Tredegar to close N.C. film facility
RICHMOND, VA. - Tredegar Film Products plans to close its New Bern, N.C., plant in mid-2004.
The Richmond firm said the move is to cut costs and realign capacity where it is needed. Spokeswoman Mitzi Reynolds said production will shift to facilities in the United States, Europe, Brazil and China. The New Bern site mainly makes films for personal-care products, but it also extrudes aperture films and photopolymer films for electronics uses, and does laminating, Reynolds said in a telephone interview.
Tredegar's main business is supplying personal-care films to makers of diaper, incontinence and feminine hygiene products. Its biggest customer, representing about 30 percent of sales, is Procter & Gamble Co. Earlier this year, Tredegar said it expects to miss a profit target of $12 million for the second quarter, partly because of the high costs to launch several new personal-care films. Another factor in the profit shortfall is slow sales of agricultural film because of a cool, wet spring.
The New Bern shutdown will result in a pretax charge of $6.5 million during the next year. Cost reductions from the closure will be at least $3 million in 2004 and $4 million annually afterward.
Tredegar Film had sales of $377 million last year. It employs about 1,100, including 80 at New Bern. About three quarters of its business is personal-care films, Reynolds estimated.
SPI Western section, CFECA plan meeting
IRVINE, CALIF. - California's plastics industry is organizing to deal with perceived anti-plastics initiatives in the state.
A grass-roots Plastics Industry Mobilization Meeting is planned for July 9 in Irvine. Issues up for discussion include premiums for workes' compensation insurance, marine and litter debris, resin pellet containment, costs of energy and taxes, bans of plastics products, solid waste and recycling.
The Western Region of the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. in Irvine and the California Film Extruders and Converters Association in Newport Beach are organizing the event.
Intertape buying out venture partner
MONTREAL - Packaging producer Intertape Polymer Group Inc. plans to broaden its stake in the European market by buying out its principal partner in a Portuguese joint venture. The Montreal company also said it plans to streamline its Wisconsin operations making water-activated tape.
Intertape said it agreed to buy the interest held by Fibope Portuguesa for undisclosed terms. It expects to complete the deal by the end of June and finance it through a share issue. The venture has focused on polyolefin shrink-wrap films.
Intertape said that by having complete control of the Portuguese operation it should grow faster in Europe and have a platform to produce its pressure-sensitive products for the Continental market.
Intertape runs water-activated tape operations in Green Bay and Menasha, Wis. Shifting capacity to a single location will improve efficiency and cut costs, it said. The company did not announce which location will continue in the second half of 2003.
The Post-Crescent in Appleton, Wis., reported the Menasha facility employs about 180 and the Green Bay plant about 70. The newspaper said two different locals of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International represent hourly workers at the plants.
Plastech projects adding 900 workers
DEARBORN, MICH. - Plastech Engineered Products Inc. is launching a $110 million project in Monroe, Mich., with both blow molding and injection molding systems that should add 900 jobs to the auto supplier.
The Michigan Economic Development Corp. announced the plan June 17, noting that the state has approved tax credits worth $9.9 million spread over 13 years to help lure the company. Frenchtown Township, near Monroe, added another tax abatement valued at $8.2 million over a 12-year period.
The company had considered a site in Kentucky for the plant, state officials noted.
Plastech will launch with a 252,000-square-foot blow molding facility and has promised to add 75,000 square feet within two years. A separate, 375,000-square-foot facility for injection molding is to be added within three years.
The Dearborn-based molder has been growing rapidly the past few years, with an estimated $590 million in sales last year, up from $300 million in 1997.
