Taghleef Industries (Ti), which recently acquired European packaging films producer Radici Film, takes another step forward in capacity expansion with a new production line scheduled to come on stream this year in Oman.
The Oman plant will add 35,000 tonnes per year to Ti’s current capacity of approximately 290,000 tonnes. As well as Radici’s two production sites in Italy and Hungary, Ti has three manufacturing facilities in the UAE, Oman and Egypt and holds 50 per cent equity in Shorko Australia plus a dedicated warehousing and distribution centre in Germany.
Ti’s main shareholders are Shuaa Capital and Al Ghurair Group.
The merger of Radici Film into Ti was announced at the Interpack exhibition in Dusseldorf, Germany, in late April. Radici’s Italian facility will be called Ti Italy and the Hugarian one Ti Hungary.
The Radici plants added around 155,000 tonnes to Ti’s international capacity.
Ti’s joint venture with Shorko took effect at the end of 2007 following the acquisition of 50 per cent of equity shares from Hastings Fund Management.
TI manufactures bi-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) and cast polypropylene (CPP) films for packaging, labelling and other applications. The product range includes transparent BOPP, pearlised and white BOPP, metallised BOPP, transparent CPP, metallised CPP and white CPP. The main business comes from BOPP films.
Ti has expanded its product portfolio to high-barrier metallised films and other specialty films like wrap around or in-mould labelling film.
The company has grown to a multi-national firm of a size of approximately $500 million, exporting to some 70 countries including markets in Central America, South America, North America, Asia, Oceania and Africa.
“Ti expanded through providing a better service to its customers, developing a wider sales network and being in close contact with all its customers,” said its chief sales and marketing officer Patrick Weber.
While acquisitions and new products have put Ti in the top league of BOPP producers and with international demand for packaging film remaining strong (Weber estimates the Gulf growth alone at 8 per cent), rapidly increasing raw material costs are causing concern. Weber said costs constituted “one of the biggest difficulties.”
Raw materials including homopolymers, copolymers and special additives are sourced from suppliers in the GCC region, Europe, and Asia.
“The challenge remains to balance operational efficiency with customer satisfaction. Ti is committed to continue its growth and invest into building up its organisation and capabilities,” commented Weber.
The company’s BOPP and CPP films follow quality standards of ISO 9001-2000 and comply with HACCP, AiB and BRC certifications. 
“Our commitment is to provide the packaging industry with outstanding products and services, through reliable and consistent quality films.  We help our customers create the most competitive packaging solutions,” said Weber.
At the time Ti announced the takeover of Radici Film, Ti chairman Rashid Al Ghurair said : “Radici Film’s expertise, their strong technical and product development capabilities and their locations will benefit all our customers around the globe. Ti are going global and we need to make our products available locally, regionally and globally to serve all of our customers’ needs worldwide.”
Al Ghurair also said Ti had in the pipeline plans for further addition to its capacity.
Whle Radici Film’s technical capabilities and substantial capacity were key factors in the acquisition, the fact that Ti had better access to raw material capacity was also an important factor.
The CEO of Radici Film described the union as one between “two committed players with proven track records.” The match between Ti and Radici Film was a promising one and would create a new growth dynamic for all involved, he said.
The development was seen as another example of the worldwide shift of the petrochemical industry into the Middle East and the region’s gradual transformation as a production hub for polymers and plastics.