Cascades to permanently shut down corrugator at Ontario facility

Cascades, a Kingsey Falls, Quebec-based packaging producer, says it will permanently shut down its corrugator at its Belleville, Ontario, converting facility as part of what the company says is a continued optimization initiative of its containerboard packaging platform in Ontario.

The shutdown will be effective no later than Dec. 2 and, according to Cascades, will provide the Belleville plant with a more sustainable business model by focusing its operations on converting activities as a high-volume, efficient and graphic sheet plant.

“With additional capacity generated by the strategic optimization of our network in Ontario in recent years, we have the ability to redeploy this production to other units in the region,” says Charles Malo, president and chief operating officer of Cascades Containerboard Packaging. “By doing so, we will significantly reduce costs and refocus Belleville’s priorities to converting”

Malo says the decision positions the company’s platform for long-term success and further strengthen its service offering. Currently, the Belleville plant designs and manufactures corrugated packaging for the food, cosmetics and personal care and hardware industries, serving Michigan, Ohio and part of the northeastern United States as well as Ontario.

The shutdown will impact 31 of the plant’s 106 employees, and Cascades says it will work with those individuals to “minimize the impact of this announcement.”