Glatfelter to cut 120 jobs in specialty-paper division

The York-based company is cutting 70 salaried positions, including 30 based in Spring Grove, in its specialty papers unit.

The company also plans to eliminate roughly 50 hourly positions at its Chillicothe, Ohio, facility, where it is cutting out one of its paper-making machines.

Glatfelter employs about 4,300 people and operates three main business units – specialty papers, airlaid materials and composite fibers. The job cuts are only in the specialty-paper unit, company officials said.

The 50 jobs in Chillicothe will be eliminated when one of the facility’s machines, Paper Machine 24, ends production by Sept. 30, Glatfelter officials said. The specialty-paper unit’s seven other machines will absorb the work.

The moves are expected to to boost annual profits by about $9 million, and avoid costly market-driven downtime, the firm said.

The company also said it would recognize $8 million to $9 million in pre-tax charges related to the cost-reduction initiatives, primarily in the third quarter of 2017.

“While these are difficult decisions, we must take the actions necessary to strengthen our specialty-papers business and position Glatfelter for long-term success,” Dante Parrini, Glatfelter’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “The supply-demand imbalance in the printing and writing markets continues to put pressure on industry operating rates and selling prices.” 

Tim Hess, a senior vice president and president of the specialty papers unit, noted that advances in productivity also spurred the decision to shut down the machine in Chillicothe.

“We appreciate everything our employees have done to help us compete successfully in our markets, and we are committed to assisting affected employees and their families during this time of transition,” Hess said.

Glatfelter said it plans to assist those employees by identifying new positions within the mil.

Glatfelter (NYSE:GLT) serves customers in over 100 countries, and its international operations include facilities in Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the Philippines, and sales and distribution offices in China and Russia.

Company sales are approximately $1.6 billion annually.