OUR HERITAGE OF QUALITY

Our Organization

THE CONITEX STORY

Conitex’s story begins in 1982 as an importer-wholesaler to the booming textile industry of the Carolinas and other parts of the US.  A Spanish-owned company, Conitex saw an opportunity to revolutionize paper cone supply for spun yarn in the U.S. textile industry by developing and installing an automated cone manufacturing line designed by their Barcelona-based research and engineering team.  With domestically-available automated cone production, the company could offer an industry-leading two-week turnaround on cone orders for US-based textile manufacturers.  

In 1983, José Luis Artiga was appointed CEO of Conitex and led the reformation and growth of the Conitex brand.  José Luis surrounded himself with a strong leadership team.  In an industry where the average tenure of a C-suite executive is under five years, Conitex’s executive committee has worked together for more than thirty years. This extraordinary team's collective business acumen has guided the growth and diversification of the Conitex Sonoco product offering to ensure, not only the company's survival, but that the company would continue to thrive and better serve their customers.

Over the years, the company maintained a lean and relatively flat organizational structure, allowing Conitex to quickly adapt to changing economic and industrial challenges.  The company’s strong industrial relationships, coupled with their dedicated focus on quality products and leading customer service, provided Conitex with the foresight to open new plants in emerging textile markets, globally.

Throughout the 90’s Conitex invested in recycled paper mills in Europe and Asia, to ensure a reliable and high-quality source of raw materials for its cone business. In 1994, the company expanded into open-end tube manufacturing and brown-and-round industrial cores. These forays into the tube and core market prompted keen attention from industry giant Sonoco and, in 1998, Conitex executive members accepted a 30 percent equity partnership with Sonoco to form the joint venture, Conitex Sonoco. As part of this deal, Conitex Sonoco acquired cone manufacturing facilities in South Carolina, Greece and Mexico.

In the 2000s, the company extended its product line and capabilities to better serve their textile customers by adding sliver cans, corrugated pallets and labels.

In 2008, the company formed a joint venture with the Cordial Adhesives in the Netherlands, a leader in adhesive development and production. The joint venture, PapCor, has locations in Shandong, China and Subang, Indonesia.

Product extension continued through distribution of other technical packaging products, namely flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC) bags. In 2012, the company became one of only a handful of bulk bag suppliers with U.S.-based manufacturing and warehouse locations when it acquired BulkSak, Inc. of Malvern, Ark., where it produces FIBC bags.

In 2018, José Luis Artiga sold his majority share of Conitex Sonoco to joint venture partner, Sonoco and the company became a fully-owned subsidiary of Sonoco's Industrial Converted Products Division.  Today, Conitex Sonoco comprises four major divisions: Paper, Converting, Flexible Packaging and Adhesives.

Over a span of thirty-five years, Conitex Sonoco has become a global packaging solutions group with over $250 million in sales and a physical presence in over ten countries and across four continents.  The company manufactures approximately 1.4 billion cones and tubes annually and produces over 300,000 metric tons of recycled paperboard worldwide.