The company has a proud tradition of being part of the history of development and commercialization of BOPP films. Shorko started in 1962, a joint venture between Shell, Metal Box and Kordite Corporation. Shorko stands for Shell Orientation Kordite. In 1966 Shell buys out the company. In 1969 British Cellophane Limited “BCL” buys Shorko. In 1982 Shorko Australia was established jointly owned by BCL and Shell.
In 1982, Shorko started up a 3.5 meter Bruckner Line with a capacity of 4 K Tons. In 1989 Shorko invested in another line and increased its capacity to 10 K Tons. Between the two dates the product portfolio included flexible packaging and Tobacco films. The product portfolio expanded rapidly due to the technology agreement and the licence that was awarded to Shorko by Courtaulds a parent company of BCL. In 1992 Shorko became 100% owned by Shell Australia.
In 1999 the company again expanded by adding another line with a 15 K Tons capacity. At the same time the technology was upgraded to 5 layer die, and the commercialization of specialized high voided technology films aimed at high speed, high efficiency packaging and labeling applications.
In 2002 the company was sold to Treofan, a company based in Germany that was formed through the consolidation of 3 companies Trespaphan Gmbh, Moplefan in Italy, and Shorko in Australia. That is how the name Treofan came to existence. Previously Trespaphan bought Coutrtoulds in the UK. The new company had operations in Europe, Mexico, South Africa and Australia.
In 2003 Shorko invested metallising and slitting capacity aimed at servicing the Ultra High Barrier products and Self adhesive labeling films. The product portfolio has expanded to 50. It Includes Injection Moulding Label Films, Wrap around label films and specialised barrier films.
In 2005 Goldman Sachs took ownership of Treofan and divested Shorko Australia to the Hastings fund management Private Equity arm through an MBO process. The company continues developing and marketing products that are specialized to Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
The management team comprises veterans of the industry who have played a major role in development of products or process. The senior management team represents collectively 120 years of experience in this field.
