Storylines around big acquisitions or facility closures and layoffs in the packaging sector have grabbed attention in 2024. But even with consolidation trends, as well as frustration with destocking impacts and lagging volumes, plenty of packaging companies are expanding, too.

Some of the investments are for brand new facilities while others are capacity expansions. These are some of the announcements about North American packaging site developments so far in summer 2024:

September

• Altium Packaging held a ribbon cutting for a plastic bottle blowing facility in Bessemer, Alabama, that began operations earlier in the summer, according to local news reports. Altium announced earlier this year it would open the facility to provide one-gallon jugs for Milo’s Tea Co., whose distribution center is next door.
• Carton Service CSI is investing more than $10 million to expand its liquid packaging production facility in Shelby, Ohio. In addition to new offset and flexo printing equipment, new skiving and sealing equipment and a new packaging laboratory, the company plans to add 20% more staff. The new additions are expected to become operational this autumn.
• Lindenmeyr Munroe opened a distribution facility in the Atlanta area. The paper and packaging distributor announced in July that it would expand into Georgia, where inventory from its other regional facilities will be accessed via a nightly shuttle system.
• Menasha Packaging committed $50 million to double its preprint capacity. The graphic packaging investments include a new press and robotics, plus it will create up to 30 jobs in Wisconsin.

August

• Green Bay Packaging acquired 80 acres of land in Casa Grande, Arizona, which it says “will be a great fit for the future presence of a significant GBP corrugated box operation.” The company also signed a lease for a 74,000-square-foot industrial space in Aurora, Illinois, according to REBusiness Online.
• Hartmann North America, a subsidiary of Denmark-based molded fiber egg packaging company Brødrene Hartmann, announced the expansion of a facility in Rolla, Missouri, and another in Canada in Brantford, Ontario. The new production lines and building expansions are expected to be finished by the end of next year.
• KraftPal Technologies, a London-based corrugated cardboard pallet manufacturer, announced the launch of its first U.S. production center. The Ontario, California, facility is expected to create up to 1.5 million pallets annually. 
• Packsize opened its new innovation center in Louisville, Kentucky, which will be home base for 200 employees. The on-demand, rightsized packaging solutions provider said its new 240,000-square-foot facility will house research, development and production functions, “with plans for additional future expansion.”
• Welch Packaging launched a startup called OHCorr in Wooster, Ohio, that will expand the company’s sheet feeder system and supply chain capabilities. OHCorr’s 200,000-square-foot space will produce corrugated sheet for the company’s existing box plants.

July

• Axium Packaging opened its first manufacturing plant in the state of Washington. The 75,000-square-foot rigid plastic packaging facility in Vancouver is just across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon, and will serve the company’s growing customer base in the Pacific Northwest. The same month, Axium also opened its first North Carolina plant, a $36 million, 130,000-square-foot facility.
• Belmark, a pressure-sensitive labels, flexible packaging and folding carton manufacturer, broke ground on a new $99 million flexible packaging facility in Allen County, Kentucky. Construction on the 156,000-square-foot plant is expected to finish in 2026, and 159 jobs will be added.

• Green Bay Packaging held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new 270,000-square-foot corrugated facility that will expand the company’s packaging division in Germantown, Wisconsin. New equipment will include a litho laminator and a specialty folder gluer. The company said it intends to add 20 jobs, and operations are slated to begin in autumn 2025.

June

• Clearly Clean, a plastic food tray manufacturer, committed to investing nearly $25 million into a new production facility in Greensboro, North Carolina, allowing the company to nearly double its capacity to serve poultry customers. The company said the development would create 80 new jobs.

• Greif opened its new bulk corrugated product manufacturing facility in Dallas, complete with what it calls one of the world’s largest corrugators. This location will manufacture single-wall, double-wall and triple-wall sheets, while specializing in bulk bins for shipping and handling large or heavy items. 
• Oak Creek Wood Products and Pallet Bros. announced a partnership on a new industrial wood packaging venture, which will operate out of a new facility in Austin, Texas.
• WestRock, now Smurfit Westrock as of July 5, broke ground on a new corrugated box “superplant” in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. The $140 million, 580,000-square-foot plant will be highly automated and is expected to open next spring.

May

• Pallet Distributors announced a $5.9 million expansion of its Byesville, Ohio, plant. To support the installation of a second line of automated machinery, the company also announced the hiring of 18 new workers.
• Sharp Services announced plans to nearly double the footprint of its site in Macungie, Pennsylvania, to increase production capacity for secondary packaging for sterile injectables. This adds 157,500 square feet of open space to create a 315,000-square-foot facility. The company planned to add between 75 and 100 new employees as well.
• Sonoco held a grand opening for ceremony for an 11,000-square-foot technical and engineering center for metal packaging in Columbus, Ohio. It houses laboratories, prototyping equipment, training rooms and collaboration spaces for use by can makers, brand owners, industry suppliers and scientific partners. Earlier this year, Sonoco reshuffled its business units to create four core businesses, with metal packaging being one of them.

• Tetra Pak expanded its technical training center in Denton, Texas, to facilitate virtual and in-person learning sessions for employees and customers. The 9,400-square-foot facility contains new processing and packaging equipment — such as homogenizers, separators, mixers — as well as learning spaces, and is designed for further expansion.