Spartech shuttering Stratford, Ont., compounding plant

U.S.-based Custom compounder and sheet extruder Spartech Corporation is closing its manufacturing plant in Stratford, Ont.

As a result of the closure, seven compounding lines at the Stratford facility will be shut down and approximately 46 jobs will be eliminated. The company has set a closing date of April 2013, and will move production to its Donora, Penn., Manitowoc, Wis., and Cape Girardeau, Mo., manufacturing sites over the course of the next six months.

In a news release, St. Louis, Mo.-based Spartech said that it is not reducing its focus on the Canadian market but rather “realigning its assets to better optimize the use of capacity.”  “The business will continue to retain and reinforce a commercial team in Canada led by Adam Kempinski, Canadian national sales manager,” the news release said.  

“We remain committed to growing our business in Canada. It is important to note that only part of the output of our Stratford plant was for sale in Canada – the majority of production was destined for the US market,” said Tim Feast, senior vice president, Spartech Color & Specialty Compounds. “We had under-utilized capacity within our plant network and it was prudent for us to take such actions in order to improve profitability.”

Spartech is a producer of plastic products including polymeric compounds, concentrates, custom extruded sheet and rollstock products and packaging technologies. The company currently runs nine color and compounding plants, including Stratford. Key markets for the plants are packaging, transportation, building and construction, leisure and recreation.