



The United Kingdom’s Ashmore Fund will invest $80 million in setting up the first aluminium and steel can manufacturing plant in Pakistan.





The factory will be set up in the Faisalabad Industrial Estate, said the Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amer Salemi, while talking toHe said it will be the first-ever international-standard tin packaging plant in Pakistan.Ashmore Fund has already registered as a company in Pakistan with the name of Pakistan Aluminium Beverage Cans Limited.The UK-based company has bought 24 acres of land to install the mega unit of tin packaging, he added. Currently, Pakistan meets its tin packaging requirements through imports.In September 2014, Ashmore Head of Research Jan Dehn had disclosed his intention to establish the plant in a meeting with Board of Investment Chairman Dr Miftah Ismail.The plant will have an expected annual capacity of over 700 million cans. In due course, the plant may be expanded to an annual capacity of over 1.2 billion cans and will manufacture a range of standard and speciality beverage cans for Pakistan and Afghanistan markets. Major customers in both the markets also support Ashmore’s investment plans.The metal cans manufacturing plants are much needed by Pakistan beverage companies that are importing these products from abroad.This would lessen the cost of production for the beverages companies. Salemi said most of the beverages tin-packed items are imported from Dubai.FIEDMC’s CEO added due to the expanding size of the food and beverage industry, metal packaging can occupy more than 50% of the packaging market share.With the availability of metal packaging, many cardboard, paper packaging and glass bottles may also convert into metal packaging with affordable prices, he added.Salemi said the metal packaging could be easily recycled and reused by melting used metal waste. Additionally, the metal cans preserve the food and drinks quality for a longer period.He added the metal can market is expanding along with the country’s purchasing power.Salemi said perishable foods can now be stored for longer time in these types of metal and aluminium cans. This could result in higher revenue for the metal cans manufacturing unit.FIEDMC is providing all the basic facilities to local and foreign investors in the industrial estate. Its CEO said Pakistan was facing multiple challenges including the energy crisis and his company was trying to ensure uninterrupted electricity and gas supply to facilitate the investors.Salemi said many national and international companies have shown keen interest in investing in FIEDMC. Dozens of industrial units have become operational in the industrial estate and others were busy installing their units.The industrial park is spread over 4,500 acres of land and offers all the necessary facilities at one location. Companies from all across the globe including UAE, UK and China are investing in the estate.

Shandong Ruyi Group of China is investing $2 billion in a spinning unit at the industrial estate, said FIEDMC’s CEO.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8, 2016.