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Pharma packaging shores up foothold

Sayeda Akter
The pharmaceutical industry is fast becoming self-sufficient in packaging and meets more than 90 percent of the need, which was previously importdependent.
Industry people said the local packaging industry is growing at a rate of 10 percent a year. Simultaneously, pharmaceutical companies are sourcing most primary and secondary packaging from local manufacturers.
They said the packaging industry is divided into two types -- primary and secondary. Primary packaging includes blisters (tablet strip), aluminium foil printing, glass and pet (plastic) bottles, PVC film, bottle caps, saline bags and flips of seal. Bottle labels, plastic wrapper, cardboard boxes and wooden cartons are part of the secondary packaging industry.
The packaging industry is growing fast in mainly three categories: manufacturing of glass and plastic bottles, cardboard and printing.
It started developing in 1982 when the National Drug Policy'was laid out and the local pharmaceutical industry started gaining momentum. However, the industry started growing at the present rate in the last decade, said industry people.
The market size of the pharmaceutical packaging industry stands at around Tk 500 crore a year, which is 7 percent of the pharmaceuticals' total market size, according to an estimate.
AM Faruque, managing director of Eskayef Bangladesh Ltd, said the packaging industry has developed a lot, now meeting more than 90 percent of the domestic need.
"The growth of the packaging industry is closely linked to the advancement of the local pharmaceutical industry," he said.
"The growing packaging industry helped local pharmaceuticals save on the cost of packaging
material imports," Faruque said. "But now, local companies are producing all types of primary and secondary packaging, except PVDC film and aluminium foil."
PVDC film, or commonly known as transparent foil, is mainly used in making capsules, while aluminium foil is used in producing strips for capsules or tablets.
Eskayef has been growing at a rate of 30 percent a year, which also indicates growing demand for packaging.
Around 350 small, medium and large companies are involved in packaging, printing and glass manufacturing to serve the 250 local and multinational pharmaceutical companies.
Tahmid /Mimed, director of Bengal Glass Works Ltd, the largest glass bottle manufacturer and supplier to the pharmaceutical industry, said his company started in 1974, but commercial production picked pace in the past decade.
"Our present annual production capacity is 250 million glass bottles of various sizes with very fine specifications. These bottles cater mainly to the needs of the pharmaceutical industry for bottling their lifesaving medicines," he said.
"The locally produced bottles help preserve the quality of medicine. It keeps the medicine cool and ensures longevity."
The company makes two types of bottles -- of amber glass and flint glass -- with capacities ranging between 15ml to 500ml. Flint glass bottles are also known as white glass bottles, which are typically used in storing antibacterial solutions such as Savlon and Dettol.
The demand for amber glass accounts for around 90 percent of total consumption, which is used to store all other types of syrups.
Ahmed said the market size for glass bottles hovers around Tk 80 crore.
However, demand for plastic (pet) bottle is grad-
ually rising. Many pharmaceutical companies have developed their own production unit for pet bottles, such as Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
Ahmed Kamrul Alam, assistant general manager of Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd, said his company sources all sorts of secondary packaging locally and they produce pet bottles in their own factory.
"Additionally, we have a printing house to produce labels for bottles and plastic wrappers for saline solutions."
Apart from the giants, small and medium entrepreneurs are also producing bottles, saline bags and syringes. Their production accounts for 20 percent of the country's local plastic goods market that is worth Tk 4,000 crore a year.
Selim Ahmed, managing director of Meghna Plastic Ltd, an old Dhaka based pet bottle producer, said he started production in 2001 and delivers to reputed local pharmaceuticals.
However, he complained the high duties on raw materials are raising the prices of the locally produced plastic goods. As a result, local products sometimes have to compete with cheap Chinese and Indian substitutes.
The country imported polypropylene, polyethylene and spherizone, the raw materials for plastic goods, worth $40 million in 2008.
Simultaneously, the carton and printing industry also grewshoulder-to-shoulder with other packaging materials, with a market size of around Tk 200 crore a year.
Abdullah Al Red wan, director of The Merchant, a printing and packaging company, said many new investors are coming to the sector, inspired by growing demand for local packaging materials.
Around 30 local companies are producing and supplying cardboard boxes and wooden cartons to the pharmaceutical industry.
sayeda@thedailystar.net