West Breaks Ground on China Mfg. Plant

West Pharmaceutical Services hosted a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction for a compression molding plant in the Shanghai Qingpu Industrial Zone (SQIZ) in China. The new plant will be adjacent to West’s injection molding facility, which was dedicated in September 2009.

The 11,900-sq.-m. plant will manufacture components used for pharmaceutical packaging, supplying customers primarily in China and the Asia-Pacific region. It is slated to begin production in January 2013.

“West is experiencing an exciting period of growth in the Asia-Pacific region and we are proud to begin our second manufacturing facility in China,” said Donald E. Morel, Jr., West’s chairman and chief executive officer. “This facility is being established to provide better service to our customers in China, offering shorter lead times for delivery of our world-class pharmaceutical packaging products and creating new, flexible capacity to meet the growing needs of new customers in China and throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Our investment in this new facility demonstrates our commitment to and confidence in the China market.”