O-I wine-bottle plant in California to close

8/20/2003

Toledo's Owens-Illinois Inc., the biggest U.S. maker of glass containers, will close a wine-bottle plant in Hayward, Calif., where production was halted in June because of a leak in the glass furnace.

The 54-year-old plant, which has about 170 employees, will officially close Nov. 17, the company said yesterday in a statement. Some of the workers will be moved to other O-I plants.

Bottles made at the plant in Hayward will be produced at nearby plants in Oakland and Tracy. With the closing, O-I will have 24 glass-container plants in North America, including 18 in the United States.