Mondi Group, South Africa, reported that it will reinforce its heavy duty corrugated capabilities in Europe with investments in its Mondi Simet plant near Poznań, Poland. A 2.8 meter corrugator with three single facers will be installed, expanding Mondi Simet’s product portfolio to heavy duty corrugated items and providing a wider choice for its customers in the region. A 2.40 meter box maker with a stitching unit will also be installed for heavy duty conversions, allowing short production runs with boards up to six meters in length.

Customers in the furniture, automotive, aviation, and chemical industries will benefit from optimized packaging for heavy or voluminous goods, logistics, as well as overseas shipping, Mondi noted. The extended portfolio will include, for example, mono and multi material constructive packaging, Octabins for bulk packaging, and large volume corrugated containers, including pak-(k)it® and stac-pac® pallet boxes. The paper based solutions have proven to be a superior alternative to heavier and more rigid systems, such as those made from metal or wood. Mondi Simet will work in close cooperation with Mondi’s heavy duty plant in Ansbach, Germany, which has a wealth of experience in operations and design with regard to tailored heavy duty products.

 

Grzegorz Kulesza, regional manager Poland, at Mondi, said that "the project is scheduled to be completed in Q3, 2017, and represents Mondi Simet’s entry into the heavy duty corrugated segment in Poland. The investment will allow Mondi to provide even greater support to the wider Polish corrugated market, where it already enjoys a market leading position, and will quickly increase the plant's production volume capability to up to 200 million sq. meters per year."