Consumables

Sonoco Announces Price Increases for Molded Wood Products

Monday 22. March 2010 - Sonoco (NYSE: SON) will increase prices for molded wood products by 7 percent effective on shipments as of April 15, 2010, according to James Harrell, vice president and general manager, Industrial Carriers Division, North America. Sonoco is one of the largest domestic suppliers of molded wood products for its served industries.

“Using 2005 as a baseline, lumber output in the United States has decreased from 40.5 billion board feet to 22.6 billion board feet in 2009. Since wood shavings are the primary raw material used to manufacture molded wood products, we have been adversely affected by decreased supply,” said Harrell.

“Sonoco continues to make investments to drive productivity initiatives to help reduce costs to our customers including consolidating molded plug production in our facility in Bastrop, Louisiana,” Harrell added. “Unfortunately, business conditions and our supply chain for materials are being stressed beyond what we can afford to absorb.”