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O-I resumes production at Toano

Owens-Illinois (O-I) announced at the end of January 2010 that its Toano, Virginia glass plant would resume making bottles on 1 February, even if on a limited scale, thus confirming previous reports.

Owens-Illinois (O-I) announced at the end of January 2010 that its Toano, Virginia glass plant would resume making bottles on 1 February, even if on a limited scale, thus confirming previous reports. According to the company, the new contract has a duration of up to six weeks thanks to the big gap caused by Anheuser-Busch InBev pulling out. The Toano plant will also get jobs caused by the closure of O-I plants in Pennsylvania and Michigan. We have informed all employees at our Toano plant that we plan to diversify the mix of products at the plant by re-machining the plant to produce food and spirits containers, as well as beer bottles, spokesman Stephanie Johnston said. O-I has announced the closure of its plants in Clarion, Pennsylvania, and Charlotte, Michigan, and is also laying off 200 workers in Oakland, California, affecting more than 700 employees. AB InBev remains a major O-I customer, Johnston insisted, but declined to comment on the specific local agreement. We will earn higher profit margin percentages on this business, and attain greater margin stability in the future, CEO Al Stroucken pledged. To achieve these objectives, shipment levels in the region will likely decline. As a result, we will incur additional temporary production curtailments in the first half of 2010 until we permanently reduce capacity due to this change in business mix. According to Johnston, the Toano plant, closed since 18 December 2009, will not resume full capacity for another 3-5 months, despite the increase of jobs from up north. It does represent good news for our employees at a plant that has been a top performer in our North American region, she said. By diversifying production, we“re taking advantage of the plant“s efficiency and cost effectiveness, and making the plant stronger and better positioned for the long term.

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