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A few fiber and plastic manufacturers made announcements in September about U.S. facility closures and layoffs.
- Domtar decided to “indefinitely idle the operations” at its newsprint mill in Grenada, Mississippi, in September, affecting 176 employees, a spokesperson said via email. The company determined customer demand for newsprint no longer required this production capacity. This is not a unionized facility, and Domtar is helping the affected workers through their transition, including with career assistance. The company encourages employees to pursue other opportunities within Domtar.
- Jindal Films Americas is closing its plant in Shawnee, Oklahoma, according to a worker adjustment and retraining notification filed with the state. The Oklahoma site was the India-based company’s last remaining one in the United States, after having closed its other facility in Georgia last year.
- Pregis is permanently closing its facility in Germantown, Wisconsin, and cutting all 48 employees there, according to a WARN filed with the state. The company expects to close the plant by April 30, 2026, and the layoffs would occur at that time. Pregis issued a statement to local news outlet WFRV that said machine building activities at the Germantown plant will be moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in an effort to streamline internal processes and optimize the production footprint.
Other updates
- Billerud, a Swedish pulp and paper company, launched a cost-saving plan that includes cutting up to 650 positions in Europe. Weak European market conditions have “resulted in a negative profit trend,” according to the company, and it aims for annualized savings of 800 million Swedish krona, or approximately $85 million. In December 2024, Billerud said it would invest about $127 million to upgrade two mills in Michigan.
