PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2020

PREFORM PRODUCTION PET planet Insider Vol. 21 No. 03/20 www.petpla.net 14 Goodbye to cans: preforms for CSD by Michael Maruschke April 2019 We met: Mr Rupnath Roy Chowdhury, Managing Director Mr Ekbal Hossain, Manager PET Division Mr Ratan Kumar Paul, Chief Commercial Executive Tour Sponsors: Cans & Closures now has an installed capacity of about 30 t/d, which is set to increase to around 40 t/d (15,000 t/a) from early 2020. It produces preforms on Krauss Maffei machines, including a few 60 cavity CV175-1900s and a 48 cavity CV 3500. A 96 cavity Husky pre- form machine is in the pipeline and should start producing preforms in the near future. Its major customers include some of the largest bever- age businesses in and around East- ern India, such as franchisees of Coca-Cola India; R.C. Cola; Bisleri; and other beverage and water man- ufacturers, as well as leading India FMCG, pharma and liquor compa- nies. The preform product range con- sists of clear and green preforms for hotfill, CSD and water, while the FMCG, pharma and liquor bottle range features various shapes and designs, from 30ml to 500ml. One of its main lines is a 24.21 g preform with PCO1810 neck for hotfill applica- tions, which is used for Maaza, one of Coca-Cola’s regional favourites. The preforms come with PCO1881 (CSD), PCO1810 (hotfill) & 29/25 (water) necks. Nitro Hotfill and seasonality According to Rupnath, the com- pany owns the only 16 g/1 l water mould in India that is suitable for the nitrofill process of filling 1 l Kinley Water. It was supplied by MHT Tooling. Rupnath explained the effect of seasonal changes on the beverage market in India. Demand for water is pretty constant, all year round, but the production peak for juice and CSD extends to four months from March to late May/early June – the annual hot season, preceding the monsoon. Cans & Closures has the capacity to manufacture preforms, blown bot- tles and the capability to produce bot- tles from single stage ASB machines. It is the only company in Eastern India that covers all four PET market seg- ments: beverage and water; pharma; liquor; and FMCG. It appears to be well-placed to further consolidate its leadership position in the Eastern India PET Market. Several years ago, “Cans and Closures” accurately reflected the product range of Cans & Closures Pvt. Ltd., which included aluminium ROPP closures and crown caps. But this is not the case anymore. When the price for PET came down to affordable levels, a little over 10 years ago, it fuelled a steady growth in demand for PET bottle and pre- forms. Rupnath Roy Chowdhury decided to diversify and, in 2008, started PET preform production, initially on a Krauss Maffei KM 175-3500CV injection moulding machine. The investment was a success; the company has grown strongly ever since, at a rate of around 10% annually over the last few years and 2019’s growth figure is forecast to be more than 20%. Rupnath considers his company to be the fastest growing preform manufacturer in Eastern India. F.l.t.r.: Ratan Kumar Paul, Ekbal Hossain and Rupnath Roy Chowdhury