Australian packaging major Amcor was adamant yesterday that the timetable for its US$ 145 million push into wine-bottle manufacturing would not blow out after its glass technology partner, Heye-Glas o…
Australian packaging major Amcor was adamant yesterday that the timetable for its US$ 145 million push into wine-bottle manufacturing would not blow out after its glass technology partner, Heye-Glas of Germany, hit financial trouble. Heye-Glas, a privately owned group based in Obernkirchen with turnover of DM 500 million (US$ 425.5 million), was put into administration late last week. Amcor is attempting to break the monopoly held by ACI Glass Packaging, a subsidiary of the giant United States group Owens-Illinois, in wine-bottle manufacturing. Construction on an Amcor plant began on 24 May at a greenfields site near Gawler in South Australia, with Leighton Contractors to supply the finished plant on a turnkey basis using Heye-Glas technology. But industry observers in Europe speculate that the German group may be split into two separate businesses. Under that option, the profitable technology and engineering operations would continue as a stand-alone business and be quarantined from the manufacturing business, which has hit hard times. German newspapers said its financial crisis had been brought on by falling bottle prices, rising energy costs and the growing use of PET plastic bottles. The corporate affairs manager at Amcor, Mr John Murray, said the events at Heye-Glas would “have no impact on the timing of the glass plant”. He said the Heye-Glas division with which Amcor was dealing was a very strong and profitable operation. “Amcor has confidence in Heye-Glas and its technology,” he said. Industry sources said Amcor had signed agreements with all four of Australia“s big wine companies Foster“s Brewing Group, Southcorp, BRL Hardy and Orlando Wyndham to take varying amounts of premium product from the new plant, although ACI would continue to supply the industry“s high-volume requirements. The Amcor plant is scheduled to be completed in July 2002. At full capacity, it would produce about 200 million wine bottles a year, delivering sales revenue of about US$ 80 million. Heye-Glas is primarily a beer-bottle specialist and has a workforce of about 2,500 people. It operates plants in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and the US. The pool of companies with specific glass-plant technology expertise on the global stage has shrunk in the past decade or so, and the top three providers are believed to be Owens-Illinois, German group Emhart and Heye-Glas.