Graham Packaging Co. recently announced plans to close its manufacturing plant in North Charleston, S.C., effective in mid-February. The plants 23 employees will receive severance based on their years of service.
Graham Packaging said its plant produced automotive lubricant bottles for a customer that has moved its operation, andfuture production of the bottles will be transferred to the companys other sites.
A spokesman for the company told Lube Report it would not reveal the name of the customer, saying that Graham Packaging protects its customers.
According to South Carolina state dislocated worker unit layoff notification reports kept by the states Dept. of Commerce, Shell Lubricants closed a lubricants manufacturing plant in North Charleston, S.C. in mid-December 2006, eliminating 78 jobs. Lube Report was unable to reach Shells spokesman for comment.
Graham Packaging, headquartered in York, Pa.,designs, manufactures and sells customized blow-molded plastic containers for branded automotive lubricant, food and beverage, household and personal care/specialty product categories. The company claims to be the number one supplier in the United States, Canada and Brazil of one-quart/one-liter plastic HDPE (high-density polyethylene) containers for motor oil.
According to its Web site, it provides containers for a variety of lubricants brands, including Castrol, Chevron, Valvoline, Petrobas, Texaco, 76 Lubricants, Shell, ExxonMobil, Petro-Canada and Pennzoil.
The Blackstone Group of New York is majority owner of Graham Packaging.