PETpla.net Insider 11 / 2014

BOTTLING / FILLING 21 PET planet insider Vol. 15 No. 11/14 www.petpla.net APU, Mongolia’s largest beverage producer, has been upgrading its facilities and production capacity in partnership with Krones Krones refreshes APU’s Mongolian operations APU, Mongolia’s largest beverage producer, operates a vodka distillery with an annual capacity of 200,000 hectoli- tres and an 80,000 hectolitre milkpowder-to-liquid plant, as well as production lines for fresh and UHT milk, yoghurt, soft drinks, fruit juices, still water and the country’s first carbon- ated water facility. Its range of twelve branded beers make it Mongolia’s largest brewer, with 52% market share. APU has expanded its business and broadened its product range significantly since 2009 and has undertaken four major pro- jects, in partnership with Krones AG. APU has been produc- ing its PET preforms in-house since 2012, on two injection- moulding machines with a combined annual capacity of 80 million units. The first project was the design and installation of the country’s first canning line, in 2009. It is now run- ning at its full 15,000cph capacity, on three shifts. APU already had a PET bottling line but, with an output of just 6.000bph, it was unable to keep pace with rising demand. Mongolia has embraced PET packaging with enthusiasm. “In rural areas, especially, PET containers are popular. They’re easy to transport, they don’t break and they can be re-used, for example, for stor- ing fermented mare’s milk, Mongo- lia’s national drink”, Project Director Avirmed Mendbayar explained. Krones installed a complete Kosme line, rated at 12,000 contain- ers an hour, combined with labelling technology. A rotary Kosme KSB 6R APU is Mongolia’s largest brewer. It has been using PET bottles for its beer since Q3 2012.