Alcan plans to build a US$ 42.6 million packaging plant in North Carolina for tobacco industry customers, the company said on Thursday.

The new plant in Reidsville, NC will produce printed packaging, including folding cartons and labels, for key customers in the tobacco business. Construction will begin in the third quarter of this year, and the plant, which will employ 170 people, will begin operating at the end of the second quarter 2006.
The plant project follows Alcan's 2 May signing of an exclusive supply agreement with Reynolds American’s RJ Reynolds Tobacco unit, and will located in Reidsville, Rockingham County, North Carolina. (pi)