Plastic canisters producer AST Kunststoffverarbeitung (Erndtebrück / Germany; www.ast-kunststoffkanister.de) is investing about EUR 3m in a capacity expansion at its main plant at group headquarters. The money will go towards a new 4,500 m² storage hall, due to be completed before the end of this year. The additional space will make room in the production hall for additional blow moulding machines as well as the related automation technology, a company spokesperson told Plasteurope.com. The expansion will create about five new jobs at the site.

The German group, which specialises in the production of canisters used to transport dangerous goods, is also investing in a capacity expansion at its plant in Wrexham / UK. The GBP 3.5m (about EUR 4.5m) new 4,500 m² addition to the existing site will double its space, and is intended to house both storage and production capacities. AST plans to hire six new staff for Wrexham.

The company posted sales of EUR 90m in 2015, which it says constitutes a “double-digit percentage” increase over 2014. AST said it is happy with the way business has developed in Q1 this year, but did not provide concrete figures. The company specialises in the manufacture of HDPE containers used to transport dangerous goods, and caters mostly to the chemicals, foodstuffs and oil industries. Its 160 employees are spread across plants in Erndtebrück, Wrexham and Hoogstraten / Belgium.