German SCHOTT has held a ground-breaking ceremony for its greenfield pharmaceutical glass tubing plant in Jinyun, Zhejiang. The technology group’s capacity expansion comes at a time when China is aspiring to become an innovative global powerhouse.
The pharmaceutical sector plays a particular role within China’s innovation roadmap, which is moving from manufacturing generics to new drug development. This shift is further underlined by the “Healthy China 2030” initiative. Subsequently, there is a high demand for premium pharmaceutical packaging made out of Type I pharmaceutical glass in the local market.
The demand for high-quality drug packaging products is further underlined through government initiatives and ever-growing patient safety standards. The new plant will enable SCHOTT to participate in the advancement of the Chinese pharmaceutical packaging industry. SCHOTT will invest €60 million in the first phase to install a yearly capacity of up to 20,000 tons. The production is scheduled to start at the end of 2020.
The new plant will supply the Chinese domestic pharmaceutical packaging market to aid its development. “We believe that healthy people make for a thriving society,” said Dr Patrick Markschläger, Executive VP of SCHOTT Business Unit Tubing. “SCHOTT has the experience, heritage and foresight to help make China’s vision “Healthy China 2030” become reality.”
The plant will manufacture FIOLAX glass tubing, which is a 5.0 middle borosilicate glass. Hence, the manufacturing site will support the move away from the low borosilicate glass (so called 7.0 glass type) to the higher quality middle borosilicate glass (so called 5.0 glass type), which is already well established globally. Production will be based on SCHOTT’s unique perfeXion process with 100% quality control of each individual tube and in accordance with the worldwide quality criteria of SCHOTT Tubing.
On the significance of this new plant, Ms Cai Hong, Chief Secretary of CNPPA remarked that “SCHOTT’s efforts in advancing pharmaceutical packaging safety in China is greatly welcomed. We look forward to SCHOTT’s participation and leadership in providing localised products and services for the Chinese market, as it is an excellent opportunity for mutual learning and sharing of expertise.”
The plant in Jinyun is an important link in deepening the global footprint for SCHOTT and will function as a manufacturing hub for the fast-growing Chinese market. As the plant moves towards completion, SCHOTT welcomes qualified professionals to join the team.