The company plans to build a plant in China.

To respond to growing demand for beverage cans in China,Crown Holdings, Inc.(www.crowncork.com) announces plans to build a new two-piece beverage can plant in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Province in Southern China. With a population of 6.6 million, this prefectural city is strategically located, bordering Guangdong to the East and Yunnan to the West.

The new plant is expected to be operational by the end of Q2 2013 and have an initial annual production capacity of 750 million two-piece 33 centileters aluminum beverage cans. The plant will also have the ability to produce 50 centileters beverage cans.

“We are seeing the shift to metal packaging increase as brand owners seek to expand the reach of what used to be ‘local’ products across different provinces,” says Jozef Salaerts, President of CROWN Asia-Pacific. “The addition of the Nanning facility effectively expands our geographic footprint and allows us to better serve our customers.”

Crown currently has five beverage can plants operating in China. The company expects to begin production in Putian (Fujian Province), Ziyang (Sichuan Province) and Heshan (Guangdong Province) in 2012. By mid-2013, plants in Changchun (Jilin Province), XinXiang (Henan Province) and Nanning will begin production, giving Crown eleven plants across China.