Hekro PET to produce new barrier food film
Ukrainian packaging producer Hekro PET is reported to be preparing to manufacture a new barrier food packaging film by the end of this year.
Hekro is based in Khmelnitsky, Ukraine, and is a specialist in PET bottle preforms and polyethylene stretch film.
The company was planning to launch its new barrier film - claimed to be the first such product produced in the Ukraine - next month, according to Ukrainian investment company Alfa Capital.
The former Soviet country currently imports all barrier film for use in wrapping meat and other fresh food from Western European countries.
Alfa Capital believed Hekro will benefit from being the Ukraine's first domestic manufacturer of barrier flexible packaging. It is unlikely to be challenged immediately by other local film producers because of the higher technology required for such a development, the investment firm predicted.
In 2006, Hekro installed a high speed 5-layer cast stretch film line supplied by Battenfeld Gloucester Europe GmbH.
The Ukrainian firm is a leading bottle preform producer employing Husky injection moulding machines. It is a major supplier to the Ukraine's beverage sector.