Rock-Tenn Closing Machine

Rock-Tenn Co. has permanently shut down its uncoated paperboard machine in its Dallas, Texas, mill, and closed its Dothan, Ala., corrugated packaging plant and that it will close its El Paso, Texas, folding carton plant.

James Rubright, Rock-Tenn’s chairman and CEO, stated, "We are committed to maximizing the efficiency of our operations and providing the highest quality, lowest cost products to our customers. We are closing the Dallas uncoated machine in order to match our capacity to sustainable market demand. We intend to move the production from this machine to open capacity at other locations in our mill system and believe we will retain substantially all of the tons produced on the shutdown machine.

“The closing of our El Paso folding carton plant, which will be completed in approximately six months, is consistent with our strategy of operating larger, very well equipped and very low cost folding carton plants in strategic locations. We believe we will retain most of the volumes presently produced in El Paso and transfer them to other Rock-Tenn folding carton plants. Additionally, we will retain a warehouse, sales office and small finishing facility in El Paso.

“Our Dothan corrugated plant was a small operation that would have required more capital investment than we could justify in order to continue to contribute positively to our operating results. We expect to transfer some business from Dothan to other Rock-Tenn sheet plants and we have entered into a transaction with Container Service Corporation relating to the transfer of other business."