Sonoco Products Company announced Thursday it is expanding wood reels manufacturing and assembly capacity to meet rising market demand [1].
The expansion addresses a surge in requirements for power and communications cable packaging, a trend driven largely by the rapid growth of AI data centers [1, 2].
To achieve this growth, the company has invested just over $25 million [2] to enhance its capabilities. These investments have been ongoing since 2024 [1]. The upgrades are focused on two specific locations: the Hartsville, Alabama, and Jefferson, Texas sites [2].
Company officials said this represents a "continued investment to expand its Wood Reels manufacturing and assembly footprint" [1]. According to the company, these strategic moves have grown the manufacturing capacity and footprint by more than 30% [2].
Wood reels are essential for the transport and storage of heavy-duty cabling. As AI infrastructure expands, the volume of cabling required for data centers increases, creating a ripple effect that impacts the supply chain for industrial packaging [1, 2].
Sonoco's decision to scale its operations in the U.S. suggests a long-term bet on the physical infrastructure required to support artificial intelligence. By increasing capacity in Alabama and Texas, the company aims to reduce lead times and stabilize the supply of reels for cable manufacturers [2].
“The company invested just over $25 million to expand Wood Reels manufacturing and assembly capabilities.”
This expansion highlights the tangible, physical requirements of the AI boom. While much of the focus on artificial intelligence remains on software and chips, the increased demand for heavy industrial packaging like wood reels underscores the massive scale of electrical and data cabling needed to build and connect the next generation of data centers.
