UFlex Ltd, India’s largest multinational flexible packaging and solutions company, is close to commissioning three major projects across India, Egypt and Mexico.
The company is nearing completion of a 12-billion-pack expansion of its aseptic liquid packaging facility in Egypt, a 40,000-tonne recycling plant in India, and an 80-billion-bag woven polypropylene (WPP) manufacturing facility in Mexico, said its group Executive Vice President (Finance) Sumeet Kumar said during an earnings call.
“We are almost at the end of commissioning these three major projects. With these becoming operational, it will be a function of improving EBITDA, and that should significantly reduce overall leverage,” Kumar said.
He added that the company expects leverage to peak at current levels as the capex cycle reaches its final phase and earnings begin to improve.
UFlex currently derives about 44% of its revenue from India, while overseas markets contribute 56%. Egypt and Mexico are emerging as key growth drivers outside India.
Once fully operational, the three new facilities are expected to generate incremental revenue of ₹2,000–2,500 crore annually at full capacity utilisation, with margins likely in the high teens. Kumar said utilisation would ramp up gradually, with 60–70% capacity use expected in the next fiscal year.
In aseptic packaging, UFlex currently has an annual capacity of 8.5-billion-pack, largely serviced by its Sanand plant, which was expanded from 7 billion to 12 billion packs. The Egypt facility is expected to cater primarily to overseas demand.
According to Kumar, Egypt was chosen due to its stable tariff regime and strong trade relations with major markets such as the US and the European Union.
“Egypt serves as a strategic gateway to markets that were not being fully catered to earlier. The India and Egypt facilities will be complementary rather than competing,” he said.
The company has residual capital expenditure of around ₹350 crore for the Egypt aseptic plant, ₹110–120 crore for the recycling facility in Noida, and additional spending planned for the BOPP plant in Dharwad over the next year.
UFlex operates a fully integrated packaging ecosystem, spanning virgin and recycled PET chips, BOPET, BOPP, CPP and specialty films, inks, adhesives, holography solutions and engineering equipment.
At the downstream level, it offers flexible laminates, pouches, tubes and aseptic liquid packaging cartons to global FMCG, food and beverage, pharmaceutical and personal care brands.
During the quarter and nine-month period, performance was impacted by macroeconomic factors including US tariff-related uncertainty in international markets and GST rationalisation in India. Despite these challenges, the company focused on operational discipline, product mix optimisation and cost efficiency.
The aseptic liquid packaging business recorded steady growth, with volumes rising 2.3% YoY to 1.8 billion packs during the period.
UFlex expects total aseptic packaging sales to reach about 8.5 billion packs in the next fiscal year, subject to demand conditions in the food and beverage industry.