Smurfit-Stone Permanently Closing Three Mills

Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. announced plans to permanently close production capacity at three North American containerboard mills as part of the company's ongoing assessment and restructuring efforts. Smurfit-Stone plans to permanently close: the following: the No. 2 paper machine at its Fernandina Beach, Fla., linerboard mill; its New Richmond, Quebec, linerboard mill; and its Bathurst, New Brunswick, medium mill.

Smurfit-Stone's total containerboard manufacturing capacity will be reduced by approximately 700,000 tons.

One of the major long-term issues confronting Smurfit-Stone's packaging operations is the slowing demand for packaging in North America, as manufacturing is being shifted overseas. "We are in a mature industry that has struggled to achieve adequate returns," Moore said. "We have been unable to pass along inflationary costs, such as energy and fiber, to our customers. In addition, the manufacturing exodus overseas has had a strong impact on containerboard demand throughout North America."

Smurfit-Stone's No. 2 paper machine at Fernandina Beach has been idle since April 2001. The New Richmond and Bathurst mills have an annual production capacity of 235,000 tons of linerboard and 243,000 of corrugating medium respectively. Both mills have been recently idled due to market conditions.