International Paper announced Thursday that it’s permanently closing four facilities in four states, which will affect 674 employees.

The facilities tapped for closure are:

• Red River containerboard mill in Campti, Louisiana
• Box plant in Hazleton, Pennsylvania
• Sheet feeder facility in St. Louis
• Recycling plant in Phoenix

Operations at all facilities will cease by the end of April. The company anticipates that the closure of the Red River containerboard mill will reduce IP’s network-wide containerboard capacity by approximately 814,000 tons annually. Customers will be serviced by other facilities in IP’s network, a spokesperson said via email Thursday.

Most of the employee separations will occur at the Louisiana mill, which has 481 employees, according to a securities filing International Paper released Thursday afternoon. Operations there are slated to cease by March 31.

A worker adjustment and retraining notification that IP filed with the state of Missouri on Thursday morning indicates 72 full-time employees will be displaced from the St. Louis plant. Terminations are slated to begin April 14, the same day operations will end there.

Hourly employees at the St. Louis facility are represented by the United Steel Workers Local 11-0531 and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 2, IP noted in the WARN. However, because this is a permanent closure, neither part-time or full-time employees have bumping rights. All employees will be able to apply for open positions at any other IP facility, according to the WARN.

Among the employees affected by the four closures, 495 are hourly and 179 are salaried. The company said in a news release that it would work to “minimize the impact on employees by using attrition, retirements and current vacancies at other International Paper locations.” Employees will receive outplacement assistance and access to mental health support resources, in addition to severance benefits “where possible.” IP has not yet determined how many employees it can retain, as it’s at the beginning of this process, the spokesperson said.

"The decision to close any facility is difficult because of the impact on our team members, their families and the surrounding communities," said Tom Hamic, president of IP’s North American Packaging Solutions business, in a statement. "We greatly appreciate the contributions from our departing team members and will do all we can to support them."

While the company did not disclose specifics about reasons for each facility closing, the spokesperson noted that IP constantly evaluates its system, including capabilities, operational needs and business conditions.

IP expects these actions collectively will result in aggregate pre-tax charges of approximately $357 million by March 31, according to the securities filing. That includes a before-tax, noncash asset write-off of approximately $311 million, in addition to a before-tax cash severance and other shutdown charges of approximately $46 million.

International Paper has announced more than 1,500 layoffs since autumn, following new CEO Andy Silvernail’s introduction of a strategy reset and optimization plan last July to make IP more profitable. During the company’s most recent earnings call in January, Silvernail detailed an overhaul of its box plant business. This includes investments, too, such as a new plant that will be built in Waterloo, Iowa.

Silvernail also said in January that while the company has come far in its optimization plan, there’s still much work to do and that turnarounds take time. He expects 2025 to be a “transformational year” for IP and that a recent “stabilization trend” would continue. 

Some analysts aren’t surprised by the newly announced closures, given IP’s ongoing optimization efforts.

“We had been expecting IP to announce capacity closures as part of its ongoing transformation ... and as it looks to balance capacity to demand,” Michael Roxland, senior paper and packaging analyst with Truist Securities, said in a Thursday memo to investors.

This might not be the last short-term alteration to IP’s footprint and employee headcount, either.  The spokesperson did not directly address whether more closures and layoffs are expected to come down the pike, but reiterated that IP is going through a transformational journey.

“We believe this announcement could precede further mill and box plant closures as IP continues its overall system optimization,” Roxland said. He noted that the capacity reduction overall should be positive for the North American containerboard market.

International Paper is still reviewing strategic options for its global cellulose fibers business, which it previously indicated would likely result in a sale. The company closed its acquisition of DS Smith on Jan. 31, making it one of the world’s largest packaging companies.