| By Linda Yao, Asia Manufacturing Pharma |
| Friday, 06 June 2008 |
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Hunan Jinjian Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd’s four new production lines of plastic bottles for large-volume infusion solutions were recently put into operation, increasing the company’s current production capacity of plastic infusion bottles by 120 million from 80 million to 200 million and making Jinjian Pharmaceutical the largest plastic infusion bottle manufacturer in China. |
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Jinjian Pharmaceutical is very likely to continue further expanding its production capacity of plastic infusion bottles as the fluid infusion market has begun transitioning from glass bottle to plastic bottle and non-PVC soft bag packaging since 2006. Glass bottles are currently being increasingly replaced by plastic bottles and non-PVC soft bags in the infusion packaging market.
A spokesperson for Jinjian Pharmaceutical said the company has been proactive in making decisions on the manufacturing of plastic infusion bottles and that it aims to dominate the infusion packaging markets in central China, including Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Hubei and Fujian provinces.
Jinjian Pharmaceutical launched a total of six plastic infusion bottle production lines between 2002 and |
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2006. Guangdong is one of the most important markets for the company, which is now focusing on the establishment of a sales network in the province.
Prior to 2006, glass bottles dominated the infusion packaging market, with a market share of 70 per cent, while plastic bottles and non-PVC soft bags occupied a combined share of only 30 per cent.
Data show there are now 26 pharmaceutical enterprises in China that have started a number of production lines making soft packaging materials for infusion solutions, including 13 soft bag production lines and 13 plastic bottle production lines, which are mainly located in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Hunan.
With the rapid development of these Chinese plastic infusion bottle manufacturers with expanded production capacity and high quality offerings, the country’s infusion packaging market is expected to face a new round of reshuffle in the near future.
In 2006, Shanghai Worldbest Treeful Pharmaceutical Group, in cooperation with a Malaysian pharmaceutical company, set up a joint venture producing soft packaging materials for infusion in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, with an annual production capacity of 2 million to 3 million bottles.
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Industry analysts said the replacement of glass bottle packaging with soft packaging is an overwhelming trend in the infusion market as glass bottles have many disadvantages as packaging materials for infusion, including bulkiness and breakage in transport, inconvenience of use and production methods that are not friendly to the environment.
On one hand, with increasing investment in the medical industry by the Chinese government, infusion solutions in soft packaging have moved from a high-end product to a general use one.
On the other hand, plastic bottles are closing the gap with glass bottles in terms of retail pricing thanks to the decreasing production costs of plastic bottles, they added.
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