WestRock provides update on financial impact of Hurricane Dorian

Paper and packaging solutions provider and recycler WestRock, Atlanta, has released an estimate of the impact Hurricane Dorian will have on the company’s fourth-quarter financial results. The hurricane was projected to strike the Southeast U.S. the first week in September.

The company idled three of its containerboard mills in the Southeast that were located in areas of mandatory evacuation in the projected path of Hurricane Dorian. According to a news release from WestRock, all three mills resumed production as the evacuation orders were lifted in their respective areas.

The pre-tax impact from the hurricane on WestRock’s financial results for the fourth quarter of 2019, ending Sept. 30, is expected to be about $9 million, the company reports in a news release. That impact is related to incremental costs to idle and restore mills to operation as well as the supply chain impacts of adapting operations to meet system requirements. The company plans to provide additional details on these impacts in its fiscal fourth quarter earnings conference call.