Smurfit Westrock will shut down its corrugated container plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on October 4, affecting about 100 employees.
The announcement was made in an Iowa Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act filing dated August 5.
The company said production will be transferred to other facilities within its network as part of ongoing optimization efforts. Closing activities are expected to be completed by mid-October. Outplacement assistance will be offered to affected employees, and those eligible are encouraged to apply for positions at other Smurfit Westrock locations.
The Cedar Rapids plant, located on Blairs Ferry Road NE, has a long history in the packaging sector. Built in 1956, it was operated for decades by Longview Fibre Paper and Packaging before changing ownership multiple times — first to KapStone Paper and Packaging in 2013, then to WestRock in 2018. In July 2024, WestRock merged with Smurfit Kappa to form Smurfit Westrock.
The closure follows other recent network adjustments by the global sustainable packaging company, including shutting its recycled board mill in St. Paul, Minnesota, and ending production at its containerboard mill in Forney, Texas, earlier this year. Smurfit Westrock continues to operate other facilities in Iowa, including plants in Clinton and Des Moines.
Smurfit Westrock, formed in 2024 from the merger of Smurfit Kappa and WestRock, is a global sustainable packaging leader with over 500 facilities and 59 paper mills in 40 countries.
