WestRock Company announced that it plans to reduce its solid bleached sulphate (SBS) mill system production capacity by 200,000 tons by shutting down one paper machine at its Evadale, Texas, mill.
This shutdown of the paper machine at the Evadale mill is expected to occur by the end of 2020 and reduce headcount at the mill by 60 employees. The remaining two machines at the Evadale mill will continue to support important end markets, including liquid packaging, foodservice, food and premium coated pre-print liner for corrugated boxes, among other grades. The company’s total SBS production capacity after this action will be approximately 1.9 million tons.
“As a company, we aim to balance our supply with our customers’ demand,” said Patrick Lindner, chief innovation officer and president, Consumer Packaging for WestRock. “Given current economic conditions and anticipated supply needs, we believe that reducing production capacity at the Evadale mill will improve its competitiveness while enabling WestRock to more efficiently serve our customers.”