Cosmo Films, the leading BOPP (bi-axially oriented polypropylene) film manufacturer, has announced its plans to install a new 10.4-metre wide BOPP line in Karjan near Vadodara in Gujarat in early 2017. The new 60,000 line from Bruckner will increase the company’s annual BOPP production capacity from 140,000 to 200,000 metric tonnes. “It is the highest tonnage line available as of date. We have brought in many features to keep the variable costs for operating this line really low,” says Pankaj Poddar, CEO, Cosmo Films. Cosmo has five BOPP lines in its Waluj plant in Aurangabad and one BOPP line at Shendra in Aurangabad. Altogether including the two lines in Karjan, the company presently has eight BOPP lines in addition to plants in Choognam in Korea and Hagerstown, USA for producing thermal films.
The Karjan plant already houses BOPP lines, extrusion coating and chemical coating lines and a metallizer. The new BOPP line at Karjan is an advanced high speed line equipped with automated changeovers that increase power savings and maximize overall operational efficiencies. Poddar says, “We are anticipating strong demand for BOPP packaging films in the coming years, especially from the FMCG sector which prompts us to expand our BOPP production capacity.”
BOPP films which offer high strength, elasticity, high barrier properties, resistance to various corrosive environments, and inertness go into the making of flexible food packaging, adhesive tapes, labels and lamination applications. According to Poddar, BOPP is a versatile and cost efficient material for flexible packaging, “Its properties can be changed in several ways which you cannot do with other kinds of films.”
In the company’s press release, Poddar is quoted as saying, “The output for the production unit is intended for both domestic and export markets. Our expansion plans are also aligned with government’s Make in India project which aims at boosting home grown manufacturing companies. Cosmo Films remains committed in its efforts to develop the sector and set new industry benchmarks.”
