in China on December 5-8, 2023.

Labelexpo Asia show director Kevin Liu commented, “Unfortunately due to ongoing uncertainty surrounding Covid-19 and further uncertainty about events opening up in Shanghai, we have reluctantly decided to postpone the show until next year.”

Labelexpo Global Series portfolio director Jade Grace adds, “China is a key global market for label and package print technology, and Labelexpo Asia in Shanghai remains our most important event in this region. We look forward to returning in even greater strength in 2023.”

The last edition of Labelexpo Asia in 2019 attracted over 23,000 visitors from 90 countries, making it the second biggest visitor event in the Labelexpo Global Series calendar.