Business

MeadWestvaco could shed around 100 jobs in France over the next 19 months as part of a restructuring plan to streamline production and improve efficiencies.

MWV is planning to invest €3.6m (£3.4m) to maintain two production lines at Châteauroux, in the centre of France, and install a new large format offset printing press.

The restructuring would mean the facility would require fewer employees and threatened approximately 100 jobs.

In a statement, the US firm said the French food and beverage business "was faced with higher production costs than the rest of Europe".

"It has experienced a decrease in consumption coupled with changing market characteristics and high costs for raw materials."

French media suggested the restructuring of Châteauroux and Maurepas, to the west of Paris, would cut a total 226 jobs, from a workforce of 265.

The firm would however create 119 new positions, although some of the business currently carried out at the sites will be moved to the Netherlands.

The French business makes packaging for the brewery, dairy, food and soft drink markets.