US transport packaging specialist Greif (Delaware, Ohio; www.greif.com) has announced that it will enter into a 50:50 flexible products joint venture with National Scientific Company, a subsidiary of the Dabbagh Group Holding (Jeddah / Saudi Arabia; www.dabbagh.com). The deal still has to meet regulatory approval.

The joint venture hopes to build a woven polypropylene fabric manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia to manufacture finished flexible containers. Commenting on the new venture, Greif CEO Michael Gasser said that “the extension of Greif’s product portfolio to include flexible woven polypropylene packaging enables us to diversify deeper into markets such as the food and pharmaceutical industries.”

Greif recently took over the flexible products business of Storsack (Viernheim / Germany; www.storsack.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 27.01.2010 – which will be integrated into the new jv.