Saica, a global paper group, is accelerating its industrial strategy as it marks eight decades of operation. The Spanish group, with more than 100 plants across 11 countries, plans to invest over €100 million in a single new facility dedicated to its corrugated packaging division, Saica Pack. The site will be in Sant Esteve Sesrovires, near Barcelona, in the Catalan province. The project will relocate and consolidate activities from two existing sites in El Prat and Barcelona. The new plant will house both production lines at Can Margarit, an industrial precinct within Sant Esteve Sesrovires that already hosts a warehouse and related logistics facilities. Construction is slated to begin in the coming summer, with the first machines expected to be installed by the end of 2024. This strategic move aims to streamline operations and boost capacity for the long term. This update reflects Saica’s confidence in the local market and its commitment to serving customers more efficiently in Spain and beyond.
The company states that the new facility will support the growth trajectory of its customers while addressing the space and aging infrastructure limits of the current sites. The investment also reinforces the group’s long-term footprint in the core national packaging market and its relationship with Catalan customers, signaling a solid commitment to the region as a hub for packaging innovation and sustainability.
Saica specializes in recycled paper-based packaging solutions. The land for the future plant was acquired in 2010, and the development is part of a broader plan to turn the Can Margarit area into a magnet for investment. Construction activities began at this location in 2018, building the foundation for a modern production ecosystem.
careful planning
Miguel Arévalo, the project lead and managing director of Saica Pack El Prat, notes that assembling a facility of this size far from the core Barcelona region required careful, long-term planning. He emphasizes the need to stay close to key customers and communication nodes to maintain responsiveness and service levels. He adds that the new site offers substantial room for growth, a feature constrained by the limited space at existing plants.
Arévalo describes the new plant as a milestone for Saica because its capabilities align with a market that values high quality, reliability, and efficiency. The facility will integrate the latest technology to support flexography and advanced converting processes, delivering digitized, customer-friendly solutions. This technological upgrade is expected to raise both product quality and service speed, helping Saica meet ambitious performance targets outlined in its strategic plan. The plant is positioned to become a benchmark for both national and European packaging, with sustainability at its core.
Gradual production transfer
Enric Carbonell, mayor of Sant Esteve Sesrovires since 2007, highlights a lengthy support effort to identify a suitable site that would meet industrial needs while diversifying local activity. He recalls the challenges of earlier planning but says the community now recognizes the value of Saica Pack’s presence for local employment and logistics. The mayor views the project as a catalyst for broader infrastructure improvements and a more vibrant industrial cluster in the Can Margarit area. The expansion is framed as a strategic opportunity to broaden the region’s manufacturing base and strengthen its role in the national and European packaging value chain.
The municipal leadership stresses that the Can Margarit site will see enhanced industrial activity and that the project will contribute to ongoing infrastructure upgrades that support logistics and distribution across the area. The council believes the investment will have a meaningful, lasting impact on the local economy while preserving the region’s competitive edge in packaging and materials recovery.
Existing facilities in Barcelona and El Prat will continue operating, ensuring uninterrupted service during the transition to the new plant. About 194 workers at the Barcelona site and 100 at El Prat are involved in the transfer plan, with representatives participating in the process and a staged move to the new facility.
Saica’s leadership expresses a commitment to offering opportunities for all staff during the transition and keeping worker representatives informed about progress. The company frames this as a growth project that preserves employment rights and maintains open communication with labor partners throughout the relocation.
The Saica group ranks among Europe’s leading recyclers of paper for corrugated board, with an annual production capacity around 3.3 million tons. It employs more than 10,000 people across operations in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Turkey, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United States, and Poland. Its four business lines include Saica Kagit (recycled paper for packaging), Saica Natur (waste management and environmental services), Saica Pack (corrugated cardboard packaging), and Saica Flex (flexible packaging). The group reported a turnover of €4,394 million in the previous year, marking a 22% increase from 2021.