Australia“s Gawler-based glassmaker Amcor Glass, which has been supplying wine bottles to customers since 2002, has signed an agreement with South Australian family brewer Coopers for the supply of b…
Australia“s Gawler-based glassmaker Amcor Glass, which has been supplying wine bottles to customers since 2002, has signed an agreement with South Australian family brewer Coopers for the supply of beer bottles, enabling it to commission a third furnace at Gawler. The furnace was commissioned in April and started production for Coopers in late July. Amcor Glass business development manager Mark Ogden estimated that annual plant capacity would be 380 million beer bottles, with more than 120 million for Coopers. Coopers managing director Tim Cooper said the Amcor contract was more competitive than previously and allowed for bottles to be supplied on a just-in-time basis, rolling directly from the delivery truck to the bottling line without need for storage on site. Ogden estimated that US Owens-Illinos, which bought ACI Glass in 1998, had an annual production of 2.5 billion beer bottles in Australia. Running at full capacity, the Gawler beer manufacturing plant would give Amcor 15% of the beer bottle market.