Anchor Glass Container of the US, plans selective shutdowns of production during the fourth quarter of 2004, in addition to the permanent closure of its factory at Connellsville. It has also brought forward from 2005 to this year scheduled maintenance and repair expenditure on temporarily idled furnaces. A profitability review of all current products and of custom agreements has been completed. Future business will be measured against a more aggressive set of criteria, the company says. Anchor has been undergoing a thorough operational review examining capacity, product mix and profitability by product. The firm are focusing on completing the review and announcing recommendations in the first quarter of 2005. The review is being implemented in the face of falling sales and growing losses in the third quarter of Anchor's current financial year.
