Aujan Industries, the largest privately-owned independent soft drink company in the Middle East, has announced it is doubling the capacity of its can-making plant in Iran by the end of next year.

This development is in response to enormous demand for products produced at the Kaveh Beverage Can Company, which supplies a range of both international and domestic brands, Aujan said.

The first foreign beverage company to launch operations in Iran, Aujan established the Kaveh plant in 2009. The facility has a capacity of 800 million cans annually, which will be expanded to reach 1.6 billion by the end of next year.

To ensure the highest possible level of performance at the rapidly expanding Kaveh plant, Aujan is partnering with Rexam, a leading global consumer packaging company, to oversee the expansion process, including training staff and providing critical technical expertise.

“As industry pioneers, we recognised early the enormous opportunity in Iran, with its large, young consumer market,” said Sheikh Adel Aujan, chairman of Aujan.

“As we continue to grow our operations in that country we are very pleased to partner with Rexam, one of the world’s leading beverage can-makers. This relationship is especially important to us as we look towards future expansion activities in the wider region.”

“At Rexam we are very excited about the opportunity to work with Aujan during this period of continuous expansion at this century-old beverage company,” said Graham Chipchase, Rexam’s chief executive. “We have long experience from similar partnerships and are confident that our can-making and can-filling expertise will make a sustained contribution to the expansion of the Kaveh plant and, in the longer term, to Aujan’s ability to reach its goal of becoming a truly global beverage player.”

Rexam’s sales from ongoing operations in 2010 were in the region of £4.9 billion ($7.70 billion). The company has around 100 plants in more than 20 countries and employs close to 19,000 people. It is a member of the FTSE 100 and its ordinary shares are listed with the UK Listing Authority and trade on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol REX.

Aujan Industries, established in 1905, has more than 2,500 employees, a turnover of over $800 million and is ranked among the top 100 companies in Saudi Arabia. Aujan Industries’ well-established own brands include Rani, Barbican and Vimto.