Hartsville, SC, USA 05 December 2006/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sonoco (NYSE:SON) , the global packaging company, will close its Yuba City, Calif., wire and cable reels manufacturing facility, effective December 31, 2006, and relocate the operation to Oakland, Oregon, it was announced today by Randy Lusk, general manager, Baker division.

The planned closing affects Sonoco's Baker division facility located at 140 Epley Drive in Yuba City. The facility has 19 employees and manufactures wooden cable reels for the wire and cable industry. Sonoco will offer outplacement services and severance to all employees affected by the closing.

The new facility in Oakland, located at 620 Stearns Lane, will be combined with a current Sonoco facility that assembles and recycles wooden reels for the wire and cable industry. The combined facility will be operational in early January 2007. Sonoco currently employs eight workers at the Oakland facility and about 17 new hires will be required following the relocation of operations.

"The decision to relocate the facility was necessary to better serve our West Coast customer base," said Lusk. "This is a difficult action because our dedicated Yuba City employees have been the backbone of the facility's achievements in recent years."

Sonoco's Baker division is a leading producer of wooden, composite and metal reels in North America for the wire and cable industry. The business operates five manufacturing facilities in the United States, 30 distribution centers and nine recycling centers in the U.S. and Canada.

About Sonoco

Founded in 1899, Sonoco is a $3.5 billion global manufacturer of industrial and consumer packaging products and provider of packaging services, with more than 300 operations in 35 countries, serving customers in 85 nations. Additional information about Sonoco is available at http://www.sonoco.com/


Source: Sonoco