American Biaxis (Winnipeg, Manitoba / Canada), a subsidiary of packaging company Winpak (Winnipeg; www.winpak.com), is expanding production capacity for biaxially oriented PA film (BOPA) from 11,000 t/y to 14,000 t/y at its site in Winnipeg. The packaging subsidiary is investing over USD 40m (EUR 33.2m) in the expansion, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2019.

A sister company of Finnish firm Biaxis (Lahti; www.biaxis.com), American Biaxis is majority owned by Winpak. The remaining shares are owned by Sojitz Pla-Net (Tokyo / Japan; www.sojitz-planet.com), which distributes BOPA film in North America. Trading company Sojitz Europe (Düsseldorf / Germany) markets Biaxis' films in Europe. Winpak says the additional BOPA capacities are intended primarily for the North American market.

Winpak produces flexible and rigid films and packaging solutions for food as well as for technical and medical applications. Sales in 2016 were approximately USD 822m, an increase of 3.2% against the previous year.