Coveris expands global packaging empire

Global plastic packaging company Coveris has moved into South America with the acquisition of Olefinas.

Olefinas is an agricultural plastics company with operations in Guatemala and Mexico and will support Coveris’ agricultural packaging production. It will be rebranded as Coveris-Olefinas.

The company manufactures a range of plastic products for the banana industry, as well as mulch and fumigation films, insect traps, modified atmospheric packaging and shrink films.

It is the second new geographic market Coveris has entered in the past six weeks. It bought NZ$42m (£20m) -turnover Elldex, a manufacturer and importer of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) flexible plastic packaging in last month. The New Zealand business also caters to the agricultural sectors, alongside the horticulture, meat, dairy and seafood sectors.

Coveris chief executive Gary Masse said: “We consistently look for opportunities to better serve our growing customer base and expand our market reach."

Olefinas employs more than 600 employees across its two locations in Guatemala City, Guatemala and San Luis Potosi, Mexico. 

Last year Coveris acquired two UK firms, St Neots Packaging and Learoyd Packaging. The company has global sales of around US$2.8bn (£1.84bn) and employs more than 10,000 staff worldwide.