D&I food can line to change European market balance?

The Canmaker
August 2008

Leading food can manufacturer Impress is building a two-piece steel D&I production facility at its Deventer plant in The Netherlands. Impress says the investment is aimed at meeting demand for standard low-cost 400g cans, mainly for the petfood and vegetables sectors.

It is the first project of its kind in Continental Europe where until now all cans of this size have used three-piece welded fabrication. With higher productivity,
the two-piece line potentially offers lower costs.

Impress chief executive Francis Labbé confirmed that the facility had been under construction since the beginning of the year. 'This important project will help us and our customers in the high volume and highly competitive 400g segment. Two-piece cans cost less than three-piece at certain volume levels. With our positive experience from the UK we are very confident this project, which is technically demanding, will be successful," he said.

Along with Crown, Impress is one of only two canmakers in Europe that is currently making two-piece D&I 400g cans with total production estimated at two billion. But production is all in the UK. Crown makes its cans at its Braunstone plant while Impress has a line at Sutton-in-Ashfield, a factory which was acquired from Alcan two years ago.

In contrast, the US market has much higher capacity for two-piece D&I steel food cans, much of which was converted from redundant D&I beverage can lines.

The project is well advanced and with a target capacity in excess of one billion cans a year production expected to begin in the third quarter. The line includes a Standun cupper, Standun bodymakers and a VMl washer.

Impress
t: +33 2 4348 5100