Zhenghchuan Glass Ltd, one of the largest glass bottle manufacturers for the pharmaceutical industry in China, is planning to expand its production capacity by setting up a new plant. The proposed plant will be adding 40 per cent of its existing production capacity of glass bottles. The new plant is expected to be ready in one year’s time and the facility will require an additional staff of 200.The current staff strength of the company is placed at 1800.

The company is located in an area of 218 acres of land in Zhenghchuan Industrial park in Chongqing with 4 most modern production plants. The total production capacity of the company is one billion glass bottles a year and almost its entire production goes for the domestic market.

The decision to expand the production capacity was taken in the context of increasing demand for the company's bottles from the domestic pharmaceutical industry, according to Xiao Qing, Sales Controller of the company. Currently, Zhenghchuan Glass is supplying bottles to more than 300 pharmaceutical companies in China.

With the formulation industry set for a rapid growth in the coming years in China, the demand for glass bottles and vials is on the rise. Today, almost 40 per cent of the Chinese pharmaceutical industry’s requirement for glass products is being met by Zhenghchuan Glass, Qing said. There are 10 other glass bottle manufacturing units in China serving the domestic pharma industry.

Considering the high specification requirements of the formulation industry, the company is now planning to launch glass bottles with a technology that can protect the pharmaceutical ingredients from ultraviolet rays. A few Chinese pharma companies have already placed some orders for these bottles, he said.

Another area, Zhenghchuan Glass is looking forward to, is in the field of export. The company does not export its glass products to any markets now. With the clear advantage of lower costs of production, the company management expects that its glass products will have a ready demand  at least in the emerging pharmaceutical markets in the near future.