Articles related to capital projects

The US and European pulp and paper industries are in the throes of two distinct and separate mergers (or takeovers, if you prefer). One is being driven from Europe, the other from the United States. Despite noble efforts from the respective executive suites some employees will be upset. This has happened in similar situations before.

Scheduled to open later this spring, the new facility will significantly expand Greif's capacity in the bulk corrugated business and create opportunities in the South and Southwest regions of the United States, as well as Mexico.

Two Rivers Lumber Co. LLC plans to invest $115 million to build a state-of-the-art sawmill in Coosa County as the company's second operation in Alabama. Demopolis-based Two Rivers Lumber has committed to creating 130 jobs at the new Alabama sawmill, which will specialize in the production of Southern Yellow Pine dimensional lumber, the Alabama Governor's Office reports.

Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, inaugurated its upgraded folding boxboard machine in Husum, Sweden, on the 11th of April. Invited to the inauguration ceremony were, among others, project partners and representatives of Örnsköldsvik municipality, Swedish parliament and the forest industry.

In most jurisdictions, it is illegal to hold a cell phone while driving a car. Yet in most paper mills, one does not see this sort of restriction, indeed, anything close to it. Should we have similar restrictions in mills? I think so...there is almost no place in a pulp and paper mill where a phone is appropriate.

Engineering and related work has begun, and startup of the machine is scheduled for 2026. At peak construction, 500 construction and contract-related workers are expected to be onsite at the mill.

Virtual sport simulators are tremendously popular nowadays. Take golf for example: walk indoors, swing your clubs, and improve your swing. (Personally, I'd rather be outdoors any day with the sun shining and a fresh breeze in my face.) You can sit in movies with 3-D glasses, play sports (indoors) with a variety of simulators, or even wear 3-D goggles for virtual reality baseball training (you don't even need a ball, just swing the bat).

I must admit I did this back in the day, and I recently heard this practice still happens. Hourly workers are usually protected from this, with or without unions, so it is a practice where one needs to focus on the management ranks. I am talking about ridiculously long working periods.

Observing mill engineering departments for a few decades, I've noticed a haphazard application of well known nationally and internationally recognized standards in small, mill originated upgrade projects. I'll even admit that, decades ago, I likely participated in this negligence. Standards are created for a reason.

This is the column I promised you last week. Your reaction will be either scoffing at it or believing it--there will be no middle of the road reactions. If you decide to believe, contact me and I will help you, at no charge, to get started.

Menasha Packaging Company, LLC, the largest independent, retail-focused packaging and merchandising solutions provider in the United States with a network of design centers, manufacturing plants, contract packaging, and fulfillment service centers, plans to infuse $70 million in capital into its Richmond, Indiana footprint as part of an ongoing U.S. network modernization initiative.

Metsä announced it had chosen Goole as the site for this landmark investment in September 2023. The planned investment would be worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

I don't think I have ever been around more depressing pulp and paper mills than those experiencing poor maintenance. The only thing that can drive morale down faster is producing a product in a declining market (anyone remember newsprint?). Sadly, many senior managers view maintenance as a cost.

Sometimes I think maintenance suffers from "macho disease." We talk about changing out press rolls, monitoring machine bearings and other sorts of "big deal" maintenance projects. I would hate to think how many times I have been exposed to pump and motor alignment. Yes, it is an important subject, but it is not everything. There are other things that can shut you down, too (or at least cause you to lie).

When I was little my dad would bring home comic books when I was sick. It broke up the monotony of being ill and introduced a bit of fun flipping through the pages. Now take that same idea - a bit of fun with comics - and instead apply it to livening up and strengthening a preventive maintenance (PM) culture. (When was the last time you sat in a riveting PM meeting?) Yes, entertaining author and experienced consultant Joel Levitt, President of Springfield Resources, is creating content about PM through his comic book, Stories of PM, covering PM principles.

Through this expansion project, which received investments totaling $14.5 million and created 16 jobs, Kruger Products commissioned a new facial tissue converting line at its Richelieu Plant in November 2023. The additional equipment will increase the production of facial tissue by 25%.

UFP Industries' UFPI affiliate, UFP Packaging, inaugurated a new production facility and breakroom in Warrens, WI. The 11,840 sq.-ft. production facility and 2,400 sq.-ft. breakroom mark a significant expansion, allowing UFP Packaging to enhance its wood packaging offerings and accommodate up to 12 additional staff members.

The woodyard at Irving Pulp & Paper in west Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, is reaching new heights in technological advancement with a C$110-million (approx. $81 million) project to update how the site receives and stores woodchips.

Södra has decided to invest in a new condensing turbine in the pulp mill at Mörrum, which will increase the county of Blekinge's electricity generation by 20%.

Company to upgrade fiber preparation line driving improved efficiency, sustainability and reliability.

It is my favorite month because maintenance can pay huge dividends. Or maintenance can kill you if you ignore it. I've told many mill related tales of maintenance in this column over the years. For some reason, when I started to think about maintenance for this year's column series, I went back to my youth and some maintenance disasters that took place when I was a teenager at home.

We have spent the last three weeks talking about transportation issues and challenges in the pulp and paper industry today. About a year ago, I had an epiphany in the transportation and warehousing area. I went out and got a "patent pending" status on it. Due to all my other activities, I only feebly marketed it. At the time, my idea was to sell the idea. In the meantime, I have now decided to present it here for you to ponder.

The investment will increase its production in Austria by 20%.

The Supreme Administrative Court of Finland dismissed the appeal made against the environmental permit package for Metsä Group's Kemi bioproduct mill, as well as the appeal regarding the decision on the environmental permit package issued by the Vaasa Administrative Court on November 14, 2022.

Metsä Group's tissue and greaseproof paper business is investing in three new state-of-the-art converting lines for folded and rolled tissue paper to its mill in Mariestad, Sweden. The investment will enable large scale high quality hand towel production in Scandinavia. In addition it entails efficiency and energy savings as well as improved working environment and safety.

Jerry Seinfeld has an old joke that goes like this. He is out driving in a rural area. He passes a log truck. Then he meets a log truck coming towards him. He asks, "If the people over here need logs and the people over there have logs, couldn't they just call each other up and avoid driving these logs all over the place?" It got a big laugh. Of course, real life is not this simple.

The planned program amounts to approximately Euro 100 million and the related investments are to be carried out over the period of next five years.

Carbon Capture Pilot at Vicksburg Containerboard Mill: Vicksburg, Mississippi

To borrow from last week, I don't care if it is the bar of soap going down the conveyor or the shipment of pulp from Brazil, the costs in transportation is the onloading and the offloading. These termination points are also the points most susceptible to mishandling and accidents. Granted the load must be secured appropriately, depending on the application, but you'll find the problems and the costs are at the ends.

It is transportation month here at Nip Impressions, and there is a lot to talk about. I almost titled this first column of the month "Transportation Follies" but then thought better of it. There certainly are many transportation follies in the headlines these days. However, I thought I would spend this first column of the month in a cerebral fashion. What do you think of when you think about transportation?

Sometimes simple solutions are the best solutions. And a similarly simple solution to a very complex problem has recently come to light with transportation, using robotics

Smurfit Kappa is set to invest €54m to double the capacity of its bag-in-box plant in Alicante, Spain.

The addition of automated, state-of-the art thermoforming equipment at Amcor's world-class healthcare manufacturing plant in Oshkosh, Wisconsin will support increasing demand from customers in the medical, pharmaceutical, and consumer health sectors.

Boise Cascade Wood Products announced it plans to invest $75 million to expand and modernize key machine centers at its Oakdale facility in Allen Parish. These projects will increase veneer production capacity by 30 percent and allow the facility to produce up to 400 million square feet of dry veneer annually.

I promised you this column last week. Everyone in a capital project is under pressure. The mill team is under pressure to bring the project in on budget (remember how you kept shaving the budget to get the project through the board of directors?). The suppliers are under pressure to win the project at the highest possible profit for them, and will promise the moon, if they don't have to put it in writing. And this is all good, for it gives an old guy like me a steady income as an expert witness in project lawsuits. The grayer and thinner my hair has gotten, the more I can charge.

New state-of-the-art facility will enhance ability to meet growing demand and better serve customers in Great Lakes region.

PT Riau Andalan Paperboard International, part of APRIL Group, has initiated the commissioning of its new IDR 33.4 trillion (US$ 2.3 billion) paperboard manufacturing plant, bringing it a step closer to full-scale commercial production, which is expected later this year.

I have served as an expert witness in several capital project cases (dare I say disasters?). How do projects end up in this condition (disasters)? There only seem to be two major causes of such fates. The first is believing in magic and the second is dishonest dealings. We'll cover magic this week.

The state-of-the-art facility, which came online in Q4 2023, adds new capacity to the company's water-based adhesive manufacturing. This becomes the third location in the Greif Adhesives Group network, along with Kernersville, North Carolina, and Atlanta, Texas.

J.D. Irving's Grand Lake Timber in New Brunswick is celebrating the commission of a new biomass boiler which will significantly reduce fossil fuel consumption and contribute to a sustainable future. The project marks a step towards an eco-friendlier lumber drying process and will allow the mill to substantially reduce its carbon footprint.

There have been several capital decisions in recent years that have left me scratching my head. In these cases, a great deal of funds have been expended to clean out old paper machine halls for the express purpose of installing new machines of a different grade.

The property is adjacent to Kimberly-Clark's Beech Island facility, which began production in 1968, three years after the company revealed its plan to purchase an industrial site in Aiken.

Back when I started in the industry, one bought everything for their new machine, printing press, or flexofolder/gluer piecemeal. Yes, there was a primary machinery supplier, but the capital project team and the project engineers bought everything else separately and integrated it all into one concomitant system. Due to growth of the industry, project teams became less experienced, and the system fell apart. Startup dates and startup curves were missed because of missing but vital components. Major machine suppliers had ready excuses for not meeting performance guarantees and there was a lot of finger pointing.

As the ball drops in Times Square on New Years Day, the trees in South America grow ever taller, and are much better and more productive than that dropping ball (which mainly yields a great deal of traffic). Interesting things are happening in South America, and I do suspect capital projects for 2024 will be affected, and hopefully started for the upcoming year. Why is that?

The Western Reserve Port Authority approved the sale of former steel mill property in the Warren and Howland area to the Kimberly-Clark Corporation, which plans to build something there.

In 2023, Georgia-Pacific, a major manufacturer of toilet paper and other paper-based products, reinvested some $2 billion into its operations. According to the company, the capital improvement projects include finishing new facilities and enhancing existing operations.

I am speaking about the capital projects sector for 2024 and going forward a bit.

I am sure you have heard the story many times about how I lost all steam producing capability in a northeastern Ohio mill in the winter of 1987. It was early February and temperatures had plunged to -20 F. I was not at the mill at the time, but no difference, both the powerhouse and the maintenance departments reported to me...

Metsä Group is exploring possibilities to construct a carbon capture facility at one of its pulp or bioproduct mills. The investigation is a continuation of the work initiated in the spring, in which Metsä Group and Fortum jointly studied the capture of wood-based carbon dioxide and its use in the chemical industry and hydrogen economy, for example.

Metsä Group has made its second Swedish investment in FineCell (FineCellOx AB), developer of the FineCell technology and producer of CellOx dry cellulose powder.

As you have probably noticed by now, I have taken a bit of a cynical view in this power and energy month here at Nip Impressions. I tend to do this when secular subjects become so widespread and accepted as the whole truth, all other theories be damned. Experience and logic tell me that such widespread, cult like belief must have a few cracks somewhere and those cracks must be explored. Thus, I will continue down this path this week and next.

Elopak has announced plans to build its first U.S. production plant with the latest state-of-the-art technology for better and more efficient production. The plant will produce Pure-Pak® cartons for liquid dairy, juices, plant-based products and liquid eggs. The new production facility will be located in Little Rock, Arkansas and is expected to start production in H1, 2025.

