Saica Pack submit plans for massive manufacturing facility in Newry

A drawing showing the layout and scale of the Saica Pack facility proposed for Carnbane.

Plans by Spanish packaging giant Saica Pack to build a massive manufacturing facility in Newry are “an indication of the company’s commitment to the District”, it has been said.

The company, which manufactures cardboard packaging, paper and labels, is seeking planning permission for a 485,000 sq ft manufacturing facility for the production of paper/corrugated fibreboard products on a 25 acre site within the Invest NI Business Park at Carnbane Industrial Estate, approximately 150m east of Modern Tyres.

The investment, expected to be worth tens of millions of pounds, would see Saica relocate from Warrenpoint Harbour. That site that is at capacity and in need of continual refurbishment due to deterioration, according to a supporting statement submitted as part of the application.

It adds, “The capital costs of ongoing repairs are not financially sustainable hence the company plans to relocate."

Saica had a turnover of €4,394 million for the 2022 financial year, and a staff compliment in excess of 10,000 – 160 of those work locally, with the document stating “it is important that the company be afforded an opportunity to re-establish itself at an alternative location in the District, to guarantee its sustenance and facilitate its future growth”.

In relation to the size of the factory, it is stated that Saica’s production needs “are in excess of most other manufacturers’ in this District hence the significance of the floorspace hereby proposed.

"The factory will be modern, innovative, sustainable and long-lasting. The quality of the working conditions on offer will make the company an even more attractive place to work, and the company aspires to create a prestigious building on the only available site of this magnitude within any of the District’s settlements."

While the scale of the development is significant, the statement suggests that “the factory will be a stimulant for other economic investment (subject to availability of lands, in due course) and the economic benefits of the proposal will far outweigh the limited environmental costs (visual impact in the main, and it must be acknowledged that this is a subjective matter [it is pertinent that no “technical” constraints presume against this proposal])”.