Plant expansions: Hexcel opens facility in Morocco; Constantia invests in Vietnamese plant

Composite materials manufacturer Hexcel has opened a new facility at the MidParc Free Trade Zone in Casablanca. At the new US$20 million facility, Hexcel transforms lightweight honeycomb materials into engineered core parts that provide structural reinforcement for aerospace applications including aircraft structures, engine nacelles and helicopter blades. The site is expected to employ more than 200 people by 2020, and it made its first customer delivery last December.

The Moroccan plant is part of Hexcel’s ongoing worldwide investment to create a diversified and robust global supply chain to support aerospace customers’ growing demand for engineered core. In recent years, Hexcel has increased capacity at existing plants to support its engineered core business and plans further expansions to capture additional opportunities in a global market with growth potential.

Hexcel has customers in the area where its factory is situated, including Airbus, Boeing, Safran and Bombardier.

In other news, Constantia Flexibles Group is investing in new technology at its flexible packaging subsidiary in Vietnam to expand its product portfolio. Ho Chi Minh City-based Oai Hung Manufacturing Joint Stock Co. will install a new printing machine and a laminator that represent a single-digit million euro investment.

The wide printing machine will have reverse printing capabilities to serve new trends in the Home & Personal Care (HPC) and dairy lidding sectors. The duplex solvent-based adhesive laminator, which will be located in a clean room facility, is able to produce high-adhesion structures required for premium sachet and pouch laminates. The new technology is expected to go on stream during the second half of 2018.

“We are very happy with the integration of Oai Hung into our global network and the investment will open up new business opportunities in the buoyant Vietnamese and fast-growing Southeast Asia region,” said Pierre-Henri Bruchon, Executive Vice President and Head of the Pharma division. “The new technology will allow Oai Hung to diversify its leading foil-based pharmaceutical portfolio based on GMP standards.”

Constantia Flexibles’ Pharma division is the world’s second largest flexible packaging manufacturer for the pharmaceutical and HPC industries. It operates production sites in Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Belgium and Vietnam. In 2016, Constantia Flexibles acquired 51% of Oai Hung, which is Vietnam’s largest supplier of aluminium-based blister foil.

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(PRA)