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March 25, 2025

Scarborough packaging facility with 67 employees to shut down by June

RTS Packaging at 16 Washington Ave. in Scarborough Photo / Renee Cordes RTS Packaging, located at 16 Washington St. in Scarborough, will close operations by the end of June, a company spokesperson told Mainebiz.
By Renee Cordes

Sonoco Products Co. (NYSE: SON), a South Carolina-based packaging manufacturer, plans to close its facility in Scarborough by the end of June, resulting in 67 job losses.

Roger Schrum, Sonoco's head of investor relations and communications, said the company told employees about the planned shutdown on March 13. The Scarborough operation is run by Sonoco's RTS Packaging unit.

"The closure will impact all employees working at the plant," he said in a statement emailed to Mainebiz on Tuesday. "The decision was driven by continued cost inflation compounded by lower sales in the folding carton market."

RTS is located at 16 Washington Ave. in an industrial area of Scarborough near U.S. Route 1. The company was formed in 1997 as a joint venture between Sonoco and the former Rock Tenn Co., once one of North America's leading producers of corrugated and consumer packaging.

Sonoco, which makes paper and metal packaging, acquired the remaining 35% of RTS it did not already own in 2023 along with a paper mill in Chattanooga, Tenn., for $330 million from joint venture partner WestRock (NYSE: WRK).

In February, Sonoco posted fourth-quarter earnings and net sales that fell shy of market expectations.

Price increases 

Earlier this month, Sonoco announced a $70 per ton price increase for all grades of uncoated recycled paperboard in the United States and Canada as of April 10, citing rising input costs and tightening market conditions.

Sonoco also said it will raise prices for all converted paperboard products by a minimum of 8% as of April 15 for effective  paperboard tubes, cores, cones, partitions, protective packaging and other specialty products.

The company, led by President and CEO Howard Coker since 2020, traces its roots to the founding of the Southern Novelty Co. in 1899 by Major James Lide Coker and his son, James Jr., who saw potential in converting pine trees into paper cones for winding and transporting yarn. 

Today, Sonoco is a global company with 28,000 employees and 315 facilities in 40 countries.

As of Tuesday's close on Wall Street, Sonoco shares have a market value of around $4.56 billion. Shares are trading 18.3% lower than a a year ago.

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