The Orrville operation currently employs 84 employees 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 approximately half the workforce. The plant will remain in partial operation until it is closed 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 over the past year as a result of the nationwide recession’s effect on the housing market. Coker said that 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. “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%. 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 on Sonoco, visit http://www.sonoco.com.