Ball to Cease Manufacturing Operations at Two PET Bottle Packaging Plants
April 08 2009 - 7:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
BROOMFIELD, Colo., April 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ball
Corporation (NYSE:BLL) today announced that it will permanently
cease manufacturing operations at polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
plastic packaging plants in Baldwinsville, N.Y., and Watertown,
Wis., and supply customers of those plants from larger Ball
facilities. As a result, an after-tax charge of approximately $14
million will be recorded in the company's second quarter results.
Cost savings associated with these actions are expected to be
approximately $12 million annually beginning in 2010.
"Baldwinsville and Watertown are the smallest PET bottle
manufacturing plants in our system," said John A. Hayes, executive
vice president and chief operating officer. "With the industry
slowdown of demand for monolayer PET containers, it is important
that we continue to focus on ensuring our cost base is competitive.
Consolidating production capacity into larger, more efficient
plants is necessary to better balance our supply with market demand
and to improve the performance of our plastic packaging business."
The Baldwinsville plant opened in 1996 and operates seven
production lines capable of making approximately 1 billion
recyclable PET bottles annually. It employs 113 people. The plant
is scheduled to cease manufacturing operations by July 7, subject
to customer requirements. The Watertown plant operates four
production lines with an annual capacity of approximately 250
million recyclable PET bottles and employs 52 people. Ball acquired
the plant from Wis-Pak, Inc., in 2001. It is scheduled to cease
manufacturing operations by June 7, subject to customer
requirements. Ball operates plastic packaging plants in Chino,
Calif.; Atlanta, Ga.; Batavia, Ill.; Ames, Iowa; Belleview, Ohio;
and Delran, N.J. Ball Corporation is a supplier of high-quality
metal and plastic packaging for beverage, food and household
products customers, and of aerospace and other technologies and
services, primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and
its subsidiaries employ more than 14,000 people worldwide and
reported 2008 sales of approximately $7.6 billion. For the latest
Ball news and for other company information, please visit
http://www.ball.com/. Forward-Looking Statements This release
contains "forward-looking" statements concerning future events and
financial performance. Words such as "expects," "anticipates,"
"estimates" and similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to risks
and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied. The company undertakes
no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise. Key risks and uncertainties are summarized in filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Exhibit 99.2
in our Form 10-K, which are available at our Web site and at
http://www.sec.gov/. Factors that might affect our packaging
segments include fluctuation in product demand and preferences;
availability and cost of raw materials; competitive packaging
availability, pricing and substitution; changes in climate and
weather; crop yields; competitive activity; failure to achieve
anticipated productivity improvements or production cost
reductions, including our beverage can end project; mandatory
deposit or other restrictive packaging laws; changes in major
customer or supplier contracts or loss of a major customer or
supplier; and changes in foreign exchange rates, tax rates and
activities of foreign subsidiaries. Factors that might affect our
aerospace segment include: funding, authorization, availability and
returns of government and commercial contracts; and delays,
extensions and technical uncertainties affecting segment contracts.
Factors that might affect the company as a whole include those
listed plus: accounting changes; changes in senior management; the
current global credit squeeze and its effects on liquidity, credit
risk, asset values and the economy; successful or unsuccessful
acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; integration of
recently acquired businesses; regulatory action or laws including
tax, environmental, health and workplace safety, including in
respect of chemicals or substances used in raw materials or in the
manufacturing process; governmental investigations; technological
developments and innovations; goodwill impairment; antitrust,
patent and other litigation; strikes; labor cost changes; rates of
return projected and earned on assets of the company's defined
benefit retirement plans; pension changes; reduced cash flow;
interest rates affecting our debt; and changes to unaudited results
due to statutory audits or other effects. DATASOURCE: Ball
Corporation CONTACT: investors, Ann T. Scott, +1-303-460-3537, , or
media, Scott McCarty, +1-303-460-2103, , both of Ball Corporation
Web Site: http://www.ball.com/
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