Frankson
Howard Walker, Staff Reporter
JAMAICA'S PACKAGING sector is all but dead, adding to the woes of an already battered manufacturing sector, local producers are reporting.
According to Derrick Reckord, general manager of Grace Kennedy Food International, local plants are hurting and in need of retooling.
"Today, 100 per cent of the glass bottles used for local products are imported. If we have to import the containers from Trinidad, Mexico, Costa Rica and the United States, then fill them and ship them back, how can we compete with the local firms in those countries?" he asked.
Doreen Frankson, president of the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA) acknowledged that it was a serious problem. "Packaging is pivotal to the manufacturing sector, because it is the first thing people see. That is what sells the good," she said.
She cited the need for Government funding to help revitalise the ailing sector. "We got no affordable funding for retooling of that sector. They are not efficient and the competitors have caught up and past us as a sector."
HEAVY PRICE
Ms. Frankson, who is also chief executive Officer (CEO) of EdgeChem Jamaica Ltd., dealers in automotive paints and furniture finishes, said the country would pay a heavy price if the problem was not addressed urgently.
She noted an example of shipments not reaching on time from Trinidad that created quite a panic in the manufacturing sector last December as there were no cartons in which to put the goods.
Since the closure of West Indies Glass in 2000, dealers in certain bottled products have been facing serious challenges in the packaging industry.
West Indies Glass collapsed after a failed attempt to get US$20 million in assistance from the Government to reorganise its operations and to modernise its facilities.
Steven Salmon, J. Wray and Nephew's Technical and Quality Services manager said the situation was very challenging.
"As a manufacturer, if you don't have large enough volumes to give to an overseas glass producer, it becomes difficult for them to manufacture for you and the cost becomes very high," he said. "However, we are fortunate that we purchase in large volumes. It's the small manufacturers who buy small volumes of glass that face a real challenge."
He bemoaned the fact that his company has to be importing glass bottles in which to re-export their products. "This kind of thing makes you less competitive," he said.
J. Wray and Nephew was, in fact, the owner of West Indies Glass, and in 1998 invited the Ansa McAl Group of Trinidad and Tobago, which successfully operated the Caribbean Glass plant, to invest in Jamaica's only glass manufacturing company.
The Ansa McAl Group bought 60 per cent of the shareholding in West Indies Glass but within two years, the company was closed and 130 workers were out of work.
Now most of Jamaica's glass imports are from Trinidad and Tobago.
Meanwhile, Red Stripe, dealers in bottled alcoholic beverages, are importing from Guatemala and Costa Rica.
Noel DaCosta, External Affairs director, said what was happening in the packaging sector was a reflection of what was happening in manufacturing in general. "If manufacturing is not growing then packaging won't either.
"We used to use a lot of locally produced partitions. Remember one time when we had beer in a fibre board carton. Now we've changed to plastic because it's more durable and convenient.
CHEAPER SOURCES
"Whereas the cardboard industry has taken a dip, the plastic industry benefited. We have to go where the most reliable and cheaper sources are. It's the whole matter of globalisation."
But apart from glass, the manufacturers say the carton and, to a lesser extent, metal plants are barely surviving and in need of retooling.
Michael Pickersgill, managing director of West Indies Pulp and Paper, the only surviving manufacturer of corrugated (cardboard box) and folding cartons, pointed out the domino effect the closure of West Indies Glass had on the packaging industry.
"The glass company is no longer in operation, so bottles have to be imported. There are imported in a box, which they reuse," said Pickersgill, whose company has been in the business for over 40 years. "They just fill the empty bottles and ship the product in the same box. As a result, a significant amount of business is was lost."
