Packaging giant Alcan (www.alcan.com) will make an initial investment of US$10 million in the Indian flexible-packaging market by building and equipping a new converting facility in the BHEL Industrial Park in Haridwar, Northern India. The site, which is expected to be operational by year's end, will supply the rapidly growing Indian food and personal-care markets, Alcan says. “This investment, the first for Alcan Packaging in India, demonstrates the company's continuous commitment to investing and growing in emerging markets by anticipating its customers' expanding needs in the region,” says Ilene Gordon, president and CEO of Alcan Packaging. In Asia, Alcan is already present in 10 countries with 27 sites, employing 6,500 people.

The Films Business of ExxonMobil Chemical (www.oppfilms.com) says Feb. 12 that it plans to significantly increase production of specialty oriented polypropylene (OPP) films at its plant in LaGrange, GA. The site will be upgraded via a multimillion-dollar, proprietary equipment investment to increase North American capacity for multilayer white OPP films, the company says. The upgrade is a continuation of ExxonMobil Chemical's strategy to invest in specialty assets for its OPP-films business. Since 2002, the company has added two new state-of-the-art orienters, a new coater and two new metallizers in its affiliated worldwide OPP-film manufacturing facilities.