Metsä Group's Kemi bioproduct mill is ramping up towards full capacity production and pulp deliveries to customers have started. It is planned to take approximately one year to reach full production capacity at the mill.

VIDA AB, owned 70% by Canfor Corporation (TSX:CFP), announced today that it will invest approximately 700 million SEK (CAD$85 million) at its Bruza Sawmill in Hjältevad, expanding production from 175 million board feet to 240 million board feet.

The Cop28 Climate Change Conference currently underway in Dubai seems to have hit a couple of speed bumps on the way to banning fossil fuels.

Have you ever seen those large, round, glass jars filled with marbles (or candies, or Matchbox cars, etc.) where you had to guess how many objects were in the jar - the answer being some incredibly huge number? (And did you ever win the prize?) Along that same line of thought, I was wondering this week if it were possible to count up the vast number of semiconductors on the property of the average mill (I really do think of this stuff) - not including the semiconductors in every mobile phone that the employees carry.

Weyerhaeuser, one of the world's largest private owners of timberland including 1.39 million acres in Louisiana, announced it is investing $96.2 million to modernize and decarbonize its Winn Parish lumber mill. The upgraded technology is designed to increase overall safety, productivity and product reliability.

Investments to the Halsey mill will increase production capacity for high quality bath tissue, with initial production expected in 2025. By the end of this project, Georgia-Pacific will have invested over $200 million in paper machine and converting assets at Halsey since 2022.

Green Bay Packaging -- a paper company that makes shipping containers, cartons and label products -- is set to build a new regional corporate headquarters to replace its current facility in Germantown.

There are a group of Mennonites in southern Ohio I love dearly. I try to go visit them a couple of times a year for a few days. My next visit is planned for the weekend of 16 - 17 Dec 2023. When I get there, my phone goes off and into my bag. There is no electricity. Heat is wood. Farming and local transportation is done with horses. They do use the bus system for long-distance traveling, and they do this quite often. Sounds inconvenient? It is the price of freedom.

The mill will have an annual production capacity of about 160,000 cubic metres of Kerto LVL and is expected to start production in the second half of 2026.

The question for you, dear reader and marketer, is what are we missing? Our typical product cycle is to try out a feature or a concept and gauge the reaction. Then it lives or dies. But let's turn this around. You may know better than we do what the next innovation in digital marketing to the pulp and paper industry should be. Sometimes one can be so close to something that they miss the obvious. We want to make sure that is not happening to us. Hence we want to hear from you.

Smurfit Kappa, a paper-based packaging company, has announced it will make a $68 million investment and create 200 new jobs in Anderson County.

DS Smith unveiled a major investment to transform the paper mill's energy supply at its site in Normandy, near Rouen. The project includes replacing the coal-fired boiler with a new biomass boiler that will reduce the site's emissions by 99,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Often, the barriers to innovation boil down to an unwillingness to take risks. If those risks involve technological changes, that just adds to the resistance. In the last thirty years, communications, for instance, have gone through startling changes, more changes than had been seen by humankind from the first written and spoken words up until then. These changes profoundly affected the pulp and paper industry and have blown by as if we were sitting still.

The net investment amount for the conversion project at Norske Skog Golbey will increase from EUR 265 to 300 million.

One of the major barriers to process innovation is knowing too much about the subject. Knowledge of a subject sets up unconscious barriers to innovation. Think of learning to drive an automobile. I have taught three teenagers how to drive. In all three cases, their first time behind the wheel experience resulted in eyes darting about rapidly. As they became familiar with driving, the eye darting subsided because they learned what was important and dismissed everything else. Same is true of a process or procedure. If you know it with your eyes closed, so to speak, you are dismissing a great deal of information that might be helpful in innovation. It's the "we've never done it that way syndrome." There are a couple of ways to shortcut this.

A couple of seemingly disparate items strike me as we start to think about innovation and strategy this month. The first is the press release a couple of months ago announcing the coming departure of the chairman of a major pulp and paper company. Reading between the lines, one could infer that this chairman and the board are out of ideas as to how to take the company forward. The other is the current popular human resource acronym, DEI, which stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. As with most such acronyms, this one is too simplistic and is itself too inclusive, likely being applied where it is not appropriate.

Switching to green energy seems all well and good until you get into the details.

The total investment of R$1.66 billion, announced during the disclosure of the 3Q23 results, is aligned with Suzano's strategic business avenues and underscores its commitment to constantly adapt its operations to evolving demand in Brazil and the global markets.

At their best, all the sensors, software and specifications you have pertaining to quality are merely aids to your personnel as they produced quality services and goods at your company. This is true for even the most sophisticated (buzz word alert!) AI systems. If your people and culture are not tuned in and dedicated to producing quality, it will not happen. In the pulp and paper industry, we have not done such a good job of starting where quality starts--with our people and our culture.

Massive investment in corrugated board-processing machinery is expected to ensure growth and quality.

Everything that comes onto your mill site must meet established standards before it gets to your mill site. Multiple suppliers must be in place to provide quick backup if a primary supplier fails. I would dare say the plan for the quality of the product you will make in a month or two must be already established now. When it comes to the quality actions needed from the human component of your operation, that must be planned six months to a year before you need it.

According to reports, most of the money will go toward new machinery and equipment for the facility.

Little did I know when I wrote the column last week, "Quality is Attitude" that there would be a sequel, but here it is. We usually think of quality, and concomitant attitudes about quality, as we think of suppliers serving customers. So, what would you say about customers providing outstanding, unheard-of quality to their suppliers? Would you infer from this that such a company, if it existed, would have quality service so ingrained that their customers could rest assured the quality they receive in service and products is top notch? I have found such a company and unabashedly want to tell you about them and their president.

The $17.7 million investment is expected to create 30 new jobs.

State-of-the-art facility will meet region's growing product demand.

As market demand for high-performance, sustainable building materials is increasing, Ahlstrom continues to grow its glass fiber tissue business and strengthen its manufacturing platform globally by completing a major investment at its plant in Madisonville, KY, U.S.

LP Building Solutions (LP) announces the opening of its new state-of-the-art LP SmartSide ExpertFinish prefinishing facility in Bath, New York. The 90,000-square-foot facility will bring more than 60 new jobs to the area over the next several years.

Quality is the commitment to excellence that drives the relentless pursuit of perfection. But interfering with that relentless pursuit is a strong EU governmental push to go completely digital, particularly with industrial products, medical products and other consumer information. No paper. Digital only. As a result the European print and paper industry is uniting, reminding legislators that going" digital only" is not neutral but would be harmful in some cases. The proposed restriction of paper would result in wide-ranging social, educational, and economic risks, beneficial to no one.

Smurfit Kappa has inaugurated a pioneering purification and wastewater treatment plant in Belgrade, Serbia, the first of its kind in the country. The state-of-the-art plant is located on the site of Smurfit Kappa's Belgrade paper mill, which was acquired in 2019.

Many of us recognize quality and we love to acquire it. Few of us love to create it. We'll explore the love of quality and how to create it this month.

As we continue to think about quality in a different way this month, I have to say quality is attitude. I have seldom seen an angry person produce quality services or products. Likewise, I have never seen a glib, happy-go-lucky person produce quality either. Let's face it, quality is serious business. It can be a complicated business, too.

This investment will support ongoing plastic replacement with customers, increase capacity by over 20%, and significantly boost productivity.

Klabin held the inauguration ceremony of Puma II, a project that marked the expansion of the Puma Unit, in Ortigueira, Brazil. This is the largest investment in the Company's history and the largest private investment ever made in the State of Paraná.

DS Smith Zarnesti paper mill has inaugurated its new Waste Water Treatment Plant, which is an essential component of Euro 11 million worth investment plan, launched in 2021.

It has been widely reported recently that companies are "quietly cutting" employees. If you are not familiar with this term, it means your job has been eliminated, but you haven't. You'll be put on the sidelines until a place can be found for you. Likely your department has been eliminated, but to avoid paying you a severance package, you are "being placed in inventory" until a position can be found that matches your perceived skill set.

In wood chemistry classes in college, one thing I learned was that trees are fascinating. We spent a bit of time on the root system of trees, but far more on what was above ground. After all, that's what paper makers are most interested in. Since college days, I've learned a lot more about trees. And much of what's fascinating about trees begins, actually, with what's underground.

The corrugated packaging company will invest $500 million in Pennsylvania to create hundreds of jobs across the Commonwealth over the next ten years.

Governor Andy Beshear joined officials with Pratt Industries in Henderson to officially open the company's new $500M paper mill and box plant, which will create jobs across two facilities.

Canfor Corporation will be investing approximately $200 million to build a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Houston, British Columbia, Canada. This low cost, high efficiency facility will have an annual production capacity of approximately 350 million board feet.

The 127,000 sq. ft. millwork facility is scheduled to be complete in the fourth quarter of 2023 and is expected to begin production shortly after the first of the year.

Extremely touchy subject, but I have never let that stop me before. DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) is at least on the lips of every human resource professional today. What should be your posture and response?

Pratt Industries Inc. has pledged to create more than 200 new jobs while investing $32 million into a new Dayton-area facility.

The Lenzing Group has made significant technical improvements to its Purwakarta site (PT. South Pacific Viscose) in Indonesia. Lenzing has invested more than Euro 100 million since 2021 to convert existing production capacity to specialty viscose. With the imminent completion of the investment, Lenzing is in a better position to serve the strongly growing demand for specialty fibers.

New site investment will propel consumer packaging made from recycled content in support of healthier planet.

Pratt Industries, a private company owned by an Australian billionaire, announced Thursday that it would build the plant in Warner Robins, with plans to begin turning out boxes by late 2024.

It is being reported that Smurfit, of Dublin, Ireland, and WestRock, of Atlanta, Georgia, are in merger talks. These are interesting times indeed. I recall in 1986 when Smurfit bought Container Corporation of America (CCA) with the help of Morgan Stanley. In fact, the combined company name included Morgan Stanley. Long term, that merger did not end well.

Today we're looking at the flip side of smart procurement (June's topic): increasing safety and productivity with digital downtime. As a background, if you google the topic you'll get an amusing list of headlines, ranging from how to fight tech addiction, to articles telling you not to bother disengaging from a screen addiction since it's apparently useless. But how does this even remotely relate to the pulp and paper industry???

There is a new norm for work attendance. It was caused by the Covid lockdown, and if you are not aware of it, you must have been under a rock for the last three years. In the hourly ranks in our mills, it seems to be working itself out. Mills are adopting the twelve-hour day and hourly workers in many cases are working fourteen twelve-hour days out of each twenty-eight days, on various schedules of day and night shift. Maybe this will work and be widely adopted. That is a few hours more than a straight forty hour per week job, but who works forty hours per week. Salaried staff schedules have been more of a problem.

The Board of Directors of Nordic Paper has decided to invest approximately SEK 850 m at the Bäckhammar mill.

Fos the Rat says, "We've been talking to Mr. Jim this month and he has told us some amazing stories. Let's see what he has for us this week."

Fos the Rat says, "Every August, I look forward to taking over Mr. Jim's column and providing the insights of the Pulp Rats. This year we've done things a little differently, but here we are, already, at the end of the month. I hope you have enjoyed these interviews as much as I have enjoyed doing them. Let's see what Mr. Jim has to tell us today."

Due to current market conditions, the start of the project has been postponed to 2024.

As we discussed last week, this year we are using a different format. Fos the Rat is interviewing Mr. Jim in a side room at the Pulp Rat Convention. Last week's story relayed matters that can happen within one's company. This week, we'll move outside the walls and see what can go wrong when an outside company has an evil intent.

The investment will be financed by bank loans and equity and is expected to be completed during the first half of 2025.

