Sonoco Buys Chinese Paper Tube Operation

Sonoco Products Co. announced that it purchased a Chinese paper tube operation from Yatai in the city of Pinghu in the greater Shanghai area.

The company said Yatai, with current annual sales of about $4.5 million, is one of the larger tube producers in China, primarily serving the man-made fiber segment of the Chinese textile market.

"The acquisition of Yatai further solidifies Sonoco's position as the premiere tube producer in the greater Shanghai area, where 50 to 60 percent of all man-made fiber is produced and processed, and makes Sonoco the largest tube and core producer in China," said Holley.

Sonoco most recently acquired Ahlstrom Corp.'s paper tube operation in Shouguang to serve the growing Chinese market for papermill cores. Sonoco's other operations in China include a papermill and tube and core operation in Shanghai, a tube operation in Kaiping in the south of China and a new tube facility currently under construction in Wujiang, Shengze, which is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year.