Hartsville-based Sonoco has announced it will close its Orrville, Ohio, rigid paper packaging plant by March 2010.
The Orrville operation employs 84 people and manufactures fiber cartridges for adhesives and sealants.
Sonoco acquired the plant in 2007 when it acquired the fiber containers and industrial plastic carriers assets of Caraustar Industries Inc. The first phase of the plant’s shutdown is expected to begin in late November and result in the reduction of about half the work force. The plant will remain in partial operation until it closes in March 2010. Sonoco will provide severance and outplacement assistance to employees.
Howard Coker, Sonoco’s vice president-rigid paper and closures, said the company has been facing significant reductions in customer orders during the past year as a result of the nationwide recession’s impact on the housing market. He said Sonoco will consolidate customer orders in the company’s other rigid paper packaging operations in the Ohio area.
“Closing a plant is always difficult because of the impact on employees and the community,” Coker said in a press release issued by the company. “But the dramatic downturn in home construction is impacting the use of adhesives and sealants which have reduced orders by our customers by about 25 percent. We have implemented some capacity reductions, but we simply cannot continue to operate the Orrville plant at such reduced levels.”
Sonoco, founded in 1899, is a global manufacturer of consumer and industrial packaging products and provider of packaging services, with more than 300 operations in 35 countries serving customers in some 85 nations. For more information, visit its Web site at www.sonoco.com.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement