Last week, Bruno Silva, Managing Director, and Angelina Shepitko, Sales Manager Ukraine, visited Qingdao, China.

 

Situated in the North East of China, Qingdao is home to many flexitank manufacturers. The dynamic is unique too. Production is booming, and one really gets the sense of the growth possibilities in the flexitank market. Since 2000 there has been an unprecedented growth of this new and efficient method of transporting liquids and current projections are that the global flexitank market will reach USD 922.3 million by 2022.

 

Bruno and Angelina of BeFlexi with Steve (far right) and Peng Peng (far left) of Qingdao Hengxin Plastic Co.,Ltd.

 

And many manufacturers are taking it seriously. All our flexitank suppliers that we visited operate at a high standard and hold quality in high value. It proves that, when the systems in place are of a high quality, whether the flexitank is manufactured in Europe, America or China, it does not matter.

 

L-R: Jesper ( Qingdao LAF Packaging Co., Ltd.), Melinda (LAF), Bruno (BeFlexi), Angelina (BeFlexi) and Lesley (LAF)

 

However, at BeFlexi we are working hard to shine the light on some ‘grey’ areas of flexitank operations – if you have not already, have a read of our whitepaper on this – to ensure the utmost safety and security of all flexitank shipments. That, of course, begins with manufacturing and so we are proud to be members of the Container Owners Association’s (COA) Technical Working Group for Flexitanks, which looks at developing standards for flexitank manufacturing facilities.

 

Beyond standards, BeFlexi is committed to a greener future for the flexitank industry. We are aware of environmental changes that could impact the industry; we monitor these closely and are here to make the transition and necessary changes for our suppliers as smooth as possible.

 

We also, together with our global partner, SGS – the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company – offer disposal services. More than 90.000 MT of cargo residues and 90.000 MT of polyethylene and polypropylene could be disposed of and recycled just this year. With SGS, we can provide solution design, collection, recycling supervision, and verification.

 

Ultimately, we aim to deliver the most superior flexitanks, local services and professional support to all customers, every time.