Schott investing further in its pharma glass tubing factory in Jinyun, China, which supplies Type I middle borosilicate glass tubing for the production of vaccine containers. The plant was inaugurated a year ago, and has since reached 100% capacity. Now, capacity is set to be increased further still. "With a new investment of €70m, we are extending our supply hub for the Chinese market," announced Patrick Markschläger, Executive VP of Schott Business Unit Tubing.
The factory processes a reliable supply of specialty glass tubing, required owing to the steadily increasing global demand for pharma packaging. 250 jobs have been created at the Jinyun site so far.
The groundbreaking of the tanks is scheduled for the beginning of next year, and they will go into operation in 2023. Schott has invested some €130m into the Chinese tubing plant so far, part of the group's $1bn global pharma business investment programme.
Specialty glass tubing to manufacture pharma containers for drugs and vaccines requires special skills in melting and processing. Fiolax Pro is highly inert and protects sensitive drugs from unwanted drug-container interactions. The material is a 5.0 Type I middle borosilicate glass and supports the strategy of the Chinese government to move away from the low borosilicate glass (7.0 glass).
