Atlanta-based WestRock plans to merge with Ireland-based Smurfit Kappa to form the largest listed packaging company in the world. The merger will make Smurfit WestRock the largest listed global partner by revenue, with hundreds of operations, including 67 mills, across the globe. The Longview WestRock mill, located east of the Lewis and Clark Bridge and on the Columbia River, makes carboard materials: containerboard and corrugated containers. The company’s new 410,000-square-foot-corragated box plant broke ground in March.
Longview paper mill helps boost WestRock net sales following November merger via The Daily News, Longview, WA
Demand for corrugated packaging products boomed during the start of COVID, with an E-commerce packaging report estimated the industry would be worth $101.7 billion in 2027, up from $34.7 billion in 2019. The Longview WestRock mill, which makes carboard materials, is expected to see the strength in Longview’s site due to its recent expansion.
However, 2023 hasn’t been as profitable as expected, with North American pulp and paper companies’ profit margins dipping to 4.2% in the first quarter of 2023. WestRock, an S&P 500 company, has hundreds of locations in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Smurfit Kappa, a Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 company, specializes in corrugated and containerboard, with 32 locations in the U.S. and Mexico, and hundreds in South America, Europe, and Africa. The new company, Smurfit WestRock, will be sold on the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange, with Smurfit Kappa CEO and board chairman remaining in their positions.
Source: Longview paper mill owner WestRock, Irish company to form packaging giant
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