CSL to spend $210m to expand Broadmeadows plant

CSL (ASX:CSL) has committed $210 million towards expanding its CSL Behring manufacturing plant in the Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows.

The expansion is being undertaken to help meet growing demand for human plasma protein albumin for critical-care treatment.

Albumin is used to restore blood volume following trauma or major surgery, and support patients with extensive burns or serious infections.

CSL currently manufactures albumin at facilities in the US, Germany and Switzerland, and plans to make the Broadmeadows facility a part of its global supply chain for the product.

Announcing the expansion, CSL said one of the reasons it picked Broadmeadows was that the company was offered “a strategic contribution from the Victorian Government”.

“CSL is proud to partner with the Victorian Government in undertaking this next important phase of expansion. The investment will generate significant economic returns for Victoria and further strengthen the role of the Broadmeadows site in our global manufacturing network,” CSL CEO Paul Perreault said.

The Broadmeadows site is Australia’s only plasma manufacturing facility, and the company is working with the National Blood Authority and Australian Red Cross Blood Service to support Australia’s goal of self-sufficient production of plasma products.

The first of two manufacturing modules to be constructed under the expansion should be complete in around four years. At full capacity, CSL expects the facility to export albumin volumes worth around US$600 million ($682.8 million) annually.

In May, CSL opened a recombinant therapy manufacturing facility adjacent to its Broadmeadows plant.

CSL (ASX:CSL) shares were trading 0.52% lower at $72.90 as of around 1.30 pm on Wednesday