German paper and cardboard packaging manufacturer Klingele, which employs 3,000 people and has sales of ?820 million in 2019, has acquired the production site of Société guadeloupéenne de carton ondulé (SGCO). The packaging plant located in Guadeloupe belonged to the American group International Paper. The company now operates under the name Klingele Cartonnerie de Guadeloupe.
Located in Baillif, the corrugated cardboard factory is the only cardboard packaging factory on the island. The company of 40 employees produces mainly packaging for bananas and other fruits and vegetables, for the food industry and for the beverage trade of Guadeloupean and Martinican producers.
This is Klingele's second French site, along with the paper mill in Strasbourg, but the acquisition strengthens its position on the American continent. The group based in Remshalden near Stuttgart is already established in Cuba, where it operates three sites, and in Brazil, where it owns a factory.
The integration and expansion of the Guadeloupe site should be facilitated by the experience of Klingele Embalajes Canarias, a subsidiary of Klingele located in the Canary Islands. This Spanish corrugated plant also produces packaging for fruit and vegetables and has a similar customer structure, the group points out.
Klingele, an internationalization strategy
With Mauritania, Cuba, Brazil and Senegal, Klingele has opted for markets that are far from Europe, but which he believes are promising.
"The international markets we are expanding into do present challenges and risks, but they often offer significantly higher margins than our German home market." explains Jan Klingele, managing partner of Klingele Paper & Packaging Group. " Each of our plants and affiliates also makes an important contribution to our overall corporate strategy - and ultimately strengthens our market position in Germany as well."
