Sonoco to close plant in Canada

HARTSVILLE — Hartsville-based Sonoco said Thursday it will close a cardboard plant in Canada next month because of rising energy costs and declining demand.

The 53 employees at the Montreal mill make heavy-weight coreboard. Most of it is shipped to other Sonoco plants that use it for industrial packaging, which have been losing sales.

“In addition, escalating energy, transportation and chemical costs have further impacted the profitability of the mill making it unpractical to run the mill at less than full capacity,” said James Harrell, general manager of Sonoco’s North American paper business. “As a result, we have no other choice than to close down operations.”

After the Montreal mill closes Aug. 27, Sonoco will operate 23 paper mills worldwide.Shares rose 30 cents to $30.56.