Smurfit Kappa has completed significant investments in its manufacturing plants in Olomouc in the Czech Republic and Obaly Štúrovo in Slovakia respectively. The investments of more than €20 million announced last year further highlight Smurfit Kappa’s expansion and commitment to investing in its Central and Eastern European operations.
The two plants received significant upgrades, installing state-of-the-art equipment to expand capacity and address the rise in customer demand for paper-based packaging solutions. The investment sees the installation of new converting equipment which will increase the capacity by over 100 million regular and offset printed boxes per annum.
The investments strengthen Smurfit Kappa’s position in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and will enable the business to further target specific industries, most notably the FMCG and electro-technical sectors.
Both Tony Smurfit, Group CEO of Smurfit Kappa and Saverio Mayer, CEO of Smurfit Kappa Europe, recently attended the official unveiling of the upgraded plants during which customers were given a detailed walk-through of the enhanced capabilities and Smurfit Kappa’s deep-rooted sustainability credentials.
Commenting at the official unveiling of the two upgraded plants, Zdenek Suchitra, CEO of Smurfit Central & South-East Europe, said: “I am delighted to announce that both of our investments at the Olomouc (Czech Republic) and Obaly Štúrovo (Slovakia) plants have finished on time and within our original budget in a time when there is a scarcity of all kinds of materials. These investments, along with the investments we made in two additional sites in the Czech Republic, demonstrate our commitment to our customers and operations in Central and Eastern Europe.
“Through these investments, which have created state-of-the-art facilities for our plants, we are excellently positioned to satisfy our well-established customer base, whilst also venturing into the FMCG, eCommerce and electro-technical sectors. We are in a strong position to continue to deliver our high-quality sustainable solutions, as well as a best-in-class efficiency to the market and to be a better place to work for our people.”