Belgium-based beer giant Anheuser-Busch has unveiled plans for an expansion project worth $170m at its Metal Container Corporation (MCC), located in Jacksonville.

The funding for the project has been arranged through an incentive programme in collaboration with the state of Florida and the city of Jacksonville.

Jacksonville is expected to be the second MCC facility to produce aluminum bottles.

The expansion of the subsidiary of the company is expected to create nearly 70 jobs.

Anheuser-Busch vice-president of supply Pete Kraemer said: "We are pleased to maintain such strong partnerships with the city of Jacksonville and state of Florida, where we’ve proudly brewed beers, produced packaging and done business for nearly 50 years.

"The growing demand for our Budweiser and Bud Light aluminum bottles has helped drive growth and development in Jacksonville. We appreciate the support of our partners in Florida and thank our employees for their dedication."

Currently, MCC operates seven facilities in the US, apart from producing cans and lids for major US soft drink companies, including PepsiCo., and Monster Beverage Corporation.
In December 2014, the company revealed plans for an expansion at its Metal Container facility in Arnold, Missouri, US.

In June this year, Anheuser-Busch committed to invest an estimated $1.5bn in its US brewing, agriculture, packaging and distributing operations by 2018.

The investment is aimed at supporting the growth of its brands by investing around $850m on brewery and packaging expansion projects, $220m on product innovation initiatives and $720m in increasing efficiency of its existing footprint.