RockTenn closes three plants

RockTenn will close three former Smurfit-Stone corrugated container plants in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011. The plants are located in Birmingham, Alabama, Jonesboro, Arkansas and Santa Fe Springs, California. Existing business will be transitioned to nearby RockTenn facilities.

“This action is a necessary first step in realigning the box plant system of RockTenn following the acquisition of Smurfit-Stone. We plan to take many actions in the next year to maximize the efficiency of our manufacturing processes as well as to reduce costs and eliminate redundancies throughout our operations as we move forward to achieve the operating synergy that we anticipate from the Smurfit-Stone acquisition,” stated Jim Rubright, chairman and chief executive officer.