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SSCC to Consolidate Two Box Plants, Close Another
March 10, 2010 Box Biz
Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. is consolidating its two container plants in eastern Henrico County, Va., into a single facility, a move that will both cost jobs and preserve them, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
The consolidation is part of an ongoing restructuring by Chicago-based Smurfit-Stone as the company streamlines its North American operations and cuts costs while operating under bankruptcy court protection.
Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. also will shutter its corrugated packaging plant in Wilson, N.C., by April 30, resulting in 97 layoffs, The News & Observer reports. The company, which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, notified the North Carolina Department of Commerce last week regarding the layoffs.
Henrico officials said in an announcement that the consolidation of the two plants will preserve 150 jobs.
At the time of the bankruptcy filing, Smurfit-Stone said it employed about 1,200 people in Virginia. That included about 300 people at its Henrico plants near Richmond International Airport.
The company plans to start operations in a single plant by the end of this year, according to the county’s announcement, which did not identify the location.
“The new consolidated facility will be one of several state of the art corrugated plants for Smurfit-Stone based on its best-in-class equipment and proximity to suppliers and customers,” the county announcement said.
Phone messages left with county officials were not returned, and a spokesman for Smurfit-Stone said he was not authorized to comment.
Smurfit-Stone also has containerboard mills in West Point and Hopewell that employ a total of about 800 people. It also owns a plant in Martinsville.
In 2009, Smurfit-Stone closed 11 converting plants and stopped production at two mills, cutting its headcount by about 2,350 to about 19,000 employees, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Smurfit-Stone has said it expects to emerge from bankruptcy protection in both the United States and Canada early in the second quarter.
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