PACKAGING BRIEFS Tuesday, Feb 15

Afa consolidates business with expansion and R&D success
Afa Dispensing Group (Afa) has doubled its production capacity to meet steadily growing demand from customers for its packaging and dispensing solutions. Demand for its sprayer products continued to broaden with sales in the U.S. market increasing by 100 percent, while new product development based on the company’s proprietary Flair dispensing platform expanded into new fields. Afa closed the year with a sustainable double-digit growth for its sprayer business.

Constar receives final approval of its debtor-in-possession financing
Constar Intl Inc. announced that on February 1, 2011 the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware granted final approval of the company's $55 million debtor-in-possession ("DIP") financing and authorization to enter into exit financing agreement. the company previously received interim approval of the DIP financing facility from the Court on January 13, 2011.

M-real  to make multimillion euro investment  in folding boxboard plants
M-real Corp., part of Metsäliitto Group, plans to increase the annual folding boxboard capacity of two  mills in Finland by a combined total of approximately  70,000 tons. The combined value of the planned investments in the towns of Äänekoski and Kyröskoski is approximately EUR 30 million. The Kyroskoski investment is planned to be completed in late 2011 and the Äänekoski investment in spring 2012.

Sepha seals six figure global deal to supply water-test packs
Sepha Ltd., a deblistering and leak testing company, has won a new contract to supply an international consortium involved in a ground-breaking water testing project called Aquatest. The company will use its blister packing and leak testing machines, EZ Blister II and Blisterscan, in a newly constructed 'clean lab' at its Dundonald headquarters to leak test 50,000 blister packs containing Aquatest's active ingredients. 

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