Oak Creek Wood Products and UFP Packaging featured in Mexican pallet market M&A activity.
Oak Creek Wood Products and UFP have announced two recent financial announcements involving Mexican pallet operations. UFP Global Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of UFP Industries, Inc., has acquired the remaining ownership interests in each of two affiliates in Mexico: NORPAL S. de R.L. de C.V. and TIBASA Universal Forest Products S. de R.L. de C.V. Oak Creek Wood Products announced a partnership to open a facility in León, Guanajuato.
The UFP affiliates will be combined as UFP Palets y Embalajes S. de R.L. de C.V. and will operate in three locations: Monterrey, Durango and Guanajuato. Today, these facilities are primarily focused on producing wooden pallets, but they are growing sales in other structural packaging runways. The business will be managed by veteran UFP Packaging employee Rees Watson, who TIBASA founder Hector Labrada will support as the new national sales director.
“We are grateful to our long-time partners in Mexico, which include the Fuhrken and Labrada families and Arturo Antunez, for their successes in building a strong foundation for our emerging packaging business in Mexico,” said Dick McBride, executive vice president for UFP’s international operations. “This transaction will enhance our stance as a world-class packaging solutions provider and support our many multinational customers with locations across Mexico.”
UFP’s other affiliate in Mexico, Pinelli Universal, supplies the U.S. retail building materials market and is not part of this transaction.
“We are excited for the new opportunities this will provide for our people in NORPAL and TIBASA,” said Eduardo Fuhrken. “UFP has been a valued and trusted partner, and we look forward to seeing the growth they achieve in these packaging operations.”
UFP Industries announced its 3Q results on October 31, 2023. The Packaging segment’s net sales totaled $449.9 million, reflecting a decline of 23% from the year-ago period. For the quarter, selling prices decreased by 16% and organic unit sales were down by 9% year over year, partly offset by a 2% increase in sales from acquisitions. On a year-over-year basis, value-added sales and new product sales, as a percent of total net sales, increased to 76% and 16.1% from 74% and 11.5%, respectively.
The subsidiaries of UFP Industries – UFP Packaging, UFP Construction and UFP Retail Solutions – manufacture, distribute and sell a wide variety of value-added products used in residential and commercial construction, packaging and other industrial applications worldwide. Founded in 1955, the company is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich., with affiliates in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. UFP Industries is ranked #403 on the Fortune 500 and #149 on Industry Week’s list of America’s Largest Manufacturers. For more about UFP Industries, go to www.ufpi.com.
Oak Creek Wood Products Expands Business to León, Guanajuato in Partnership with Guerrero Pallets
Oak Creek Wood Products recently also announced an expansion, having partnered with Marcos Guerrero of Guerrero Pallets to open a facility in León, Guanajuato in the heart of Mexico. The facility, which sits on 22 acres of land, is fully staffed and ready for production with a heat treat chamber onsite.
With this expansion, Oak Creek Wood Products is able to better serve its growing multinational customer base along with being able to service any new customers in Mexico. Marcos Guerrero joins the Oak Creek Wood Products family with over 20 years of experience as a pallet company owner in both the United States and Mexico.
A diversified wood pallet and shipping container, recycler, and manufacturer, Oak Creek Wood Products will grow its services to a broad spectrum of industries varying from automotive and maritime to food grade and paper processing throughout Mexico.
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Rick LeBlanc, EMBA, is the founder and editor of Reusable Packaging News (subscribe to the free newsletter) and editor of Western Pallet Magazine. A supply chain journalist with more than 30 years of experience, he specializes in pallets, reusable packaging, material handling and related operations. Rick is co-author of Pallets: A North American Perspective and Pallets & Progress: A Collected History of Pallets and Palletized Handling 1922–1945. He is also an advisory board member of the Virginia Tech Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design. Read Rick’s full bio.
