Italian packaging producer Sirap-Gema (Verolanuova; www.sirapgroup.com) is to close its plant at San Vito al Tagliamento in Pordenone / Italy by the end of the year, transferring activities to its headquarters in Verolanuova. The company, which is owned by investment group Italmobiliare Holding (Milan / Italy; www.italmobiliare.it) and operates 11 plants throughout Europe, did not give a reason for the closure, but added that the plant’s 40 or more workers can keep their jobs if they move to the new location.

In the first half of 2020, Sirap’s net profit for the first six months of 2020 was EUR 2.2m versus a loss of EUR 800,000 for the same period in 2019. Revenues, however, fell 11% year on year to EUR 120.6m.

The reduction, said Sirap, was more than offset by an increase in unit margins, which it attributed to cheaper raw material costs and the positive impact from its business plan, which it completed last year. In addition, the group noted that the actions it took to address the negative impact on volumes from the Covid-19 crisis were also a positive factor in its results.