Numerous packaging companies announced U.S. facility closures or workforce reductions during the first quarter of 2023.
In some cases, those decisions continued moves to consolidate and optimize operations, or to forgo repair or upgrade investments. In other cases, companies simply cited shifting demand trends.
These are some of the U.S. headlines from the first quarter of 2023:
- Ball announced on March 15 it notified employees of potentially closing its plant in Wallkill, New York, citing challenges to expanding and upgrading the facility. The company said it is exploring supplying from other facilities the unique can sizes that Wallkill produces.
- Brook + Whittle, a company in TruArc Partners' portfolio that makes labels and packaging materials, is cutting 72 jobs in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, due to a facility closure planned for May 25, WFMZ reported.
- Dart Container, which makes Solo Cups, recently laid off 84 workers at its Thomaston, Georgia, production plant following decreased demand.
- Genpak, which manufactures food packaging, laid off all 67 workers when closing a Columbus, Ohio plant, according to a February news report.
- O-I Glass planned to lay off 90 people in light of furnace damage at a plant in Waco, Texas, that occurred amid freezing temperatures in February 2021, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported in February.
- Packaging Corp. of America is slated to close a Rutherfordton, North Carolina, corrugated packaging plant, affecting nearly 40 workers, WLOS reported.
- Pactiv Evergreen announced this month it’s shuttering a Canton, North Carolina, paper mill, as well as an Olmsted Falls, Ohio, converting facility, eliminating approximately 1,300 jobs. It also “continues to explore strategic alternatives” for facilities in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and Waynesville, North Carolina. The company is restructuring to combine its beverage and food merchandising businesses.
- Quad/Graphics Inc., a Wisconsin-based commercial printing company, will soon close a packaging plant in Leominster, Massachusetts, resulting in about 60 layoffs, the Worcester Business Journal reported. That work will be transitioned to facilities in Franklin, Wisconsin, and Spartanburg, South Carolina.
- Sonoco recently closed a paper mill in Hutchinson, Kansas, affecting 116 employees, a local news station reported.
- Zume, which designs biodegradable food containers, is winding down operations at a factory in Camarillo, California, where 31 workers were still employed, the Ventura County Star reported March 29. There was previously a November announcement that the company would lay off 62 of 140 employees by the end of January amid business restructuring.
These types of actions were apparent in 2022, with industry heavyweights like Ball announcing facility closures in Phoenix and St. Paul, Minnesota, due in part to softening demand for alcoholic beverages. WestRock announced closures affecting 580 total employees across St. Paul and Panama City, Florida, saying the company was “committed to improving its return on invested capital as well as maximizing the performance of its assets.” It also noted that upkeep of those locations “would require significant capital investment to maintain and improve going forward.”
Executives commented on the ongoing trend during recent earnings calls. WestRock CEO David Sewell said in February the company would “be continuing to optimize our footprint,” adding that it wants to improve its vertical integration. Ball CEO Daniel Fisher similarly previewed that the current quarter would see completion of the “optimization” of the company’s North and South American manufacturing footprint.
U.S. manufacturing jobs increased about 2.6% year over year in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ jobs report.
This story has been updated with news about Brook + Whittle and Zume.
