Vidroporto Embalagens has acquired the Glass Industry of the Northeast (IVN) glassmaking facility in Estância, Sergipe, northeast Brazil.

The site had been closed for two years before the acquisition by Vidroporto in January.

Its CEO Edson Rossi, told Glass International that production will be initially 60,000 tons a year but could rise to 90,000 tons after future expansion.

He said: “We understood that acquiring the site would be a great opportunity to increase our market share.

"It brings us many benefits including becoming more important for our customers, becoming a national company and supporting the market in a more representative way.”

The site has hired approximately 200 people, with most of these former workers at the IVN site.

Vidroporto has a 20% market share in Brazil. It expects its marklet share of the Brazilian glass market to increase to 25% with the acquisition.

The site was previously owned by local partner Ipiaram Empreendimentos e Participações in partnership with Verallia. It closed in 2017.

Mr Rossi said Vidroporto had analysed the market and spoke closely to customers before making the decision to acquire the site.

“This acquisition means that Vidroporto is a player that believes in the Brazilan market and invest all the time to improve its participation in the market and improve its technology processes and service.”

Vidroporto is a Brazilian company that was founded in 1977 for local entrepreneurs and in 2004 hired professionals to manage the company.

The company has two plants and four furnaces and has around a 22% of market share of glass containers for beverages in Brazil.