December 30 (SeeNews) - Romanian industrial packaging producer Promateris [BSE:PPL] said on Friday it plans to enter the paper packaging segment in 2022 by
developing a production facility, a project which will be finalised in 2023.
The company also plans to start the production of biodegradable and compostable raw materials based on corn starch in 2022, thus becoming the first company in Eastern Europe to produce raw materials based on corn starch, it said in a press release.
Promateris obtained a non-reimbursable financing of 744,000 euro for the production of corn starch based raw materials this year. The grant was offered by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
In 2022, Promateris also plans to continue investing in biomaterials in order to consolidate its position as a leader in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) by developing its production capacity for bio-based and compostable packaging.
In 2021, demand for biodegradable and compostable packaging produced by the company in the Buftea factory doubled. As a result, the company recorded a 66% annual increase in turnover for the first nine months of the year to 27.5 million euro ($31.1 million) and a consolidated EBITDA of over 4 million euro, up 112% on the year.
"During the last three years we have made investments of over 10 million euro in the development of biodegradable and compostable packaging and the recycling of bioplastic. Promateris is on an accelerated growth trend, and we will continue to invest in the company's development in order to improve performance, both by increasing the production capacity and by digitalizing our workflows," Promateris CEO Tudor Georgescu said.
In 2021, the group registered a 36% increase in biodegradable and compostable packaging segment production. The company plans to increase production in this segment by 40% in 2022, thus consolidating its position as a regional leader in CEE.
Promateris was founded in 1991 as Prodplast and was rebranded in November 2020.
Promateris shares traded 2.56% higher at 10 lei ($2.3/2.02 euro) as at 1032CET on Thursday on the main segment of the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
($=0.885 euro)