Plastics: Austrian Company opens Mexico plant to serve Lego, springboard to Americas

Panoramic view of Monterrey, Mexico

From PlasticsNews.com

MONTERREY, MEXICO (Dec., 2010) -- Greiner Packaging International GmbH of Kremsmünster, Austria, plans to use a new $3 million production facility in northern Mexico as a springboard to expand both in Latin America and the United States.
According to company spokeswoman Claudia Steinkogler, Greiner inaugurated Greiner Assistec SA de CV, in the municipality of Apodaca, close to Monterrey, on December 1st. Greiner Assistec is a Greiner Packaging International division, active primarily in the toy, automotive and printing machinery packaging sectors. The Monterrey plant is Greiner Assistec’s first outside Europe, where it also has manufacturing operations in Austria and the Czech Republic, according to Steinkogler, assistant to Gerald Bernecker, the new company’s managing director.

Greiner’s clients in Mexico include international toy company Lego A/S, of Billund, Denmark, which last month announced a $100 million-plus expansion of its production plant near Monterrey, which opened in March 2009.
Bernecker, who was unavailable for comment, has been quoted elsewhere in reports in Mexico saying that Greiner decided to locate the plant in the Monterrey area because of Lego’s presence there. Steinkogler told Plastics News on Dec. 13 that Lego’s move influenced its plant selection process.

Asked whether Greiner will seek to expand its business beyond Mexico, Steinkogler replied: “Yes, definitely in other markets in the United States and Latin America.” She said Monterrey’s geographical location was a major factor in Greiner’s decision to move there after starting a search in December 2009. The plant, which employs 30, is 130 miles north of the U.S. border town of Laredo, Texas.