Colgate-Palmolive latest company to close in Venezuela
Colgate halts Venezuela detergent plant for lack of boxes
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VALENCIA, Venezuela (Reuters) - U.S. consumer goods maker Colgate-Palmolive Co (CL.N) has halted production at its detergent and dish soap plant in Venezuela because it lacked cardboard boxes to ship products, a union leader said on Thursday.
The plant in the city of Valencia stopped operations on Monday, union representative Carlos Rodriguez said in a telephone interview. Its cardboard provider, Ireland’s Smurfit Kappa (SKG.I), halted production in Venezuela last month after government authorities took over its local unit.
Smurfit Kappa* was one of the few remaining shipping materials manufacturers in the OPEC nation. Colgate is attempting to import cardboard from neighboring Colombia, Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said the lack of cardboard prompted the company to push up vacations for the plant’s 77 workers. He said a Colgate toothpaste plant was still operating, but had enough cardboard stock to cover only one more month of production.
“If (the toothpaste plant) does not get the cardboard, its operations will also be suspended,” Rodriguez said.
Colgate-Palmolive did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has five plants in Venezuela, including a soap factory that stopped operations more than a year ago.
Multinationals in Venezuela have drastically scaled back operations as the socialist government’s currency controls have made obtaining raw materials difficult, and an economic collapse marked by spiraling hyperinflation has dented demand.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-colgate/colgate-halts-venezuela-detergent-plant-for-lack-of-boxes-idUSKCN1MS2Z3
A Smurfit Kappa factory in Venezuela was recently closed by the ownership when they couldn't get raw materials. The workers (rightly) were outraged, and Maduro responded by (drum-roll please!)... NATIONALIZING THE PLANT! He, with great ceremony, gave the "means of production" to the workers. What benevolence!
And what does the Smurfit Kappa factory make now that it is in the hands of the workers? NOTHING! Because the worker/owners can't get raw materials!
GM factory? Nothing.
Kimberly Clark factory? Nothing.
Bridgestone factory? Nothing.
Chlorox factory? Nothing.
Anyone seeing a trend?
