Berry to consolidate Ontario plants
EVANSVILLE, IND. — Berry Plastics Corp. is consolidating operations at two Canadian plants it acquired as part of its recent acquisition of Pliant Corp.
Dan Landry, economic development manager with the city of Orillia, Ontario, confirmed in a Dec. 7 e-mail that officials received unofficial word that the plants, which employ about 90, will shed some workers.
“That's all we know at this point, as no one from Berry would return our calls to date,” he said.
Berry officials were unavailable for comment, but the Orillia Packet & Times newspaper reported Dec. 7 that Berry said 25 jobs will be affected by a plan to close one site to consolidate operations at the other location.
Berry of Evansville on Dec. 3 finished its acquisition of Schaumberg, Ill.-based Pliant. The business will be operated as Berry's Specialty Films Division and will be run by former Pliant Chief Operating Officer R. David Corey. Berry's current Flexible Films Division will now be known as the Film Products Division.
O'Neil Color adding line, storage space
JASPER, TENN. — Expansion is becoming an annual tradition at O'Neil Color & Compounding Corp.
For the third time in three years, O'Neil is growing at its headquarters site in Jasper. This time, the firm is adding a 30,000-square-foot warehouse, a 3,000-square-foot maintenance facility and a twin-screw compounding line with 8 million pounds of annual capacity.
The line will be the 12th in Jasper for O'Neil and is needed because of demand for Faraprene thermoplastic elastomer compounds and color masterbatch concentrates, President Mark Bruner said in a recent news release.
“We considered building a new plant in another location, but we've had great success in Tennessee and have applied for funding assistance with both local and state agencies,” Bruner said. “We feel good at this time that we will gain significant financial support to continue expansion at our Jasper location.”
Indorama board OKs two buys from SK
BANGKOK — Indorama Ventures Public Co. Ltd. said its board has approved the acquisition of PET resin and polyester filament yarn businesses in Poland and Indonesia from South Korea's SK Chemicals Co. Ltd.
In November, Indorama had signed two definitive share purchase agreements, the first with Seoul, South Korea-based SK Chemicals to acquire the PET business of SK Eurochem Sp.zo.o. in Poland, and the second with SK Chemicals' subsidiary SK Syntec to acquire the PET and polyester business of PT SK Keris and PT SK Fiber in Indonesia.
Indorama said it expects the transactions to close in the first quarter of 2011, subject to local regulatory approvals.
SK Eurochem can produce 308.6 million pounds of PET chips per year; SK Keris, 352.7 million pounds per year of PET chips and polyester filament yarn; while SK Fiber has 79.4 million pounds of polyester filament yarn capacity.
The Indonesian acquisitions open a new emerging market for the Bangkok-based company. The Poland plant, located next to a third-party facility that supplies PET feedstock purified terephthalatic acid, would meet Indorama's cost objectives.
Intertape plans German distribution site
MONTREAL — Intertape Polymer Group will open a European distribution center in Flensburg, Germany.
The distribution center will supply a variety of tape, according to a Dec. 10 news release from Montreal-based Intertape.
The center will allow Intertape to make faster deliveries and accommodate smaller orders with less administration, Ralf Kausch, director of Intertape Polymer Europe, said in the release. It will also help to improve Intertape brand recognition in Europe, Kausch said
Intertape employs 2,000 at operations in 16 locations, including 13 plants in North America and one in Europe.
Management buying out Dashwood unit
BAYPORT, MINN. — Vinyl window and door maker Andersen Corp. will sell Canadian subsidiary Dashwood Industries Inc. to a local buyout group.
Four managers of Centralia, Ontario-based Dashwood will buy the window and door assembler for an undisclosed price. The deal is expected to close by year's end.
In a Nov. 17 e-mail, Maureen McDonough, Bayport-based Andersen communications director, confirmed the pending sale.
Jay Lund, Anderson president and chief operating officer said the unit “no longer meets our criteria for ongoing investment.”