ATLANTA, GEORGIA—  Smurfit Westrock to close 4 facilities, 650 workers affected. The company is shutting down its CRB mill in St. Paul, Minnesota, and ceasing production at its recycled containerboard mill in Forney, Texas, and Smurfit Westrock also says it has initiated consultations with local works councils in Germany to permanently close two converting facilities there. As a result of the closures, Smurfit Westrock’s containerboard and CRB capacity is expected to shrink by more than 500,000 tons, coupled with the recent actions in Mexico and the Netherlands, totals nearly 600,000 tons. Smurfit WestRock will operate in 40 countries, have 100,000 employees and will  be worth about US$34 billion. WestRock Canada has plants in Alberta, Saskatchewan , Manitoba , Ontario and Quebec for a total of 12  in Canada.Announcements about paper mill shutdowns has become a regular  occurrence with Stora Enso, Canford, Island Papers , Arjowiggins, UPM, International Paper and Domtar have announced mill or machine shut downs in the last several years.