Right now there's a strong trend of wanting to "take down" paper companies and the government officials who allow them. - There are stories all over the news to this effect. But there is a way to have paper mills welcome in their communities. It is doable. How? It requires a multifaceted approach.

Fos, the Rat, says, "I am going to use a slightly different format this year. Yes, the rat convention is going on as usual, but I have reserved a private room off the main convention floor and Mr. Jim has agreed to being interviewed concerning some of the situations he has seen over his fifty plus year career in this industry."

How clean is clean? What are we willing to pay for things to be incrementally cleaner?

The Euro 33.9 million investment is focused on equipment upgrades including purchasing state-of-the art machinery for innovative packaging to support ongoing plastic replacement and boost productivity in the East European market.

Let's not forget what business we are in. Simply, that is to manufacture, convert, and/or print paper. There are many other activities in which mills must engage but these must be our focus--this is how we spin our invoice printer. I have lived through nearly the entire environmental era to date. Perhaps it is time for a new third party to rise up and help us with the entire environmental equation.

Huhtamaki is making a significant investment in its Paris, Texas facility in the U.S. The investment consists of an expansion of its manufacturing capacity as well as a consolidation of an external warehouse. The investment into production assets is approximately $30 million, and the warehouse and manufacturing facility will be leased.

Construction is expected to begin in the next 18 months, once the sale closes.

By and large, we all want the same thing for ourselves, our families and our friends. Clean air, clean water, and a pleasant view of nature. In most places governments have disincentivized (read: one can go to jail) managers from disobeying when it come to environmental regulations, so regular and repeated excursions from what is expected are matters of reasonably respecting compliance requirements. So why do your mill's neighbors have an adversarial relationship with your mill? There can be several reasons for this.

The country's location enables Smurfit Kappa to serve not only the local market but wider regions in Africa.

The Canadian government has announced an investment of $3.5 million in the construction of 2150 Keith Drive, an innovative hybrid mass timber commercial office building in Vancouver's False Creek Flats neighborhood. The funding will be provided through the Green Construction Through Wood (GCWood) Program, which aims to promote the use of wood as a low-carbon construction material in infrastructure projects.

Conditions should not be us and them, but that is what they have become. My solution? At this point, you have no choice but to be absolutely transparent to your local neighbors and be cautious of the traveling rabble-rousers. This situation is no fault but our own.

It's not a question of if smart procurement is coming to mills. It's a question of when.

Georgia-Pacific recently invested $120 million into Pineland Lumber in Pineland, Texas, making it the largest sawmill in the South.

Enviva Inc., the world's leading producer of sustainably sourced woody biomass, breaks ground on its forthcoming Epes plant under construction in Sumter County, AL.

This is environmental/regulations month here at Nip Impressions. I must ask, what has changed in the past year? It appears the rhetoric has become shriller, the regulations more onerous and the government has become more invasive.

Metsä Board's folding boxboard capacity expansion at its Husum mill in Sweden is reaching its final phases before start-up. Once the expansion is completed, the mill's BM1 folding boxboard machine will be delivering 600,000 tonnes of premium lightweight folding boxboard every year to consumer packaging and food service end uses all around the world.

Norske Skog celebrates grand opening of Bruck PM3, and becoming the go-to supplier for sustainable containerboard production, based on 100% recycled fiber.

The Italian paper company Sofidel on Monday announced a $185 million expansion of its facility just south of Circleville that could add 100 jobs.

Roseburg Forest Products has received a substantial funding of $3 million to install robotic equipment at its medium-density fibreboard (MDF) plant, providing a significant boost to Canada's forest sector.

At capacity, the 1.1 million square foot plant - one of the largest and most modern of the company's 71 factories spread across 25 US states - will provide 375 full-time, high-paying, green-collar manufacturing jobs. That brings Pratt's total workforce to 11,500.

Last week we talked about the missing doctor blades and how the solution cost the mill serious money through their own inability to manage their needs. I have a story from the other side of this issue as well.

The plant's construction commenced in January 2023.

If I am being a bit hard on purchasing this month, it is because I often see purchasing as a silo in our mills and corporate structures. Purchasing is often thought of as price, terms and conditions. There is a lot more that purchasing can do for the mill. It is not all about pricing, terms and conditions.

The mill's annual production capacity is approximately 160,000 cubic metres, which represents a 50 per cent increase in the company's total Kerto LVL capacity.

Georgia-Pacific is embarking on a $18 million upgrade that will modernize the Camden Plywood plant and help increase efficiency.

Smurfit Kappa has operated in Mexico since 1957 and has had a presence in the northern Baja California region for over 10 years.

Today's purchasing professionals are much better than the ones I ran into early in my career, but there is still room for improvement. A great purchasing executive must be a strategic and tactical thinker, also keeping their company's ESG goals in mind.

Changes are coming.

DS Smith Cartogal packaging plant located in the town of A Pobra do Caramiñal, in Galicia, Spain, will soon see an increase in size, production and storage capacity after a milestone investment of Euro 11.35 million.

Elopak has announced that it will build a new plant in the USA to better serve its customers in the Americas and accelerate growth in the region. The new plant will allow Elopak to build on an already strong track record of organic and profitable growth driven by high customer demand in the region.

We can't start talking about purchasing without talking about corruption. This is my 54th June in industry, and I wish I could tell you that corruption in purchasing has diminished over this period, but I can't. One bright spot I know is a mill in Texas where a new purchasing agent eliminated all hats, pens, calendars, meals...any freebies provided by the vendors and suppliers. Sounds harsh? Once the camel gets its nose under the tent, there is no stopping.

Visy has unveiled a major $48 million upgrade to its recycling and remanufacturing facility on Gibson Island in Brisbane.

Shortly after buying the facility in 2018, ND Paper announced it would invest $189 million in the Biron mill. The company pointed to growth in packaging and e-commerce, as well as consumer demand for more sustainable products, for the changes it has made.

No, this is not a retirement announcement. I am merely pointing out that we are done with energy for this month. We'll be back with more energy columns in December. If you haven't figured it out yet, Nip Impressions features energy two months per year--May and December. Energy is that important. As I have said before, it has been important for my entire career and will be far into the future.

I have been beating around this energy trends subject all month. It is time for me to get serious and give you some help. Are there any sure-fire energy solutions you can do now and not be required to back track later? Let us think about it for a minute and see what we can develop and what can be set up for continuous improvement.

A news release says the project, located at the company's existing 50-year-old Hawesville mill, will upgrade the current pulper with a modern pulper to gain additional machine capabilities and better service growing markets. Officials say leaders at Domtar plan to have the expansion fully operational by the end of 2025.

Investment has created one of the most high-tech packaging plants in Europe

At this point in time, we have forgotten that using electricity as a widespread energy form is an almost new experience. My own grandparents, for instance, were born (early 1880's) when electric lights were brand new and only in the homes of the rich in concentrated urban places like New York City. It was years before they experienced these in the US Midwest. While electricity brought many advantages and improvements to life, business and industry, it was not without its negative side effects, too.

Boise Cascade's Building Materials Distribution (BMD) division announced it has finalized the purchase of a five-acre site in Birmingham, AL.

The company also partnered with Kruger Inc. last year to build an enclosed electric conveyor system to move wood chips from the facility to Kruger's chip yard, located directly across the street.

Mondi, a global leader in sustainable packaging and paper, is upgrading its Dynäs pulp and paper mill in Sweden. The modernisation programme will increase efficiency and further improve the overall environmental performance of the mill, positioning it well to continue meeting customer demand for sustainable paper and paper-based packaging solutions.

Despite all the safety training, sometimes things happen that you really didn't see coming. This month for safety, we'll cover a couple extra things that aren't usually discussed in those monthly safety trainings, starting with what's in the news...

Hood Industries, Inc. announced its plans to build a new, laminated plywood panel manufacturing facility in Beaumont, Mississippi.

Let's take a walk down nostalgia and fantasy lanes this week. I am so frustrated with energy issues; I see no other choice.

International Paper's Cedar River Mill, the largest 100-percent recycled paper mill in the Americas -- broke ground Monday on its expansion project to generate an alternate steam supply and transition off coal-powered steam.

The start-up is planned for 2024.

Holmen is investing SEK 450 million ($43.9 million) in rebuilding a paper machine at Braviken Paper Mill in Sweden.

The MM Group (MM) has approved a comprehensive investment project to increase the long-term competitiveness of its largest board and paper mill, MM Kwidzyn in Poland. Energy and CO2 cost reduction, pulp integration and entry into the market for sack kraft papers are to set the mill up for sustainable future success.

The investment is planned to be operational in 2024.

DS Smith announced an ambitious upgrade program to its kraft paper mill in Viana, Portugal. A multiyear Euro 145 million package of investments will bring some of the most up to date paper-making machinery to Viana, rebuilding the mills paper machine and reducing CO2 emissions.

It is energy month again, and, quite frankly, I am getting tired of talking about energy matters. As I have stated before, the first energy crisis occurred about four months after I received my undergraduate degree. We have been talking about energy ever since, not only in our mills, but in life in general. At first, the issue was, do we have enough? At the time, known petroleum reserves were about eight years, which would have gotten us to 1981. Obviously that was incorrect. Later in my career, climate change became the issue when the powers that be decided we face global warming instead of global cooling.

When I was young, binge drinking seemed to be the personally destructive behavior of choice. In one mill where I worked, the staff was in the habit of having a beer blowout after every shutdown day. I don't know if that is still a widespread activity or not. Of course, drugs, especial fentanyl, are widespread today and kill many people. We have had this tragedy hit close to us. Today, however, I want to talk about overeating and weight. We all, including me, struggle with this.

As part of a planned $108 million project, Georgia-Pacific has given the green light on $50 million in upgrades to boost paper towel output at the company's Port Hudson paper mill in Zachary, company officials said Monday.

The project includes the new construction of a 4,000 m2 planing house adjacent to a sawmill.

Roseburg Forest Products announced Friday (April 14) that it planned to invest $700 million over the next four years to upgrade and expand its manufacturing operations in Southern Oregon, where the company was founded nearly 90 years ago.

Georgia-Pacific containerboard mill in Monticello is set to receive a $91 million upgrade, making the construction project one of the company's largest investments in the Lawrence County facility.

What I am about to describe can happen anywhere...work or home. Most of us would say our life is more important than material goods. However, here in our neighborhood, two people have lost their lives in the last six months because, in a rapidly developing situation, they thought saving material goods was paramount. They didn't have time to think it through.

Pay now, or pay more later, or... pay dramatically more much later. Simple as that. That's the essence of mill maintenance.

In recent years, companies have started emphasizing safety off their premises as well as at work, for anything that causes an employee to be missing from work is a cost. It is just a matter of how big that cost is.

Summit Paper Tube, Inc., a paper tube manufacturer, announced plans to establish its first South Carolina operations in Williamsburg County. The company's $1.68 million investment will create 19 new jobs.

Major milestone in the transformative growth investment in Uruguay.

As we start safety month, we could almost repeat the issues discussed last month in maintenance month. We'll spend some time this month talking about attitudes as well. Attitudes have a lot to do with safety.

Sonae Arauco is investing more than Euro 100 million in its Meppen industrial unit, in Germany. A new production line for wood fibre insulation materials is to be built here, which from 2025 will expand the portfolio to include flex insulation, pressure-resistant wood fibre insulation boards, and blow-in insulation.

We started off this month talking about obsolete equipment and processes left in place. This is not what I am talking about now. Here, I am talking largely about installed spares.

The world's largest machine for the production of kraftliner has entered service in Obbola plant in Västerbotten, Sweden. This major project has been completed ahead of schedule and within budget, significantly increasing opportunities to produce packaging materials that replace plastic.

The terminal consolidates Klabin's logistics strategy in the State of Paraná.

