UK packaging producer Linpac (Featherstone; www.linpac.com) has entered into a collaboration with Saudi conglomerate Zultec (Jeddah; www.zultec.com) to set up a state-of-the-art PET thermoforming facility in the Saudi kingdom. Investment cost and start-up date were not disclosed, and by the time this article went to press Plasteurope.com had not heard back regarding its relevant query.

As part of the agreement, the two companies intend to set up a thermoforming plant in Jeddah that will supply Linpac’s range of rigid and flexible packaging materials to food processors and retailers in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Cooperation Council and other neighbouring countries. Commenting on the collaboration, Linpac CEO Daniel Dayan said it combines Zultec’s existing network in and knowledge of the Middle East with Linpac’s packaging portfolio and intellectual property. “We aim to continue to invest and develop the relationship by establishing further extrusion and thermoforming capabilities in the region as the business grows,” he added.

The location in Jeddah is close to two polymer processing hubs that already exist in Saudi Arabia – Rabigh Conversion Industrial Park and King Abdullah Economic City, both at the Red Sea. To complement its strength in the polymer production field, Saudi Arabia has begun taking concrete steps at boosting local processing activities as well (for an overview of the plastics industry in the GCC, see Plasteurope.com of 17.02.2015).