Sonoco increases surcharge on plywood reels to 15% from 11%, blames spike in plywood costs as market reacts to Georgia-Pacific's announcement of indefinite curtailment plans

Lorena Madrigal

HARTSVILLE, South Carolina , October 5, 2011 (press release) – Sonoco (NYSE:SON - News) has increased the surcharge on its plywood reels from 11 percent to 15 percent, effective October 3, 2011. The change in the surcharge is driven by an increase in raw material input cost.

“In spite of inflationary pressures over the last year and a half, we’ve been able to hold stable pricing on plywood reels,” said James Harrell, vice president of Sonoco’s Industrial Converting Division. “The recent Georgia-Pacific announcement of plans to close two Georgia-Pacific plywood plants is expected to significantly impact the supply side of the market. As a result, the cost of plywood has spiked and held, leading us to revise our surcharge.”

“Through the end of 2011, we will review the plywood surcharge each month and may need to further revise the surcharge, depending on how the market reacts to the reduction in plywood supply to the market. At the end of the year, we will then need to re-evaluate base prices and the surcharge.”

Sonoco Reels is the most comprehensive provider of reels produced from nailed wood, plywood, poly-fiber, molded plastic and steel materials. Reels produced by Sonoco are used by the wire and cable industry to serve the power transmission and distribution; telecommunications; commercial and industrial building; oil and gas; mining and marine industries.

About Sonoco

Founded in 1899, Sonoco is a $4.1 billion global manufacturer of industrial and consumer products and provider of packaging services, with more than 300 operations in 34 countries, serving customers in some 85 nations. Sonoco is a proud member of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. For more information on the Company, visit our Web site at http://www.sonoco.com/.

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