26/03/2012 — BRUSSELS — (BUSINESS WIRE)

Sonoco-Alcore S.a.r.l., the largest producer of coreboard and tubes and
cores in Europe, today announced that it has started discussions to
permanently close its Nordhorn, Germany, uncoated recycled paperboard
(URB) mill, effective in April 2012, said Adam Wood, Vice President and
General Manager Sonoco-Alcore Europe.

The mill located in northwest Germany has the capacity to produce 40,000
tonnes of heavyweight high strength coreboard that has principally been
used for internal converting operations. The mill closure will impact 50
employees at the Nordhorn location.

“The Nordhorn mill has had a good operating history over many years
driven by a strong workforce. This is a regrettable decision and the
company has initiated discussions with the employee representatives
regarding the closure and related social plan,” said Wood.

“This decision reflects the lower market volumes we are experiencing
today and the competitive conditions we expect will continue. We are
focusing our investments into our much larger and wider mills. Nordhorn
is our smallest mill and with escalating costs in energy, transportation
and raw materials, in the long term it was impractical to continue
operating this facility,” he said. “Our remaining six paper machines in
Europe have lower operating costs and have enough capacity to serve our
internal converting operations as well as our trade customers in the URB
market where we are one of the largest suppliers in Europe.”

Sonoco-Alcore also announced that it will be investing nearly 6 million
Euros over the next 18 months at its Schweighouse-Sur-Moder URB mill in
France. The investments are primarily focused around energy, material
and environmental efficiency.

“While the closure of Nordhorn is a difficult decision, the capital that
we will spend in Schweighouse will turn it into one of the most
efficient European mills in the industry. The Schweighouse mill is
unique in its capability and its geographical position in the heart of
Alsace region of Europe,” said Dino Kiriakopoulos, Director – European
Operations. “We will begin this investment during the summer and
complete the program near the end of 2013.”

Sonoco-Alcore S.a.r.l. is wholly-owned by Sonoco (NYSE:SON) and operates
29 tube and core plants and five paper mills on the European continent
and in the United Kingdom.

CONTACT:

Sonoco
Roger Schrum, +843/339-6018
roger.schrum@sonoco.com

KEYWORDS: Europe Germany

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