Clayco, a full-service, turnkey real estate, architecture, engineering, design-build and construction firm, celebrated the groundbreaking of WestRock's new 410,000-square-foot corrugated box plant in Longview, Washington. Located just outside of the Vancouver, Washington metropolitan area, this marks the first collaboration between Clayco and WestRock.

Södra's new cross-laminated timber (CLT) facility was inaugurated on the west coast of Sweden.

There has been a vast improvement in the selection of materials for new capital projects during my 53-year career. There are new materials, upgrades to old materials and a general view of specifying materials more suitable for the application now than in prior decades. If you have read me for any length of time, you know I like galvanized steel for all structural components (indoors and out) and stainless for nearly everything else where appropriate in pulp and paper mills. Granted, there a bleach plants constructed of titanium, but those are more the exception than the rule. I like plastic, too. CPVC pipe, FRP tanks are your friend.

Heinzel will take over the Steyrermühl site from UPM on January 1st, 2024, according to an agreement signed in 2022, and will enter the market with a new range of unbleached and bleached kraft papers shortly thereafter.

Last week, we talked about the first step to better maintenance. That was cleanliness, as in wholesale cleanliness by removing dead and obsolete equipment. To me, the next thing after cleanliness is oil and grease--lubrication.

The construction work on the new warehouse is expected to start at the end of 2023, to be put into operation in the summer of 2025.

If you have taken an automobile to a dealer's repair shop lately, you have no doubt noticed how clean and neat the facility is. I have been wheeled into operating rooms in prestigious hospitals with more clutter and cobwebs than one will find in the typical auto dealer repair shop. Automobile dealers work at a high charge out rate, out of a rate book. They have a constant struggle between the profitability demanded by their owners and the resistance of the customers to high prices. The repair shop is a profit center. The repair services provided by the maintenance department in your pulp or paper mill are treated as a cost center, a cost center the mill does not want to own. Big difference from the automobile dealership repair shop. Perhaps this is at least one reason why pulp and paper mill maintenance centers are so unkempt and trashy.

Smurfit Kappa is investing €27 million in a state-of-the-art new waste management and recovery facility at its Nervión paper mill in Iurreta, Spain. The investment will see the mill adopt a fully circular production process involving the biggest landfill reduction project Smurfit Kappa has undertaken to date to support the delivery of its 2025 sustainability commitments.

Cascades announced the conversion of its Bear Island paper mill in October 2020. The facility, which is in Ashland, Virginia, will produce lightweight, 100-percent-recycled linerboard and medium and initially was projected to cost around $380 million. The company now reports the total cost of the project at around $515 million to $525 million, with $396 million invested in the project to date (2018-2022).

Södra has decided to investigate the conditions for a new large-scale sawmill in Kinda in Östergötland. A preliminary project will be undertaken and serve as a basis for a future investment decision.

You can't make sandcastles without sand, you can't make skyscrapers without steel, and you can't make paper without wood or fiber. And it's trains that are central to the transportation of products into and out of a pulp and paper mill. Back last December, we had quite the problem with the railroads, but what exactly was going on?

Your mill has all sorts of motive equipment, from skid steer loaders to clamp trucks to over-the-road transportation providers. The outside suppliers who maintain this equipment have a tremendous amount of valuable information that can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes on a monthly basis. The key is how you approach accessing this information.

The upgrades include a new corrugator, converter, single facer, preheater, glue machine, and control systems as well as an upgrade to the existing single facer and unitizer. By enabling the double wall capability, Owosso will be able to expand its customer base and provide expanded products to current customers.

Stora Enso will invest approximately Euro 30 million in its Heinola Fluting site in Finland to renew the energy set-up and process equipment. After the investment, the site can replace also the remaining fossil-based fuels with renewable bioenergy. This will reduce the site's greenhouse gas emissions with more than 90%.

At this point the decision to go electric in your motive equipment or trucks is an easy one. If the vehicles are used for short range and there is charging time, go electric if it makes economic sense. For everything else, don't even bother doing the calculation.

Upgrades at the Montreal facility target improved productivity, energy efficiency and integration of artificial intelligence.

The Procter & Gamble Box Elder facility was established in 2010 and has expanded multiple times. It currently operates on approximately 750 acres of land, with over 40 acres under its roof. Today, over 500 employees work at the site supporting the company's efforts across P&G's paper, baby care, and feminine care businesses.

Metsä Group, through its tissue business Metsä Tissue, has made a decision to modernize and expand Mariestad tissue paper mill in Sweden. The investment will increase the availability of locally and sustainably produced tissue products in the Scandinavian market, in which approximately 40% of tissue usage is currently imported.

Nippon Paper aims to start operating the new plant in December 2024. This investment is expected to increase sales revenue approx. Euro 50 million and provide approx. 60 jobs at full operation.

A lot of money leaks out of a company through the travel budget. It does not need to be this way.

Graphic Packaging Holding said it will spend $1 billion to build a new mill to turn old cardboard into new boxboard, doubling down on its bet that concerns about plastic waste have created opportunities for paper packaging.

MM Board & Paper will rebuild the board machines in Frohnleiten, Austria; Neuss, Germany; and Kolicevo, Slovenia, during February-September 2023.

Cascades, a leader in the recovery and manufacturing of green packaging and hygiene products, is pleased to announce that it has purchased a new printing press at its Piscataway, New Jersey, corrugated packaging converting facility.

It is transportation month and I will be the first to admit that this column will likely not make you any money. But occasionally, we should have a little education and fun without worrying about ROI, eh? Over the years, when I have brought up these matters with individuals, I get, "Well I didn't know that." So perhaps I can give you a little education, too.

The new plant is expected to be operational by spring 2024.

Norske Skog Skogn will invest around NOK 180 million, after NOK 40-50 million in grant funding from the NOx fund, in a new thermomechanical production line (TMP) that will replace expensive recycled paper with fresh fibre. The new TMP line will reduce variable costs, significantly reduce NOx and fossil CO2 emissions, and reduce landfilled waste. Start-up is expected in the first half of 2024.

The roughly $200 million in state tax dollars earmarked for the Escanaba Mill will supplement a $1.06 billion investment by Swedish parent company Billerud to expand paper product production at the mill. The project would help the mill retain nearly 1,200 jobs at the 2,000-acre site in Wells and Escanaba townships in Delta County.

If you are building statues or monuments, when the construction is done, you are done. We don't build statues and monuments in the pulp and paper industry.

International Paper has announced formal plans to invest approximately $103 million to build and operate two natural gas power boilers to generate steam for its Containerboard Mill in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Construction is set to begin in the second quarter of this year and be fully operational by the end of 2025.

The $50 million in upgrades include restarting the mill's C2 paper machine, which will now produce new water-resistant paper grades that are intended to replace single-use plastic products.

Domtar's Kingsport Mill recently produced its first 100% recycled containerboard. The milestone marks the culmination of a two-year, $350 million investment project to convert the former uncoated freesheet paper mill into Domtar's first 100% recycled packaging facility.

If you have spent your career in the shelter of large, rated companies, you likely have not experienced this problem. Some explanation. By "rated" I mean a company that carries a rating by a Dun & Bradstreet, Fitch, or some other recognized rating agency. Most such companies fund their capital projects through their corporate treasury.

Progroup has invested around Euro 72 million in the project at the site, which covers around 28,000 square metres, and created 50 new jobs.

Very long time reader Dene Taylor wrote me a note after last week's column (Week of 9 January 2023 "First Number Uttered") suggesting the second number uttered is the time to complete a project. Mike Higgins offered a similar comment. This is so true and in line with the items I covered the first week of this series, the week of 2 January 2023. I have seen so many schedules blown over the years that they are uncountable. The worst are the rebuild schedules, for they are the ones that take an operating machine out of production for a period of time, endangering the customer base. There is a lot of pressure to make these as short as possible.

Surely you've completed one of those "simple" home projects that ended up requiring multiple trips to Home Depot. Once finished you likely breathed a deep sigh of relief as you quietly kicked yourself for your lack of planning. Similarly, the paper industry is a very capital intensive industry - referring to last month's article, many capital projects focus on reducing fossil fuel usage. But when your capital project ends up requiring multiple trips and delays due to forgotten items, results can be disastrous. So what are proven steps management can take to reduce these needless trips and delays?

International Paper intends to build a new 20,000-square-foot building at the Cedar Rapids mill that would be home to a boiler and water treatment plant. Together, they would provide steam power to the Cedar Rapids facility. Previously, the plant used the coal-powered Prairie Creek Station. However, that facility is being closed.

Memphis, Tennessee-based International Paper is planning a $102 million expansion of its Cedar River Mill in southwest Cedar Rapids.

Capital project budgets suffer from "first number uttered" syndrome. Whatever project cost number gets to the executive suite first is the one that every decision hangs on. That number may arrive from a back of the envelope exercise, an article read in a trade publication, or some other unresearched source. The corollary to "first number uttered" is, "surely we can beat competitor x's reported costs." More projects have been doomed by these kinds of thinking than any other I have ever known, and remember, we're talking about my fifty-three-year career here.

What continues to amaze me are the stories of projects gone bad. Large, small, makes no difference, there are still for me, after nearly 53 years of watching projects from all sides, reports of disastrous projects. In this time period, experienced and learned people have brought forth courses, books and institutes to tackle the subject of project management, yet my side gig of being an expert witness in construction lawsuits continues to thrive. These are the top five reasons I think capital construction projects fail...

The project now proceeds with the finalization of the electrical, instrumental and automation works and commissioning.

The planned renovation and expansion of the Escanaba paper mill came one step closer to fruition Monday evening as the Wells Township Board voted to approve a Forest Products Processing Renaissance Zone. The renaissance zone allows the mill's owner, Billerud to enjoy a fifteen-year tax abatement.

Company to expand its existing facility to have an installed capacity of 135,0000 tonnes.

Boise Cascade's Building Materials Distribution (BMD) division announced the expansion of its distribution capacity in two markets.

The current upgrade and modernisation project will focus on Paper Machine 11 (PM11), which will undergo extensive modernisation of automation and electrical equipment including drives, control systems, quality control and inspection systems as well as upgrades to the coating profile and other areas.

Billerud, a Swedish paper and pulp manufacturer, is eyeing the Escanaba Mill to upgrade from producing paper to making an advanced paper product known as paperboard or cartonboard.

In the first step, a new silicone coater will be installed at the Pulaski, New York site in mid-2023. The second step is the expansion of the paper machine capacity in Drummondville, Canada, from currently 32,000 tons to over 40,000 tons per year.

Stora Enso is investing Euro 38 million in unbleached kraft pulp (UKP) production at its Enocell site in Finland and Euro 42 million in fluff pulp production improvement at its Skutskär site in Sweden. These investments will support the growing consumer demand for non-bleached renewable packaging materials and hygiene products respectively.

Georgia-Pacific's $425 million investment is the largest single investment in the history of Jackson.

The scope of the project includes replacing two end-of-life lime kilns with a new modern kiln, construction of several chemical processing assets, and the addition of automation and electrical upgrades.

Part of the new commitment is already taking shape in Henderson, KY, where the company is building its 6th, 100% recycled paper mill. An investment of $500 million, the mill is one of the biggest economic development achievements in Western Kentucky in the past 25 years.

The new facility is expected to be operational by 2025, creating approximately 500 new jobs.

Menasha Packaging, a retail-focused packaging design, manufacturing, and merchandising solutions provider, will expand operations in Pelahatchie, Mississippi. The $79 million project is expected to create 21 jobs.

The Board has therefore approved a US$418 million investment at Somerset to convert PM2 from coated woodfree graphic paper to solid bleached sulphate board (SBS).

The new expansion will add approximately 100 new jobs.

