Cranford, N.J.-based The Newark Group acquires Centracor Inc., a converter of paperboard cores and wooden pallets, headquartered in Oshkosh, Wis., for an undisclosed sum on Feb. 26. Centracor's Oshkosh tube and core plant and New London, Wis., pallet plant will join the 20 existing facilities of TNG's Newark Paperboard Products division. Along with TNG's Neenah, Wis., plant, the two former Centracor operations will become a new TNG Midwestern Region, led by Pete Emenecker, former Centracor president.

Metallized-substrate provider FILMtech Inc. opens a new metallizing/ converting plant in east Tennessee, near Knoxville. The facility includes a 140-in. custom film-metallizing chamber and wide-web slitter/rewinder from Atlas Converting Co.

Green Bay, Wis.-based contract manufacturer Fox Converting adds a 4-color, 85-in. wide production line for flexographic printing, coating and laminating to its stable of machinery. The new equipment, which runs all types of non-wovens, airlaids, film and paper substrates, came online in late February, says the co.

MeadWestvaco Corp. announces March 4 that it will permanently shut down four coated-paper machines and related equipment. Three coated-paper machines will be closed at the Chillicothe, Ohio, mill, and one machine at the Luke, Maryland mill. The restructuring will eliminate about 350 jobs in Ohio and approximately 75 jobs in Maryland. These actions are expected to be complete by May 31.

The Films Business of ExxonMobil Chemical says Feb. 28 it will expand capacity at its Virton, Belgium, facility by installing a new coating line. Construction is expected to take about 20 months with a scheduled startup in late 2003. The new line will be used primarily to reinforce ExxonMobil's label business for coating plastic film in the fast-growing market of cans and bottles.

North Branford, Conn.-based label converter Brook& Whittle invests a further $1 million as the company continues its rapid expansion into the beverage and personal-care label markets. A new Mark Andy combination 4150 10-in. press is expected to come online this week, increasing overall plant capacity by up to $4 million. The news comes hard on the heels of $2 million spent that saw the construction of a new press room by the end of 2001, a move which doubled the floor space of the manufacturing plant.