Packaging solutions reached €8.0bn in net sales in 2009, an increase of 1.8% over 2008, while sales of processing solutions declined 3.8% in comparable terms to €917m during this period.
Double-digit growth in South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Sub-Sahara Africa drove the rise in packaging solutions’ sales, while East Europe and Central Asia were the most affected by the economic downturn, experiencing a 12.2% decline in net packaging sales year-over-year.
Though buoyed by a strong order backlog, sales of processing solutions were impacted by the difficult environment for capital equipment. Overall, group sales strengthened in the fourth quarter of 2009, increasing by 5.7% from the year-ago quarter.
In 2009, Tetra Pak continued its planned investment in new plant and equipment around the world, inaugurating its new packaging material plant in Hohhot, Northern China, which operates completely on power from renewable resources.
The €60m plant brings total investment in the country to €250m, with a total capacity of approximately 50bn packs a year in its four Chinese plants.
Also last year, Tetra Pak acquired the assets of Scanima A/S Mixer Division from Denmark-based Scanima A/S. And, in a first move towards using green polyethylene in the carton packaging industry, Tetra Pak announced an agreement with Braskem SA, the largest Brazilian petrochemical company, to purchase limited volumes of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) derived entirely from a renewable feedstock.
Source: Tetra Pak
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