SCA and Holmen have today agreed to conduct a feasibility study regarding a potential new jointly owned sawmill in Rundvik, Nordmaling municipality in Västerbotten. A new sawmill in Norrland with high production capacity would increase the value of forest assets in the long term.

The $50 million investment for the new drum pulper added 100 new jobs and will help expand North Pacific Paper Company's ability to make packaging paper from recycled wastepaper, said NORPAC CEO Craig Anneberg. The paper mill now employs 500 people total.

The state's Council on Development Finance agreed Monday to give Solenis grants for the creation of jobs ($552,000) and the construction of lab space ($3.5 million) at the new facility.

Stora Enso has decided to invest approximately EUR 1 billion to convert the remaining idle paper machine at the Group's Oulu site in Finland into a high-volume consumer board production line.

New 210,000 tonne per year kraft paper machine will meet the growing demand for paper-based flexible packaging

The company is investing $21 million to upgrade and restart the #24 paper machine (PM24) and plans to hire 52 full-time employees to operate and maintain it. Pixelle will also fill 50 temporary positions to support construction and engineering requirements related to the restart.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart McWhorter and Georgia-Pacific officials announced the company will invest at least $425 million to construct a state-of-the-art Dixie® manufacturing facility in Jackson.

As of the end of 2023, production capacities for label papers will be extended at the Gratkorn mill in Austria. The double-digit million-euro investment in technological innovations, such as a new embossing calendar, will enable the modern paper mill to produce high quality wet-strength wet-glue label paper.

Company employs more than 450 people in north Louisiana.

Georgia-Pacific plans to expand operations in Clarendon County, South Carolina. The company is investing approximately $40 million into the project.

The new headquarters, which spans the top two floors - all 60,000 square feet - of the Creative Office Building in Midtown's Broadwest development, allows LP to further expand its corporate hybrid workplace model while upgrading its office environment.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer joined the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to announce that global building products manufacturer LP Building Solutions is expanding its operations in Sagola Township with support from the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF). The company's $194 million investment is one of the largest projects ever supported by the MSF in the Upper Peninsula.

Georgia-Pacific plans to expand operations in Clarendon County, South Carolina. The company is investing approximately $40 million into the project.

Viken Skog and the Swedish packaging manufacturer BillerudKorsnäs are collaborating to establish a wood pulp facility in Treklyngen Industripark, the area Viken Skog bought after Norske Skog Follum shut down paper production in 2012.

Greif, a global leader in industrial packaging products and services, is investing $13 million over the next five years to expand its Greenville County operations, according to Governor McMaster.

If the $14.6 million project moves ahead, the paper facility would build a 55,000-square-foot addition to its 20,000-square-foot complex.

The collaboration with CMPC in Brazil is facilitated through SOSA's partnership with the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry (CNI). Through the partnership, CMPC and SOSA will work to identify advanced tech solutions during a four-month innovation project.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö is investing in new technology and converting its existing boilers at its Mosinee and Rhinelander plants in Wisconsin, United States, to reduce its carbon emissions and landfill waste.

Irving Pulp & Paper (IPP) has been given permission to begin construction immediately of an Environmental Treatment Facility and Water Use Reduction Project at Saint John's mill in New Brunswick, Canada, following a successful Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

CMPC said it expects to complete the transaction in the next six months.

Construction on the plant is projected to begin in 2023.

The Alabama River mill operates two lines, one currently producing only paper pulp bales. This investment upgrades production by adding the ability for this line to also produce fluff pulp rolls. The mill's second line was upgraded to produce both paper pulp bales and fluff pulp rolls in 2011.

Heinzel Holding GmbH and Paracel S.A. jointly announce that Heinzel has entered into an investment agreement to become the strategic equity investor in Paracel, an afforestation and pulp mill project in Paraguay, South America.

Rengo Co., Ltd. will install a new biomass boiler for power generation at Tonegawa Division in Japan to promote alternative fuel sources, which is one of the measures toward CO2 reduction stated as an environmental target. Scheduled to commence operation in October 2022, this will be Rengo's second biomass boiler, following the one in Yashio Mill.

Rengo Co., Ltd. has established a new plant to increase production of "Viscopearl," a spherical cellulose microbead manufactured from wood pulp, and will commence full-scale operation in July.

The new unit, called Figueroa, will be built in the city of Piracicaba and will have an annual production capacity of 240,000 tons of corrugated boxes, Klabin said in a securities filing.

Mondi to invest nearly €65 million to meet customers' growing demand for sustainable packaging solutions.

Wednesday Georgia Pacific broke ground on a $500 million addition to its Green Bay mill on South Broadway. The company will add a new paper-making complex to the mill that is expected to be completed in 2024.

A release from the company stated, "The upgrades include a new corrugator and two new converting lines, as well as upgrades to the shipping department, which will help the plant operate more efficiently. Newer converting equipment will give the plant improved throughput and print capability to better meet customer needs."

CellMark Recycling will supply 300,000 tons of mixed paper and Old Corrugated Containers (OCC) annually as feedstock to the facility. All Recycled Brown Pulp produced will be sold exclusively by CellMark Pulp.

The facility, scheduled to be operational by the third quarter of 2023, will bring more than 60 new jobs to the area.

Western Forest Products Inc. announced capital investments totaling approximately $29 million towards its British Columbia (B.C.) operations in Canada. These capital investments represent an increase of $13 million over and above the $16 million of capital investments discussed in the Company's 1Q 2022 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

The Board of Directors of Southeastern Timber Products LLC, an STP-Tolko Partnership (STP) are pleased to announce a $150 million USD capital investment in the STP lumber mill in Ackerman, Mississippi. The partnership is a joint venture between Tolko Industries (U.S.) Ltd. and STP Holdings, LLC. This investment is the next step in an expansion project that will upgrade the mill from 120MMFBM to 250MMFBM annual capacity. The project will conclude in the first quarter of 2024.

Friday, July 1, marks one year since N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper announced Roseburg's plans to build a new, state-of-the-art dimensional lumber mill and create 140 new jobs in the Roanoke Rapids region. Plenty has happened since then on the site of the former Roanoke Valley Energy facility in Weldon, N.C.

Empire Recycled Fiber (ERF) says it has made the decision to relocate its recycled containerboard mill project from Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania to the Dayton, Ohio regional market.

The purchase agreement includes options for PalletOne to purchase the remaining 50 percent of Dempsey after three years.

Canfor's investment is modernizing the facility with cutting-edge technology and equipment to position the company to meet growing global demand for its wood products. The upgrades are expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

It will have a capacity to process 2.5 million tonnes of hardwood pulp per year, which alone is almost half of Arauco's current capacity of 5.2 million tonnes, the company said.

The $100 million project in Cedar City is just the first of three planned phases. APC will begin recruitment and hiring efforts for the new facility this year.

The investment includes a new corrugator and an extension of the building.

Amounting to a total investment of almost $100 million, the expanded facility covers circa 23,000 square meters and will be built adjacent to Huhtamaki's existing Hammond manufacturing unit. Huhtamaki has operated in Hammond, Indiana, since 1948 and currently has approximately 140 employees. It expects to employ a further 100 new employees when fully operational.

Stora Enso's Langerbrugge site currently has two paper lines in production, one for newsprint and one for supercalendared (SC) magazine paper. The feasibility study will focus on the conversion of the site's newsprint paper line.

Creating the First Zero-Carbon Manufacturing Site for Wallboard in North America and Increasing Capacity by 40%

PotlatchDeltic Corporation is investing $131 million to expand and modernize its Waldo sawmill located in Columbia County, Arkansas. The project will increase the mill's annual capacity from 190 million board feet of dimensional lumber to approximately 275 million board feet. The investment will also reduce the mill's operating costs significantly.

The paper company and Crow Holdings Development announced plans to construct a 206,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art distribution facility on a portion of the Marcal property.

Smurfit Kappa Group PLC said it investing over EUR35 million in the construction of a new packaging plant in Morocco.

Roseburg Forest Products held a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of its new Roanoke Valley Lumber sawmill in Weldon, North Carolina. The company announced it planned to expand its operations in the Southeastern U.S. last summer with the new 375,000-square-foot, high-capacity dimensional lumber mill, during an event with N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper.

The company says the project will allow the company to add capacity for their molded fiber products.

Saica Group has started its production of corrugated packaging in its new plant in Hamilton, Ohio. The Hamilton facility is Saica's first U.S. corrugated plant, a newly-built 360,000 square-foot building, which includes manufacturing, converting and production areas, along with a warehouse and office space.

Groupe Lebel will continue its $40 million investment program by building a brand-new wood pellet plant on the Cacouna site, Quebec, Canada, it has occupied since 2002.

The facility will be part of APRIL's operations in Riau province and have the capacity to produce 1.2 million tonnes of folding box board annually that is fully recyclable and biodegradable.

Upon completion of the conversion, both the machine and the mill will have increased annual manufacturing capacity. The B26 machine will have capacity for over 500,000 short tons of packaging paper, and the mill, in total, will have capacity for over 800,000 short tons.

Stora Enso is investing in the carbon neutrality of its Skutskär Mill in Sweden. This Euro 40 million investment takes the next important step towards a climate positive contribution by reducing power consumption and water utilization as well as enabling lowering the use of bleaching chemicals. The mill is already very close to being carbon neutral as it has achieved 99% fossil-free production.

The 285,000 square foot expansion will add up to 50 new jobs by the end of 2023.

With this investment, the company plans to increase production capacity to support further growth in the existing dye sublimation business, in combination with an improved first-class service and lead times.

The Pratt facility is expected to produce 247,000 tons of containerboard in its first year of operation, with a gradual increase to 543,000 tons by the 10th year, staying at that production level until the bonds expire.

The project will begin operating in the first quarter of 2023, and aims to increment its production capacity of 80,000 tonnes of corrugated boxes per year to serve the growing fruit market in the northeast region of Brazil.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö, a fiber-based materials manufacturer officially began expansion to their Madisonville facility last week, a project which is expected to create 51 new, well-paying jobs, reportedly coming in at $35 per hour, on average. Those jobs are expected to begin in mid-2023.

Stora Enso is investing EUR 8 million to double its production capacity of formed fiber in Europe. With new machinery in Hylte, Sweden, Stora Enso will meet the increasing demand for formed fiber. The investment further strengthens Stora Enso's position as a leading provider of renewable materials that replace fossil-based ones.

WestRock Company has announced plans today to build a new corrugated box plant in Longview, Washington, to meet the growing demand from WestRock's regional customers in the Pacific Northwest.

Stora Enso will invest EUR 40 million in new technology and restructuring of its fluff pulp production site in Skutskär, Sweden. The objective is to increase cost efficiencies and further improve the site's climate footprint, thereby aligning with Stora Enso's goal to provide regenerative solutions.

Investment will expand capacity and innovation capability at its production site in Ceará.

Georgia-Pacific has announced the acquisition of property in Centralia, saying in a news release it intends to expand its corrugated packaging operations in the Pacific Northwest.

Celadon will convert recycled mixed paper and old corrugated cardboard into a reusable and exportable fiber sheet to supply middle-market paper manufacturers in China. The company's paper products will be produced using a paper mill dryer system from waste cardboard at a more efficient cost than bleached paper, utilizing a technology that has been widely used around the world but will be the first of its kind in the United States.

Green Bay Packaging Inc. has announced it will begin construction of a new 600,000 square foot corrugator plant in Fort Worth, Texas. Construction on the site is set to begin in the first quarter of 2022 and startup operation is scheduled for the second quarter of 2023.

International Paper will build a state-of-the-art corrugated packaging plant in Atglen, Pennsylvania. The facility will employ approximately 150 team members.

Kimberly-Clark's project breaks down as $50 million for an expansion of the facility and $60 million for new tissue equipment.

