PCA to Close Middletown, Ohio, Corrugated Plant by Year-End

Packaging Corporation of America will shutter its full-line corrugated plant in Middletown, Ohio, by the end of this year, putting all 91 employees out of work, with most layoffs set for Dec. 1.

The company disclosed the move in a worker adjustment and retraining notification filed with the state of Ohio on Thursday. Hourly workers at the site are represented by the United Steelworkers union. PCA did not respond to a request for comment.

In the WARN letter, PCA called the shutdown a "difficult business decision" driven by consolidation of the Middletown site's work "into larger and more efficient operations, including a new plant that PCA recently opened within the state of Ohio."

That new plant sits in Newark, Ohio. The 550,000-square-foot corrugated converting facility started operations in July, ahead of schedule, company executives said during an earnings call that month. President Tom Hassfurther said on the call the plant is expected to "further enhance our capabilities to serve and grow with our customer base in a very strategic area for us while improving our operational efficiency over the long term."

The Newark facility has been a major spending priority. During a January earnings call, executives said completion of the box plant would account for a significant portion of PCA's capital expenditures this year. The company broke ground on the site in February 2025, executives announced during an April 2025 earnings call.

The Middletown closure continues a string of PCA facility cutbacks in 2026. In August, the company filed a WARN in Indiana disclosing plans to close a full-line plant in Gas City and lay off its 78 workers the week of Oct. 26. In April, PCA announced it would close a full-line plant in Richmond, Virginia, as of June. Earlier, the company permanently shut down the No. 2 paper machine and kraft pulping facilities at its containerboard mill in Wallula, Washington, a move scheduled for February and tied to roughly 200 layoffs.

The consolidation play reflects a broader recapitalization. Executives have said more than $5.2 billion invested in mills and box plants over the last decade is now paying off, and that spending includes upgrades to facilities PCA picked up through its September 2025 acquisition of Greif's containerboard business.

With the Newark plant ramping up ahead of schedule and legacy sites like Middletown winding down, PCA appears positioned to keep converting its decade of capital investment into a leaner, higher-efficiency corrugated network.