Freund starts up board plant

BRUSSELS, June 20, 2008 (RISI) - Freund has started production at a new converting plant, its fourth, in Nordhausen, Thuringia, in eastern Germany.

The site houses three new corrugators as well as box-making equipment relocated from the firm's facility in Georgsmarienhütte, Lower Saxony, in northwestern Germany. The Georgsmarienhütte plant now focuses on solid board packaging. The Euro 8.1 million ($12 million) investment increased the firm's packaging output from 13 million sheets/yr to 24 million sheets/yr.

The project is part of Freund's strategy to become a leading packaging supplier by 2015, with a turnover of some Euro 100 million.