Detpak USA to Open First U.S. Manufacturing Plant in Spartanburg County

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Detpak USA, a global supplier of paper and cardboard packaging, will open its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Spartanburg County, state and company officials announced this week, adding a 175,000-square-foot production facility and more than 50 jobs to the county’s industrial base.

A First U.S. Production Site

The new facility will sit at 2781 New Cut Road, a site the Australia-based Detmold Group is using to establish its first owned manufacturing operation in the country after two decades of supplying U.S. customers from overseas plants. Detmold, Detpak’s parent company, already runs sales operations in Los Angeles and Tampa, Florida, and sells packaging products in 45 countries. The Spartanburg plant will produce sustainable paper and cardboard packaging for restaurants, food service companies, grocers and convenience retailers, drawing on a mix of imported and locally sourced raw materials from the company’s existing supplier network. Production is expected to begin in August.

“As we continue to grow our global footprint, opening our own manufacturing facility in the United States is a key milestone for our business,” Detmold Group CEO Sascha Detmold Cox said in a statement carried by the Post and Courier. “It allows us to better support our customers with locally manufactured products and reinforces our commitment to the U.S. market where we have been supplying customers for over 20 years.”

Incentives Tied to a Multimillion-Dollar Investment

Spartanburg County Council approved a fee-in-lieu-of-tax agreement for the project on June 15. Under the deal, Detpak has pledged to invest roughly $9.8 million in the property over five years; in exchange, the site’s tax assessment rate drops from 10.5% to 6% for 30 years. The state Coordinating Council for Economic Development also pledged $100,000 to Spartanburg County to help offset building improvement costs, according to a news release from Gov. Henry McMaster’s office cited by the Post and Courier.

McMaster called Detpak’s decision to locate in the Upstate a “win” for South Carolina. Spartanburg County Council Chair Manning Lynch said the company’s choice “reflects the confidence they have in our community,” adding that Detpak brings “a new dimension” to the county’s manufacturing sector.

“This is a powerful testament to the strength and appeal of our Spartanburg community,” Lynch said, according to the Post and Courier. “On behalf of county council, we are excited to welcome Detpak and look forward to a long and prosperous partnership.”

Part of a Busy Industrial Corridor

The New Cut Road site adds to a wave of manufacturing and logistics investment along Spartanburg County’s Interstate 85 corridor, which sits near Inland Port Greer and Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport and has drawn a steady stream of site-selection decisions in recent years, from BMW’s supplier network to newer entrants in packaging, materials and advanced manufacturing.