After the acquisition of a majority share in Argentinian firm Cristalerías Rosario, O-I is targeting expansion in Latin America. Argentina is the third largest market in the region, after Mexico & Brazil, with production of more than 1M/tonnes of glass containers per year. Cristalerías, which was founded around 60y ago, & employs 230 people, primarily serves the wine market, & that is the country's fastest growing sector for container glass. Al Stroucken, O-I Chairman & CE, said that O-I planned to invest in the 2-furnace plant in Rosario (300km N of Buenos Aires) to: "Expand capacity, diversify production & strengthen our ability to serve this growing market. The acquisition complements our existing operations in Latin America & enables us to serve a portion of the market we are not currently serving." O-I has operations in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru & Venezuela.
