Glass packaging manufacturer Consol has increased its total manufacturing capacity by 12% to 950,000/tpa across its five facilities in South Africa. Its new R1.9BN manufacturing plant in Nigel, which was officially launched recently, has the capacity to produce 110,000/tpa. Should demand increase in future, the energy efficient-designed plant could increase its capacity to 600,000/tpa, group operations director Brian Roger said. The plant currently operates one furnace, but it could operate six furnaces. Bringing a second furnace online when market conditions allow, would cost R600M and take less than 9m to install and commission. Once the second furnace is complete, Consol's annual production will increase by a further 25%, taking its total capacity to over one million/tpa, which is equivalent to about 4BN glass containers. The company has injected an estimated R50M into the greater Nigel area, and created a further 180 jobs with the new manufacturing plant in Pretoriusstad.
