Amcor’s $13.5 million upgrade of the corrugated operation in Townsville

State Member for Townsville and Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly in Australia, Mike Reynolds, has officially commissioned the $13.5 million dollar upgrade of the Amcor Fibre Packaging Townsville production facility.

The upgrade has included a 3000 m² extension to the original facility, with a complete facelift of the facilities on the site.

The project has seen the replacement of an ageing corrugator with a Xitex corrugator, plus the introduction of a high volume die cutter, a new waste management system, as well as product wrapping and strapping facilities. Xitex is a patented product offering superior strength and performance to fruit and produce customers, and is the only facility of it’s type in the region.

This relocation has allowed the local production capacity of corrugated board in North Queensland to double, supplying 28,000,000 m² of fibre packaging to the market annually.

“Indeed a company such as Amcor, a significant and diversified global business, is perfectly located in our city of Townsville. I believe that Amcor has been in Townsville for 24 years and that this fibre packaging plant is unique in north Queensland. This recent expansion will add another layer of certainty of supply for north Qld customers by removing the freight demands currently built in to the delivery chain.” said Mike Reynolds.

The project has taken two years from conception and follows on from the $40 million spent by Amcor in creating one of the largest corrugating plants in the world at Rocklea, Brisbane QLD. Working commenced on the structure in October 2007, and finished in July this year.

Don Matthews, Chief Operating Officer, Amcor Australasia said on the day “The upgrade and investment enables us to service our north Queensland customer base with superior products, better lead times, and puts us in a great position to expand this business going forward.”

The upgrade will achieve significant improvements in operating efficiency and position the business to be the preferred packaging solutions provider through product leadership, superior customer service and operational excellence.

According to Amcor Australasia, major redevelopment of the Townsville site is a critical part of the major reinvestment plan for the Australian fibre packaging business.

The Amcor Queensland structure now has a regional manager on site in NQ responsible for the local sales and manufacturing team.

The Townsville plant produces a full range of corrugated boxes for the fruit & produce, agricultural, food, beverage and industrial sectors throughout Queensland and the northern territory.