USA – American corrugated packaging company WestRock has revealed plans to permanently shut down its paper mill in South Carolina, US.
Based in North Charleston, the paper mill which produces uncoated kraft paper or KraftPak, containerboard and unbleached saturating kraft paper or DuraSorb, will stop operating on 31 August 2023.
David B. Sewell, chief executive officer at WestRock said: “The decision to close a facility and impact the lives of our team members is never easy, and we are committed to assisting our North Charleston team with exploring roles at other WestRock locations and outplacement assistance.
“WestRock and its predecessor companies have had a long history in the region operating the North Charleston mill, and the contributions of the team members over the years have been greatly appreciated.”
After the closure of the plant, the company is planning to shift the manufacturing work related to containerboard and uncoated kraft to other WestRock production units.
The decision to close this paper manufacturing facility comes as a result of the company intending to eliminate the unbleached saturating kraft paper business from its portfolio.
WestRock said it is currently focusing on maximizing the performance of the available assets and improving returns made by the company on any invested capital.
Furthermore, the business said that the latest decision to close this mill can be attributed to high operating costs and the requirement of significant capital investment.
The move is expected to impact around 500 employees working at the North Charleston mill.
According to the company, the affected workers will be eligible to receive their severance pay as well as outplacement assistance, which complies with the company’s policy and labor union agreements.
Meanwhile, last month the company broke ground on a new 410,000ft² corrugated box plant in Longview, Washington.
Located on 23.5 acres, the plant is being built by Clayco, a full-service, turnkey real estate, architecture, engineering, design-build and construction firm.
The facility, situated outside of the Vancouver, Washington metropolitan area, represents the first collaboration between Clayco and WestRock.
The new plant, which is being developed by JB2 Partners and owned by an investment fund managed by ElmTree Funds, will feature WestRock’s corrugated manufacturing operations.
The new plant will serve all industry segments and markets in the Pacific Northwest. When completed, this new plant will replace the company’s existing corrugated operations in Longview.
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