International Paper has confirmed it will undertake the permanent closure of it’s Red River containerboard mill in Campti, LA; a recycling plant in Phoenix, AZ; a box plant in Hazleton, PA, and a sheet feeder facility in St. Louis, MI. All facilities will cease operations by the end of April 2025.
The Red River containerboard mill closure is expected to reduce the company’s containerboard capacity by approximately 800,000 tons on an annualized basis.
In total, 495 hourly employees and 179 salaried employees will be affected. The company will work to minimize the impact on employees by using attrition, retirements and current vacancies at other International Paper locations. Team members at these locations will receive outplacement assistance, access to mental health support resources and where possible, severance benefits.
“The decision to close any facility is difficult because of the impact on our team members, their families and the surrounding communities,” said Tom Hamic, EVP and President, North American Packaging Solutions, International Paper. “We greatly appreciate the contributions from our departing team members and will do all we can to support them.”
International Paper is undergoing a transformational journey to become a stronger sustainable packaging solutions company. A critical step in this journey is to streamline it’s footprint to focus investments on facilities that will best serve customers and accelerate strategic initiatives to improve quality, reliability and service delivery.
