Supplying Saigon
During last year’s Asia CanTech conference, delegates were invited to take a tour around Crown’s plant in Ho Chi Minh City. Alec Peachey reports
Anumber of can makers have announced expansion plans in Vietnam. Amongst them is Crown who last year announced plans to expand beverage can production capacity in all three of its existing facilities. Once completed Crown’s annual production capacity will increase by 700 million cans, bringing the total capacity for Crown in southern Vietnam to 2.7 billion cans.
When speaking to the general director of Crown’s plant in Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Minh Trung, and Mark Davies, business interface manager Asia Pacific for Crown, it is easy to understand why the company is taking these steps.
The pair took time out to show Asia CanTech delegates around the plant, which is set over 40,000m². The total size of the Vietnamese two-piece can market is currently 4.5 billion cans. Of this 60 per cent is made up of beer while 40 per cent is made up from soft drinks and retorts.
The Vietnamese market
The total population of Vietnam is approximately 89 million. Trung explained that the company has two other plants – in Dong Nai and Hanoi – which serve the marketplace. The Ho Chi Minh City plant serves both North and South Vietnam. Trung said: “The birth rate in Vietnam is approximately one million per year. We expect continued growth in the can market. Cans are becoming increasingly
popular compared to other packaging types.”
Davies agrees. “Overall the market is seeing some conversion from glass to cans,” he adds. “The big problem with glass is the transportation of it. It often gets smashed and broken.” Cans currently have about a 30 per cent share of the packaging mix for beer.
Jozef Salaerts, president of Crown’s Asia-Pacific Division, believes this figure will increase. Speaking to CanTech International after the tour, he said: “We are definitely seeing an increase in demand for beverage cans in Vietnam. Part of that comes from a higher disposable income among the country’s consumers. But beverage cans also offer several key benefits to both brand owners and consumers, which is contributing to the increase. For example, cans protect the quality of beverages by providing a powerful barrier against light and oxygen, helping extend shelf life and preserving freshness and taste.
“Beverage cans also enhance convenience for consumers with their portability and because they chill easily and stay colder for longer. Finally, the format is well received due to its strong sustainability profile. Beverage cans are 100 per cent recyclable and infinitely recyclable. They are also recycled at high rates around the world.”
Production and growth
More than 200 people work at Crown’s plant in Ho Chi Minh City. The plant has two can lines and two end lines.One can line has a 650 million capacity (with six CMB B5000 bodymakers, standard cupper, separate trimmers, die necking plus spin pre necking and flanging for 211/216 diameter 330 ml cans).
The other is a swing can line which has a 550 million capacity (with five CMB 5000 canmakers with integrated trimmers, standard cupper, die necking plus spin pre necking and flanging for 211/216 diameter 330 ml cans and 200/202 diameter 250 ml cans). There are two end lines with a 1.8 billion capacity (with multi die shell press high speed liners and three out conversion presses – one producing DRT SOT ends and one producing Stolle ends). “While the Vietnamese market has its own unique characteristics, in a general sense, the growth in Vietnam is certainly a reflection of what’s happening across Asia,” adds Salaerts. “I spoke earlier about higher disposable incomes of consumers and the attributes of beverage cans – those all have a hand in why the format is growing in popularity. Crown is committed to grow with its customers in promising emerging markets. Vietnam is one of those markets, with demand for beverage cans on the rise,” he sums up.
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