Mondi, a leading global packaging and paper company, is investing €20 million to further improve the sustainability of its pulp production at the Frantschach mill in Austria. The mill, which is celebrating its 140th anniversary in 2021, has already been self-sufficient in terms of energy for many years and supplies surrounding communities and industrial companies with surplus heat from the pulp production process.

Manufacturer K.T.G. is looking to expand its Memphis operations, investing more than $21 million in a facility expansion, new equipment and the creation of 36 jobs. The average annual wage for the new jobs will be about $54,000.

Celadon Development Corp. said it has already opened a processing facility in coastal Georgia and plans to build a facility that will produce 450,000 tons of pulp per year. A second phase doubling production to 900,000 tons per year could come later, depending on demand, according to CEO Tim Zosel.

Georgia-Pacific has begun construction of a $50 million distribution center in De Pere.

Rengo announces that Vina Kraft Paper, its joint venture in Vietnam, has decided to construct a new production base for containerboard.

Trex Company plans to develop a new multi-faceted production site in Little Rock, Arkansas. Trex believes the new production complex, to be located within the Port of Little Rock, should increase the company's ability to meet the anticipated strong demand for its industry-leading decking and railing products.

Mercer International Inc. is in the planning stages of a new investment project in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

Officials said the expansion will include the addition of a new paper machine and production line.

The company will invest $87 million to grow the laminate manufacturing facility in Thomasville, North Carolina.

Saica Group, a leading manufacturer of recycled paper for corrugated board, recently announced it will be investing $800 million in the U.S. market, growing through strategic acquisitions or new plant construction during the next five years. This growth follows last year's announcement of Saica's first U.S. corrugated plant in Hamilton, Ohio, scheduled to open in early 2022.

Truvant, a global provider of high-quality packaging services solutions, recently signed a lease and has begun interior construction of a world-class 355,517 square foot building in Hazlet, TX, within the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area.

The $250 million One Sky mill plans to have to the ability to produce 600 million square feet (3/8-inch basis) of OSB annually.

Martco L.L.C. (RoyOMartin) announced that its Texas subsidiary, Corrigan OSB, L.L.C., will construct a second oriented strand board (OSB) manufacturing facility near its current, state-of-the-art OSB plant located in Corrigan, Texas.

The council as a committee of the whole voted 9-0 to approve $500,000 in permit and building fee waivers to entice Atlantic Packaging to choose Elgin over a competing location in Wisconsin. The company makes corrugated boards and boxes from recycled paper.

Interfor Corp. said Aug. 11 it will spend $30 million to expand its sawmill in Summerville, just months acquiring the facility from WestRock Co.

Charles Swanson, an architect for the project, said the facility would be one of the two largest facilities of its kind in North America. Atlantic Packaging is building a similar facility in Canada.

As a minority partner, Green Bay Packaging is in full support of CompanyBox's growth.

More than 150 jobs are expected at the Huber Engineered Woods plant in Cohasset, Minn.

Green Bay Packaging ceremonially cut the ribbon on its new $500 million mill Thursday, June 17.

Resolute Forest Products Inc. declared a special cash dividend of $1.00 per share of common stock, payable on July 7 for holders of record at the close of business on June 28. The company also announced additional capital investments of $50 million in its wood products operations to support its continued growth, and it confirmed the repayment of all amounts outstanding under its revolving and term credit facilities, reducing debt by $180 million in the second quarter.

Georgia-Pacific broke ground Tuesday on a state-of-the-art gypsum wallboard production facility near Sweetwater.

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. said it will break ground this week on a $150 million conversion of its mill in New Limerick to turn out the company's flagship siding and trim product.

Red Leaf Pulp Ltd., developer of a proprietary wheat straw-based pulp mill, announced the Company will locate its initial facility in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Company has secured properties on the west side of the City of Regina and will commence construction of the $350 Million facility in early 2022.

In order to keep up with changes in the market, Domtar announced last fall it would be converting its Kingsport plant from manufacturing office paper to containerboard. The company has demolished many buildings and structures on its grounds and is poised to begin construction.

Domtar Corporation announced it will expand its Jesup, Georgia based Engineered Absorbent Materials (EAM) facility. The project will play an integral role in helping the company grow its position as a leading global absorbent materials and technology business offering fluff pulp and airlaid nonwoven materials.

Suzano, a global reference in the production of bioproducts developed from the cultivation of eucalyptus, announces the construction of a new plant with annual production capacity of 2.3 million tons of eucalyptus pulp.

Gov. John Bel Edwards and Weyerhaeuser announced the company plans to make a two-phased capital investment in its Holden facility. The project would result in approximately $157 million invested over several years to upgrade equipment and modernize the sawmill. Phase one includes nearly $19 million to upgrade lumber kiln-drying capacity, while the second phase will include a major investment of approximately $138 million to completely modernize the facility.

Company executives, Gov. Tate Reeves and Grenada County officials announced the $12.9 million investment.

Drax Group will begin constructing the first of three new "satellite" pellet plants in Arkansas. The plants are together expected to produce around 120,000 metric tons of sustainable biomass pellets a year from sawmill residues, supporting the renewable energy company's plans to increase self-supply to its power station in the UK.

Smurfit Kappa has announced a significant investment in its Hoya paper mill and board manufacturing plant in northwest Germany. It is the latest phase of an investment programme, which commenced in 2011, and this last phase will see production output increase by 70 kt to 450 kt per annum.

Red Leaf Pulp is scheduled to commence construction of its initial facility in central Saskatchewan in 2022, with commercial production commencing in 2023.

First Quality opened its doors in Anderson in 2010 and now has over 800 employees working at a facility with more than 2.9 million square feet.

The facility, which is approximately 335,000 square feet and sits on 143 acres, will initially start with three pelleters and a 100,000-ton capacity, but has the infrastructure for eventual expansion to 300,000 tons and nine pelleters.

The BoxMaker will be the first company in the United States to operate two C500 machines, the first having been installed and operated in their Seattle, WA plant since 2018.

After breaking ground two and a half years ago, Green Bay Packaging produced the first reel of paper at its new paper mill.

Jamaica is well on its way to operating the first and only dedicated bamboo market pulp mill in the Western Hemisphere.

Green Bay Packaging's new paper mill will start operations Monday, according to the company.

Smurfit Kappa UK & Ireland is investing in high quality print and conversion equipment in Tannochside, Scotland.

Engineers and scientists have a propensity to save their data. Saved information can come back and bite your company and you. Many a career has been ruined by a fastidious hoarder. Even worse, most think, "it can't happen to me."

Project management is about leadership, not democracy. The objective is to complete the project at the least expenditure of time and money. Treat others with respect, yes, but have clearly defined roles for each person and hold them accountable for their piece, replace them if they cannot successfully accomplish their role. These days, we often spend too much time with our eyes off the prize.

Much of the mismanagement of capital projects could be eliminated, from my experience, if companies adopted the discipline of quasi-public funding project monitoring. These are projects which are not financed through balance sheets but by issuance of tax-exempt or taxable project specific debt. In the last thirty years, I have had experience as the Technical Advisor on 22 such projects (in pulp, paper, energy, steel, medium density fiberboard and cement) with an installed capital base of billions. I have seen a few things.

After nearly fifty-one years in the business, my anecdotal guess is that about half of capital projects are successful, meaning: on time, on budget and fulfilling the original scope. The rest suffer from a myriad of deficiencies.

The feasibility study will evaluate a possible upgrade and expansion of existing integrated pulp capacity from 370 000 tonnes to 780 000 tonnes annually and a possible increase of 120 000 tonnes in board capacity.

Mission Forest Products, a subsidiary of Timberland Investment Resources, is building a sawmill in Corinth that will bring 130 jobs by 2022.

The new $285 million plant will be located adjacent to GP's existing gypsum plant, and will incorporate state-of-the-art production processes.

Founded in 1933 and based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, GBP has had operations in Tulsa for more than 50 years. It operates 32 facilities in 14 states.

Packaging Corporation of America may spend up to $170 million to move from South 21st Street in Newark, Ohio to build a new, larger facility on a Thornwood Drive site once considered for an ethanol plant.

Saica Group is establishing its first North American facility near Cincinnati, Ohio.

With one member adamantly dissenting, the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners on Monday approved a tax exemption for Georgia-Pacific to develop a first-of-its-kind recycling operation in Toledo.

With the project, Hood Container will retain 306 existing employees and a $23 million annual payroll at the mill on the Mississippi River, near St. Francisville, Louisiana. The expansion also is expected to support 75 construction jobs.

A $125 million recycled paper pulp mill in Pennsylvania will source more than 500,000 tons per year of mixed paper and OCC. The facility will ship its product to China.

Norske Skog will take a major step in its continued transformation towards a growing and high-margin business by converting two newsprint paper machines into renewable containerboard production. The conversions at Golbey and Bruck will introduce 765,000 tonnes of competitive containerboard capacity to meet the growing demand for renewable packaging.

The project will add about 1,300 square metres to the mill's footprint by bringing together the sawmill, planer mill and value-added centre under one roof.

The conversion of Stora Enso's Oulu paper mill into a containerboard mill has received an environmental permit from the Regional State Administrative Agency of Northern Finland.

A new integrated facility in Inola, Oklahoma, the Group's second greenfield investment in the United States, is expected to be officially inaugurated in the coming months.

UPM and the new Government of Uruguay have signed a memorandum of understanding on pending items related to UPM's growth project in Uruguay that will further strengthen the implementation of UPM's growth project and existing operations in Uruguay as well as the local economy.

Quad, the magazine printer that has major operations in Saratoga Springs, is looking to add two new presses at its local site in a $45 million expansion plan.

IT Tech Packaging, Inc. announced the Company plans commercial launch of a new tissue paper production line (the "PM10").

In a related announcement, Sonoco is permanently closing its No. 3 URB paper machine in Hartsville and its Trent Valley, Ontario, Canada paper mill due to market conditions.

Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, has made the decision to build the world's most modern sawmill in Rauma. The value of the investment is approximately EUR 200 million.

The announcement comes after Arkadelphia officials announced that the community was marketing the 1,000-acre site planned for the mill to other potential projects. The $1.8 billion mill was announced in 2016 but has faced uncertainty since then because of trade tensions.

Work is progressing on a new headquarters of Fischer Paper Products, an Antioch-based paper packaging company for which the Village Board approved incentives worth $3.5 million last year to keep it in town.

Oregon-based Total Fiber Recovery LLC will invest $49 million to establish its first pulp recycling facility in Chesapeake, creating 68 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam says.

In 2018, UPM announced the conversion of Paper Machine 2 in Nordland, Germany, from fine paper to specialty grades. The conversion is currently ramping-up.

Italian tissue manufacturer Sofidel Group anticipates an early June grand opening for its $360 million facility in Inola, Oklahoma a spokesman for the company said.

Corrugated box facility expected to bring 170 jobs.

I have seen few project engineers successfully transfer their skills between the two extremes of the paper industry. On the front end, we find incoming long wood, chippers, chip piles and so forth. At the other end of the business, we find printing and packaging lines with the daintiest of doodads, which must nevertheless work properly and flawlessly for long periods of time.

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If you have the corporate foresight to do so, leveraged buying can provide tremendous savings for the procurer and savings for the supplier as well.

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When you are in the trenches looking up, it is often easy to see the perceived capriciousness of capital budgets. Hence, as the project manager overseeing the actual project implementation, it is sometimes easy to be lackadaisical about the funding. Do this at your own peril.

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This is an interesting time for capital projects in our industry.

I have been around long enough to remember when retail interest rates were in the +20% range. At the time, corporations were not usually being charged at these levels, but they did reach into the mid-teens. The usual reaction at that point was not to do capital projects, but to wait. Even if corporations were self-funding, they often waited because they could make larger and safer returns with their money at interest in the bank. Today, interest rates are trivial, even for construction loans. Gone are the days when there was a sharp focus on construction interest costs.

