US packaging company Sonoco (Hartsville, South Carolina; www.sonoco.com) is considering the closure of its Carrickmacross plant in County Monaghan / Ireland as the business continues to lose volumes and profitability. The facility makes thermo-formed packages for a range of food processors mainly in Ireland and other parts of Europe. “Due to shifting market conditions and a financially challenging competitive environment, we have made the difficult decision to consider the shutdown of operations at our Carrickmacross packaging plant,” said Jeff DiPasquale, vice president and general manager of thermoforming for Sonoco Plastics.

The company anticipates up to 49 employee redundancies and it is now consulting with its workforce on a potential closure this November. Sonoco said the first cut in jobs would occur in October, after when operations at the plant would gradually scale down before completely shuttering on 1 November. If, and until that happens, operations will continue as normal, the company stated.

Sonoco has annualised net sales of about USD 4.8 bn, and employs 19,900 staff at 348 facilities in 35 countries.