Tetra Pak has announced the possible closure of its paperboard packaging plant in Longvic, near Dijon, putting 207 jobs at risk. Faced with falling volumes and rising costs, the Swiss-Swedish group, world leader in food processing and packaging solutions, is considering transferring production from Papeteries de Dijon to other sites in Europe.
Only 65% of Tetra Pak site capacity used
With a production capacity of 3 billion packages a year, Papeteries de Dijon is facing a critical economic situation. According to the Group, production volumes have dropped by 15% between 2019 and 2023, resulting in under-utilization of capacity at the Côte-d'Or plant, which has fallen from 71% to 65%. At the same time, rising raw material and energy costs contributed to a 24.4% increase in production costs over this period.
Tetra Pak, which is forecasting sales of over ?12.7 billion in 2023, points out that despite investment efforts, the current economic situation is no longer sufficient to maintain profitable business. The situation is deemed "unviable" a consultation process was launched this week to determine the site's future.
The possible closure of the Longvic plant would have a direct impact on the 207 employees at the site, which was perceived as an important industrial player in the region.
Tetra Pak's other French sites preserved
Tetra Pak assures us that its other French sites, notably Châteaubriant (Loire-Atlantique), which produces Europe's caps and closures, and May-sur-Èvre (Maine-et-Loire), which includes a product development center and a center of excellence for powder processing engineering, will not be affected. These sites, specialized in other stages of the production chain, benefit from greater economic stability.
To compensate for the losses incurred at Longvic, the company plans to concentrate its activities at more efficient sites in Europe. This decision reflects an industrial trend to optimize capacity and cut costs, but also fuels concerns about the future of French industrial sites.
