The American corporation Ball is building a large plant in Pilsen for recyclable aluminum beverage cans for 170 million euros (almost 4.2 billion CZK). He wants to start production in two halls in the new industrial park at the turn of February and March next year, he wants to have all planned about 200 employees by December this year, Radek Mádr, CEO of Ball Beverage Packaging Czech Republic, he announced today. The plant, which will include a development center, will produce units of billions of beverage cans lower each year.
“We already have about 20 employees. Our operation is relatively very sophisticated and we need a longer training period, which can take three to six months,” said Mádr. The company is also hiring redundant workers from nearby Panasonic, which is ending production of televisions. The director believes that he will get all 200 regular staff members, from operators to inspectors to engineers, by the end of the year, because he says their salaries will be well above the median average salary in the region.
Ball has been producing cans with 160 people in Ejpovice near Pilsen for 26 years, but due to the very rapidly growing demand for recyclable packaging in the world, it had to invest in expansion. According to today’s representatives of the company, the most modern production of aluminum packaging in the Czech Republic will be established in Pilsen. “We are the largest manufacturer in the world and we were the first in the Czech Republic,” said Mádr. He did not mention specific customers due to competition, he only said that they will be the largest producers of beverages in the Czech Republic and due to the proximity of borders, a significant part will go to export.
The new plant, whose automated technologies will account for two-thirds of the value of the investment, will cover an area of over 100,000 sqm and can be further expanded by the investor. It is the first in the emerging 28-hectare Panattoni Pilsen Digital Park industrial zone between the premises of the former Škoda Plzeň and the Borská pole zone. “Half a kilometer away, on the former Škoda site, we already have a service center that operates for the whole of Europe. We employ 20 people there and recruit more. The volume of its activities for the whole of Europe will at least double in a few months to years,” said the director.
Source: Ball and CTK
