Bway Holding Co., parent to packaging company Bway Corp., is holding its initial public offering today. We wrote about the IPO plan back in March, but it's just so unusual for a plastics company to actually follow through with an IPO these days that it seemed worth featuring in the blog today.

In our earlier story, we highlighted the Atlanta company's plastics operations -- and the fact that the company plans to grow by acquiring more rigid plastic container companies after the IPO. The company reported 2006 sales of $968.9 million, with about 42 percent of that from plastics. The firm claims to be the No. 1 manufacturer of plastic pails.

Trading of Bway shares have slipped to $14.89 this morning, according to this Associated Press report, below the company's expected range of $16-$18. Is it any wonder why IPOs are so rare in the manufacturing world these days, despite the fact that the stock market is performing well?