Crown Holdings has announced that the group will be going to build a new production facility for the production of beverage cans in Brazil. The estimated 50 million dollar investment has been launched in order to be able to follow the fast growing demand of packaging materials including beverage cans in the region.

According to Crown Holdings the new plant will be operated by the Brazilian comany Crown Embalages which is part of the Crown Group. It is designed to enlarge the group's yearly can production capacity by 700 million beverage cans by end of 2008.

As a result of the extreme price increase for aluminium in the world market also the price for aluminium containing packaging materials has been increased recently. Therefore the packaging industry has come under pressure in regards to prices. Crown officials say that by means of supplying additional low cost cans to the market the beverage producing industry may be reliefed a little in this respect.

The new can factory will be build in the Northeast of Brazil. It will be the third production facility of the Crown Group in the country besides the groups factories situated in Manaus and Cabreuva.

Frank Mechura, president of Crown's America division stated that the new can manufacturing capacities would be required in order to come up with the rising demand from beverage manufacturers and filling plants in the country. He added that there is a strong demand for aluminium beverage cans in Brazil and that this trend will be continued in the future as a result of the growing Brazilian economy.

Therefore the expansion of beverage can production capacities is to be understood as the only logical result in regards to the growing market demands. Crown also stated that they are thinking of increasing their can production capacities in Spain as well, following the growing demand for canned beverages in the Southwest European beverage markets.