WestRock Announces Construction of New Corrugated Box Plant in Brazil

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Packaging and Paper Products major WestRock Company has announced plans to expand its Brazilian corrugated packaging business in order to meet the growing demand from the South American region. As part of this, the company will build a new corrugated packaging plant in Porto Feliz, Sao Paulo. The construction works at the plant are expected to commence soon. WestRock expects the new box plant to become operational by mid-2019. Meantime, the company refused to disclose the investment towards construction of the new plant.

According to Steve Voorhees, chief executive officer, WestRock, the company’s corrugated packaging business in Brazil continues to perform well. The new plant will enable the company to serve these customers in a better manner. The proposed state-of-the-art manufacturing facility will offer new capabilities and efficiencies for its customers. Further, the new facility will contribute towards integration of containerboards that are manufactured by WestRock in that country. The location of the plant at Porto Feliz makes it ideal to serve the Sao Paulo region as well as the other growing markets in southeast region of Brazil.

The construction phase is expected to generate hundreds of jobs. Upon completion, the plant will provide full-time employment to good number of workers. The Porto Feliz corrugated packaging facility will replace the company’s existing operations in Valinhos. The new plant will be integrated with the Santa Catarina mill operations.

WestRock had been involved in various strategic acquisitions over the past several months. Earlier in August this year, WestRock had announced expansion of its consumer packaging portfolio with the acquisition of Australian Hannapack. The AUD$75 million acquisition of the North Richmond, New South Wales company had helped WestRock to generate significant synergies through integration of its paperboard into the Hannapak system. Also, the company had announced completion of acquisition of Multi Packaging Solutions-one of the leading providers of value-added packaging solutions, based on a definitive agreement signed between the two companies in early-2017.

Founded in 2015, WestRock is an American corrugated packaging company headquartered in Norcross, Georgia. Its operations are spread across nearly 30 countries.