Cascades Inc yesterday announced that it will close its Norampac containerboard mill in Trenton, Ontario, affecting about 130 employees.
The mill, which manufactures containerboard for corrugated shipping boxes, has incurred significant losses over the years.
Following the rejection of the final offer made to the employees regarding the new collective agreement, the closure of the mill will be effective no later than June 1, 2012, Cascades said.
According to Cascades, difficult negotiations for the renewal of the collective agreement took place from May 2011 to March 2012 between Norampac's management and the CEP union, following which the two parties were unable to come to an agreement.
"We are deeply disappointed that the Norampac-Trenton employees have turned down a positive and reasonable offer," said Marc-Andre Depin, President and CEO at Norampac.
The Norampac Trenton facility produces corrugating medium and has an annual production capacity of 150,000 metric tons.
Norampac, the containerboard division of Cascades, is the largest containerboard producer in Canada and the 6th largest in North America. Norampac is also a major Canadian manufacturer of boxboard, corrugated products and foldingcartons in Canada.
