Berry Plastics Corp., a global plastics manufacturer headquartered in Evansville, is closing a plant in Charlotte, N.C., effective May 14.
A company spokesman in Charlotte confirmed the closing of the Freedom Drive plant there and the date.
He declined to answer additional questions.
It could not be immediately learned why the plant is closing.
A spokeswoman for the local headquarters could not be reached.
The closing is expected to cost 73 jobs.
Berry, a leader in the plastics industry, is reported to have provided the North Carolina Department of Commerce with a letter about the plans to close the plant.
The company reportedly said in the letter it plans to offer severance benefits to those affected.
According to a report in the Charlotte Business Journal, Berry Plastics posted a net loss of $29.2 million for the first fiscal quarter ended Jan. 2, compared to a net loss of $29.4 million in the prior year’s quarter.
Yahoo! Finance reports Berry posted a net loss of $26.2 million
for fiscal 2009, compared to a net loss of $101.1 million for fiscal 2008.
Berry has posted restructuring charges for the last three years, the result of streamlining done to newly acquired operations.
According to Yahoo! Finance, Berry’s net sales increased 15 percent to $3.513.1 million for fiscal 2008 from $3,055.0 million for fiscal 2007.
The $458.1 million increase included acquisition volume growth of 8 percent, said Yahoo! Finance.
Berry has experienced much growth, both internally and through numerous acquisitions, in recent years.
The company produces a wide range of products, including rigid open-top and closed-top packaging, polyethylene and PVC-based plastic films, industrial tapes, medical specialties, heat-shrinkable coatings and specialty laminates.
It includes 16,210 employees worldwide.
In the current issue of the Evansville Business Journal (EBJ), a product of the Courier & Press, Ira G. Boots, Berry’s chairman and chief executive officer, said “Our fast-food products, such as drinking cups, are growing at double-digit rate. That portion of our business is robust.”
In 2008 and 2009, he said, Berry put most of its money into retooling its factories , preparing them for when the economy comes back up.
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