Ball Corp plans to build a one-line beverage can manufacturing plant in Myanmar, the American packaging and aerospace company’s officials said.
The plant, which is located in Yangon, is under a long-term contract to supply Coca-Cola Pinya Beverages, and the facility will also supply other local, regional and multi-national customers.
The facility is expected to begin production in mid-2015, the company said, without revealing the capacity and the financial terms of the plant.
“The demand for beverage containers in Southeast Asia is expected to continue to grow significantly over the coming years,” said John A Hayes, chairman, president and chief executive officer.
“The Myanmar plant will allow us to bolster our presence in this high-potential market with a relatively small investment, making it an ideal fit as part of our Drive for 10 growth strategy.”
Ball Corp said the move will complement its existing operations in Southeast Asia. The most recent was a joint venture plant in Vietnam, which began production in 2012.
“Ball is excited to bring its high-quality packaging and global sustainability practices to the Myanmar market,” said Gihan Atapattu, president, Ball Asia Pacific Ltd.
“Thanks to long-standing relationships, we are able to align the new plant’s capacity with the local filling needs of Coca-Cola Pinya Beverages and several other local, regional and multi-national customers.”
Ball Corp supplies packaging solutions for beverage, food and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the US government.
The firm and its subsidiaries have 14,500 employees worldwide and reported 2013 sales of $8.5 billion.
