Paper and packaging manufacturer in the US, RockTenn has announced the permanent closure of its Matane, Quebec containerboard mill acquired in May 2011.
The mill, which was acquired as part of the Smurfit-Stone acquisition, had 176,000t per year of recycled corrugated medium production capacity. The containerboard system cost savings from the closure of the mill is expected to be about $16m per year.
The production at the mill was ceased by RockTenn in late January 2012 to balance the company's overall containerboard mill system capacity to match system demand, in light of major steps taken to realign system capacity and lower average system costs.
RockTenn hopes to incur pre-tax charges estimated at $29m, including an estimated $12m pre-tax for non-cash inventory and property, plant and equipment write-downs. Presently, the company hopes to record about $23m of the charges in the second fiscal quarter ending March 2012.
According to RockTenn, the remaining charges to decommission and dispose of the facility will be expensed as incurred.
