By Nina Ying Sun
ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR
Published: July 1, 2014 11:23 am ET
Updated: July 1, 2014 11:32 am ET
Image By: Albéa Group
Albéa Group's new packaging plant in Suzhou is the first to produce its full range of core products.
French packaging giant Albéa Group today announced the opening of its new plant in Suzhou, boosting its presence in China.
The Gennevilliers, France-based company said the 30,000-square-meter new facility is the only Albéa site to house the complete scope of its core expertise, including tubes, tubes, cosmetic rigid packaging — for items such as mascaras, lipgloss, compacts and bottles — and dispensing systems, each in a dedicated building.
Albéa Packaging (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. is a highly automated plant with integrated decoration and assembly capabilities. It currently employs 800.
The $14 million project was “built to a challenging 15-month schedule to optimize Albéa’s industrial footprint in China following its acquisition of Rexam Personal Care in January 2013,” the company said in a news release.
Albéa called the Suzhou site a center of excellence in mascara packaging, including brushes, and dispensing systems. Its four other factories in China — located in Zhongshan, Shenzhen and Shanghai — each is a center of excellence for a particular packaging. It also has two sales offices in China.
The company claims it offers the world’s largest range of beauty and personal care packaging, with leadership positions in plastic and laminate tubes, mascaras, lipsticks, samplers and foam pumps; and recognized expertise in fragrance and skincare dispensing pumps, fragrance and lotion caps, compacts, lipgloss, promotional items and accessories.
An affiliate of U.S.–based private investment firm Sun Capital Partners Inc, Albéa operates 38 manufacturing facilities in Europe, Asia and the Americas with a total workforce of 16,600. Its 2013 global sales totalled $1.5 billion. | 
