Caraustar Idling Machine in Ohio

Caraustar Industries, Inc. announced the indefinite idling of the No. 2 coated recycled paperboard machine at its Rittman, Ohio, facility. Recently completed upgrades in the Caraustar mill system will facilitate transfer of all production from the No. 2 machine to other Caraustar facilities, including Rittman Paperboard's No. 3 machine.

The Rittman Paperboard workforce will be reduced by 80. The machine has an annual capacity of approximately 80,000 tons.

Thomas V. Brown, president and chief executive officer of Caraustar, commented, "This difficult, but necessary decision is consistent with our stated objective to right-size our mill system and enables the Rittman mill to remain a cost-effective and competitive supplier of quality products for its customers."

The decision by Caraustar continues a trend in the paperboard industry to slash production schedules. Over the past several months more paper companies have announced plans to either take extended downtime or outright permanent closures of non-efficient machines or whole mills.