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An affiliate of ND Paper Inc. could invest $49 million in a box plant in Racine County that would create 88 jobs, according to a Thursday announcement by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

The company's plans include the construction of a tissue paper conversion unit, retrofit work in the unit located in Aracruz, as well as expansion of Suzano's forest base in the state.

New-Indy Containerboard will extend the production life of a 63-year-old operation in York County by as much as another 40 years, executives say. The facility, which at last count employed about 430 workers, will convert to the production of containerboard used to make cardboard boxes.

The funds will be used in maintenance, expansion/modernization and logistics projects.

Green Bay Packaging Inc. officials on Monday celebrated a major environmental milestone in the construction of the company's new $500-million paper mill.

The multi-phase project will add 45,000 square feet and new technology to manufacture nonwovens components for K-C's Depend and Pull-UPs products.

Irving Tissue's newest $470 million tissue plant is officially open in Macon, Georgia and based on a new, additional $400 million investment, will soon double its capacity.

The company said it will add 350,000 tons per year of OCC pulping capacity at its Wallula, Wash. mill, which currently produces predominantly virgin linerboard and medium, materials used in containerboard production.

The new facility currently adds more than 80 workers to the existing workforce, employing a total of 179 full-time employees.

The newly formed Willamette Falls Paper Co. quietly restarted two months ago and is now trying out new classes of paper made from pulp and agricultural waste instead of wood. The mill said Monday it plans to begin commercial production of coated and uncoated papers by the middle of the month.

The newly formed Willamette Falls Paper Co. quietly restarted two months ago and is now trying out new classes of paper made from pulp and agricultural waste instead of wood.

Klabin SA will invest 3.8 billion reais ($950 million) in its 'Puma 2' containerboard expansion project next year, and will end 2019 with lower stocks of cellulose than it did last year, executives said on Tuesday.

Roseburg Forest Products held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday (Oct. 28, 2019) to celebrate the grand opening of its newly constructed Chester, S.C., engineered wood plant, the company reported.

The board machine will produce coated recycled board (CRB) grades (white line chip board, WLC grades) with an annual capacity of approximately 500,000 short tons which corresponds to 454,000 metric tons.

The company is expected to invest around $175 million (Euro 159.2 million) to build the plant.

Building on years of experience, the development journey towards a sustainable paper bottle first began in 2015 by innovation expert EcoXpac in collaboration with Carlsberg Group and BillerudKorsnäs, with support from project partners.

WIELAND, a general contracting and construction management firm, has been awarded the contract for the new Graphic Packaging mill project in Kalamazoo, MI.

The investment made by BillerudKorsnäs in the new KM7 machine at the Gruvön mill is the company's biggest investment to date and one of the largest industrial investments in Sweden in recent years.

Nine Dragons Paper Ltd, a public listed paper manufacturing company in Mainland China intends to set up a unit near Paradip, its first facility in India.

Finnpulp increases its investment assessment in bioproduct mill in Sorsasalo, Kuopio, Finland, to Euro 1.6 billion, or nearly Euro 200 million more than previously announced.

The approximately 160 employees at the Battle Creek mill were notified of the decision on Tuesday. Company intends to begin phasing out the Middletown, Ohio, mill as well.

The Company will invest $600 million in the project, and the machine is expected to have an annual capacity of approximately 500,000 tons.

"Mr. President, if it weren't for your presidency, this mill would not be here today," said Anthony Pratt, executive chairman of Pratt Industries, at his company's new paper mill in a small Ohio city best known for being the birthplace of astronaut Neil Armstrong.

In 2020, Stora Enso's estimated capital expenditure will be Euro 800-850 million, including Euro 200-230 million for the Oulu mill conversion and Euro 80-100 million for biological assets.

The jewel in his crown is a new mill in Wapakoneta, Ohio, which cost $US270m to build and represents Mr Pratt's biggest US investment in what is the small home town of astronaut Neil Armstrong.

Georgia-Pacific will invest up to $70 million to upgrade its plywood and lumber operations here adding advanced, innovative technology and systems, and helping sustain the more than 700 jobs at the facilities.

SCA says it will build a new paper machine for the production of kraftliner at its Obbola paper mill in Umeå.

The company must invest $90 million into the Domtar mill, but 70 percent of the taxes on the investment will be reimbursed.

Capital equipment investment made at the Baldwinsville, NY facility for North American growth.

Georgia-Pacific's plan to expand its operating footprint in Green Bay has been put on hold.

Georgia-Pacific Corp. is taking preliminary steps toward a massive, 458,000-square-foot expansion of the 100-year-old Broadway Mill property.

The Company is planning to make the investment in either Ohio or Michigan, subject to a number of conditions, including environmental permitting and negotiations currently underway relative to government incentives and labor relations.

Verso Corp. plans to add products and increase production at its mill in Jay where about 500 people work.

More than 1,000 people applied for the open positions at the Old Town mill, which was bought in October by ND Paper, a subsidiary of the Chinese company Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Ltd.

UPM has today made the investment decision to construct a 2,1 million tonne greenfield eucalyptus pulp mill near Paso de los Toros in central Uruguay.

The pilot plant will be located at Stora Enso's Sunila Mill in Finland.

Stora Enso has initiated feasibility studies for a possible cross laminated timber (CLT) unit in connection with its Ždírec mill in the Czech Republic and a new construction beam unit to be located at the Ybbs mill in Austria.

Smurfit Kappa has opened a new recycling plant in the Tuscan region of Italy, strengthening its recovered paper service in the region.

Crossroads Paper has plans to construct a recycled-paper mill in Utah, expected to open in early 2022, the company announced Wednesday afternoon in Salt Lake City.

The sawmill project is a joint venture of Hunt Forest Products and British Columbia-based Tolko Industries.

Construction has commenced and the project is slated for completion in the first half of 2020.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) announced $1.7 million in tax credits Wednesday for ND Paper in Biron, which is just north of Wisconsin Rapids.

CorrVentures LLC, a private development firm specializing in strategic project development in the pulp and paper and corrugated packaging markets, announced its intention to build and operate a 300,000 ton-per-year 100 percent recycled lightweight containerboard mill located on a 102 acre site about 9 miles south of Albany, New York.

KP Tissue Inc. and Kruger Products L.P. has dedicated the construction site of their future Sherbrooke tissue plant that will be equipped with Canada's most advanced and best-performing TAD technology.

Klabin SA said on Tuesday that its board approved a 9.1 billion-real ($2.3 billion) containerboard expansion project.

Arauco held its ribbon cutting ceremony for the Grayling Particleboard Plant Tuesday afternoon.

The start of operation is planned for June 2020.

As Clearwater Paper's expansion in Shelby draws closer to completion, the project has come in at a much higher budget than originally anticipated.

Kruger Specialty Papers reached an important milestone earlier this year when Kruger's Trois-Rivières facility delivered its first shipment of bleached thermomechanical pulp (TMP) which enabled the Wayagamack Mill to expand its product portfolio into a wider range of brightness levels. In total, $40 million were invested to build the new bleached TMP plant at Kruger Trois-Rivières and to upgrade production at Wayagamack.

Rengo announced that its consolidated subsidiary, Tri-Wall Limited has established a packaging design and sales subsidiary for heavy duty packaging materials, TW Mexico Packaging Solutions, in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, through Tri-Wall's wholly-owned subsidiary.

The company is growing, pouring $115 million back into the plant over the next five years.

Kimberly-Clark is making at least a $120 million investment that will add more than 50 full-time jobs to its facility in Jenks.

The city of Dallas approved Mint Valley Paper's site design review and floodplain development permit on Friday, following a 14-day comment period.

Valmet will supply a grade conversion rebuild with automation solutions for Shangrao City Lulin Paper Co., Ltd. in Shangrao, China.

Mint Valley Paper, which manufactures tissue and other paper products, is considering building a facility on 55-acres in Dallas.

Georgia-Pacific officials joined Albany and Dougherty County leaders in officially breaking ground on Tuesday at what is expected to be a shining star for economic development in southwest Georgia.

Smurfit Kappa has opened a new plant in Mexico, strengthening its presence in the region.

Sadly, the Good are few and far between.

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A waste paper sorting plant for the production of newsprint is being built alongside the Palm Paper plant in King's Lynn, UK.

I have been amazed at the inexperienced personnel that have, on occasion, been allowed to manage capital projects. Such selections, as I have seen them, have usually been made by senior managers who rose through the production ranks and who give little thought to what it might take to manage a capital project, even one of a very modest size.

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CorrChoice, a producer of industrial corrugated paper packaging products, will expand in central Pennsylvania. The project, supported through state funding, is expected to create 79 jobs in the Dauphin and Lebanon County area.

Mid-career operations managers and capital project managers have usually seen one or two complete disasters by the time they reach this stage in their careers. Typically, they resolve something like this, "If I ever get to the point that I am in charge of a capital project, I am going to do it differently. I will _______." Their failing is they never spend the time to learn how to do a project correctly and they seldom get a chance to hire someone who knows how to do a project correctly. Of course, for the latter to be true, they have to recognize that they do not know how to do a project correctly and they have to be given the latitude to seek out someone or some firm that does...

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I have been working on capital projects since March 1970. I didn't know that was what they were called when I showed up for my first co-op position that March, but looking back on it, I was certainly working on machinery that fit into our customer's capital project. What has changed since then?

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Atlanta-based Graphic Packaging Holding Co. on Thursday said it is investing $350 million in the Augusta paper mill it acquired earlier this year from International Paper.

Earlier this year, Georgia‐Pacific announced the construction of a new $135 million softwood lumber production facility in Warrenton, Georgia.

The California branch of Case Paper moved into a new converting facility and office space in Rancho Cucamonga, California; paper and board inventory is expected to be onsite by November 16.

Huhtamaki is investing approximately EUR 7 million in its fiber packaging operations in Russia to facilitate further growth.

International Paper has instructed contractors and suppliers this week to stop work on multiple capital projects at its mills, according to reliable sources.

Solaris Paper announced a major capital project this week that will see the company add eight production lines and employ 180 workers in Southern California.

DS Smith expects to hire 140 full-time employees by December 2020.

Hong Kong's biggest paper maker is opening a new HK$5.1-billion production facility in Malaysia, as it looks to build on its growing presence in Southeast Asia and meet China's increasing demand for paper.

Sofidel officially opened a 280-acre tissue facility on Wednesday, its first integrated paper operation built from the ground up in the United States.

Smurfit Kappa said Thursday it has begun operating a "state-of-the-art" combined heat and power plant at Townsend Hook Paper Mill in Kent, south east England.

The Skowhegan paper mill is diversifying its capacity and expanding into paper-based packaging, officials said.

WestRock Co., the largest employer in the Alleghany Highlands, will invest $248 million in its manufacturing operations in Covington and Alleghany County.

Construction is well under way of Pratt Industries new Wapakoneta, Ohio, corrugated packaging mill, which includes a customized BlueLine stock preparation system from Voith.

Georgia-Pacific has announced plans for a new lumber production facility in Albany-Dougherty County, Ga. - at the Albany-Dougherty Industrial Park.

Georgia-Pacific has announced plans to upgrade its Muskogee bath tissue and towel manufacturing operations.

Cascades Inc. has announced the acquisition of the White Birch, Bear Island manufacturing facility in Virginia, for a cash consideration of US$34.2 million.

Voith Paper in Appleton was chosen by Green Bay Packaging to construct and install its new state-of-the-art paper machine.

Georgia-Pacific held a ribbon-cutting to celebrate its new tissue converting lines at its Green Bay location.

A hoped-for wood pellet mill project will not be moving forward in northern Vermont at the site of a shuttered paper mill.

When Bear Island closed the doors at its Hanover County facility more than a year ago, the economic loss for the county was significant. But, the real impact was felt by the 165 employees who lost their well-paying jobs.

Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. and Borregaard ASA announced LignoTech Florida, owned 45 percent by RYAM and 55 percent by BRG, officially begun operations at the new lignin plant in Fernandina Beach. The plant has production capacity of 100,000 dry metric tons of lignin with the option of a second phase that can later expand production by an additional 50,000 dry metric tons.

Stora Enso has started a feasibility study and an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for a possible investment in Oulu. The feasibility study and the EIA evaluate a potential conversion of the Oulu paper mill into packaging board production. The feasibility study is expected to be concluded by the end of 2018, and the EIA process is expected to take a minimum of 6 months.

SCA began production at the expanded Östrand pulp mill in Sweden according to plan during the midsummer holiday (i.e. this weekend). SCA is investing SEK 7.8 billion ($881 million) in the operation and the project is on budget and schedule.

Lenzing Group and Duratex agreed on the terms and conditions to form a joint venture to investigate building the largest single line dissolving wood pulp (DWP) plant in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Glatfelter held the grand opening of its state-of-the-art airlaid facility in Fort Smith, Arkansas which began operations earlier this year.

Green Bay Packaging is spending more than $500 million to build what it says will be the first new paper mill in Wisconsin in 30 years.

Mercer International Inc. announced that it has determined to proceed with a Phase II expansion and optimization project at its Friesau sawmill.

China's Shanying Paper will take a majority stake in a new Finnish company Boreal Bioref, securing financing for a planned 950 million euro pulp mill project in northern Finland, Boreal said on Friday.

PCA has begun construction of its new full-line corrugated facility in Marshfield, Wisconsin. The new facility is scheduled for completion later this year.

KapStone Paper and Packaging Corporation, a producer of unbleached kraft paper and packaging products, is investing $6 million in new equipment at its facility in Cherokee County.

The Board of Directors of Canfor Corporation approved the construction of a new, state-of-the-art sawmill in Washington, Georgia.

Georgia‐Pacific is building a new $135 million lumber mill east of Augusta, Ga.

I have spent much of my career, dating back to 1970, in and around capital projects. This predates my entry into the pulp and paper industry around 1974. If I was not up to my elbows in capital projects, from my perch elsewhere they were fluttering about me. Categorically, I can say capital projects are political 99% of the time...

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When considering capital projects, especially those of larger sizes, I have always been bemused by the owner's team approach to negotiations with goods and services providers...

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Converting newsprint machines to produce linerboard has become the rage in recent times. There has also been at least one mill that has converted a portion of its directory paper business to tissue (they did replace the machines, they just used the old buildings). Then there are facilities planning to tear down old machines to build new ones in the same grades. This latter idea makes sense to me; the two former ideas, I am not so sure...

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I mentioned last week how we may be entering a period of shortage of goods and services required for capital projects. I have seen this happen several times in the past, and for the uninitiated, a story and a couple of comments may be instructive...

It is Capital Projects Month at Paperitalo Publications. How timely this is this year...

President Donald Trump said Friday that Patriots owner Bob Kraft called to thank him for the tax bill, and that Kraft is building "a tremendous paper mill" in North Carolina.

Solaris Paper Inc. is moving into the former Clearwater Paper Corp. facility. Clearwater Paper closed in November 2016.

Some people (and I suspect they are often the same people I described above) think doing a quality job is relevant only to their outside customers and clients. Wrong! In fact, one could not be more wrong than this. Practicing internal quality principles really saves money (practicing quality externally saves and wins customers). Internally, two things go wrong when we fail to hold to the highest quality standards...

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If your reputation for quality is horrible, there is only one choice--fix it. But to reach that one choice, you must first be willing to accept the feedback that your reputation for quality is poor. This is a hurdle for many organizations; they are dismissive of customer feedback, and say to themselves, "It is only a single case" or "customers are not willing to pay for quality." I know of three organizations that have met this challenge head-on and done something about it...

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Wait a minute--you did not know your quality was broken? Your product or service quality is always broken. It is always broken because quality is a moving target. What may have been the best quality among your peers last month may send you to the bottom of the heap this month.

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Over a quarter of a century ago, quality was all the rage in industry. Business books on quality abounded and everyone had laser cut letter Q's sitting on their desks (at least in my world). About this time, I had a boss who attended some great quality seminar and came back reporting, "Quality is just as good as the customer requires, no more, no less." He was wrong. Welcome to quality month at Paperitalo Publications...

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Many employees spend an inordinate amount of time trying to read the "tea leaves" of the boss's behavior. Most of this effort is a waste of time...

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Columbia Pulp will have a groundbreaking and community tour next week for its $184 million mill in southeast Washington, which will use straw to make pulp for paper production.

Last week we talked about exactly who is defined as part of your team. This was done from the stance of making sure you don't, due to naïve generosity, take on work outside your scope and in the end, do everything poorly. At the same time, you must ward off the outside work without building silos or fortresses that seed discontent. This week, we will deal with two issues that may come up as you protect your team and strive for excellence in your team's area of responsibility, as well as good relations with all of your coworkers.

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Chilean forestry company Arauco, a subsidiary of industrial conglomerate Empresas Copec SA, will invest $185 million to build a new cellulose and textile pulp facility in the nation's south, the company said on Wednesday.

A team is your specific, small group of personnel assigned to do a specific job or set of jobs. Although I am not much of a sports fan, I can give an example from there. Suppose the quarterback notices that the waterboy forgot to fill the drink containers? Does he ask for a time out so the players on the field can do this job? No. While in the bigger picture, they are all on the same team, when it comes to specific tasks they are not.

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I recently had a discussion with a long-time industry professional concerning this question: which is more important to a given mill--the technology or the management?

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Every August, we focus on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. As usual, these stories are told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos's stories in print for you...

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Every August, we focus on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. As usual, these stories are told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos's stories in print for you...

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Construction is expected to start this summer, a news release from Gov. Nathan Deal's office said, with completion expected in 2019.

Every August, we focus on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. As usual, these stories are told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos's stories in print for you...

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Every August, we focus on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. As usual, these stories will be told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos's stories in print for you...

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A proposed $184 million pulp mill in southeast Washington plans to take straw, a waste product from wheat and alfalfa farms, and convert it into pulp for paper and packaging products.

I was talking to an old friend who spent one of his college days' summers doing fetch-and-carry work in a paper mill. Although it had been many years ago, he was still in awe of that "big ol' paper machine" and the fact that it took "twelve or thirteen men" to run it. No more, Tom, I said...

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"You've got to know the territory." As I remember it, this was a song sung by a chorus of some erstwhile salesmen in the Broadway show "The Music Man." If you are a mill manager or a department manager, it is your responsibility to be a walking encyclopedia about your territory and all that is in it. You've got to know your territory...

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The real objective of the environmental advocacy groups today is their own survival. They cannot afford to declare a great victory, for then their incomes dry up. They are in quite a predicament!

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It was not so long ago that engineers and scientists often came from a rural background. This is still true in developing nations, but for those of us living in developed nations, it is usually no longer the case. My own experience is a good example...

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This column is for the younger generation. Ready? Away we go! You get your degree and head off to the mill to work. Or perhaps your first job is with a supplier. In any case, you are proud of your accomplishments to date--but reality is about to set in. After you sign the pile of papers from the human resources department, you will be taken to your new office...

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Georgia-Pacific announced that its Palatka, Florida, mill has been selected as the location for the company's previously announced investment of more than $400 million in its GP Consumer (retail) tissue and towel business.

Do you have trouble getting subordinates to do what you want them to do? There can be many reasons for this, but one of the most common is that YOU are not doing what you want THEM to do...

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I have spent a lot of time talking to investment bankers. Their interest is in buying into deals, looking at bankrupt companies for possible purchase and so forth. In short, they are looking for nuggets in the pulp and paper industry. Such are the fortunes of a mature industry. If you have been located in a mill or a headquarters for some period of time, you may have already seen company names and logos come and go, while you personally occupied the same space. Observing colleagues in the industry, I have noticed a number of behaviors that could use some improvement, to the benefit of the persons whose careers may be affected...

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If you are buying inspection services, make sure you are getting them. I was in a facility once where I saw what happens when these things go wrong. This facility had some high priced instrumentation for which they had an annual inspection contract. It just so happened that I was very familiar with one piece of instrumentation that was on this inspection cycle and I was standing beside it when the inspector came by. I knew every flaw this instrument currently suffered. The inspector's entire activity, as I observed it, was to take off last year's inspection sticker and put on this year's...

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The iconic red-and-white paper mill smokestack that many people associate with Chillicothe is expected to get a fresh look later this year.

Wandering around the industry as I do, I am often amazed at the perceived roles people think they have, as indicated by their actions and words each day. Many appear to have no clue to the overall picture. It is really quite simple...

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A person starting a career is a bit of an open book. Such people may have had some work experiences, maybe even some military experience, but, in general their expectations about the work environment are recognized, even by them, as just that: expectations that may or may not become reality. It amuses me, for instance, to hear some of the ideas soon-to-be college graduates have about work. One told me something to the effect that once she started to work, she saw excitement in life as being over--you go to work each day, do the same things each day and forty years later you retire. Sadly, I have actually met people who have done exactly this. What I am getting at here, though, is something more subtle...

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Local and state officials joined Georgia-Pacific Brewton mill employees and their families on Saturday to celebrate the completion of a $388 million energy improvement project after two years of construction.

No matter how much formal education you have acquired, there is one forum that stands above others in importance. It is one in which you participate first as a receiver, and then, later, if you have children, as a provider. It is the forum of the family dinner table...

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Georgia-Pacific announced significant investments, which total more than $400 million, for its GP Consumer (retail) tissue and towel business.

There is a lesson here for us all--an opportunity for a critical self-examination of how large decisions are made...

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Over the years, I have heard many conversations start with, "If I were in charge of this place..." If you were in charge, what would you change? Why would you change it? How would you accomplish the changes? When would you change it? Let us take things one at a time...

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Tranlin Inc., the U.S. division of a China-based company that announced plans in 2014 to open a massive $2 billion paper products mill in Chesterfield County, is pushing back its construction plans for the project.

Gov. John Bel Edwards announced the plans this past week with the CEOs of Graphic Packaging International and DHL Supply Chain, companies joining together for the investment and expansion.

Recently I have seen a number of cases in which human energy was not being expended to any appreciable extent. Actually, I was witnessing laziness. I have not discussed this topic in a long time, so perhaps it is time once again to bring it up. It is a topic that tends to offend some folks, for people do not like to be singled out as lazy or unenergetic. To assuage the embarrassment of the truly guilty, let me say that we all are struck by this at one time or another. And we must admit that we know some people who are in a permanent rut of inactivity. So, who to blame? What to do?

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The phrase, "perception is reality" is often a cautionary warning as to how others might perceive what one is doing, or how they look and so forth. I want to talk today about times when perception is not reality and how this might affect our actions...

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You are reading this, most likely, at an operating facility. I am going to give you two important challenges that are vital to the success of your company, no matter what your position is.

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I will bet you have tasks, if viewed by a critical eye, that would appear somewhat ludicrous. They may include a meeting you attend regularly that does nothing toward moving your enterprise forward. They may be insane reports that no one reads, or some other habitual exercise that does nothing...

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Years ago, when I started this column, I decided one important thing to be done here was to beat the drum for safety. Well, we have, and we plan to continue doing so. I am writing today, however, about general liability--caused by people or caused to people through exposures of various kinds. Some of these are safety matters, some are security matters. Others can arise out of employment law...

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There are some ways in which original capital purchases can serve to reduce maintenance costs and downtime...

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Today we spend lots of time talking about predictive, preventive maintenance and have all sorts of seminars and software to manage this. There is no excuse for not having a strong predictive, preventive maintenance program. But can it all come down to something as simple as proper care of bearings?

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If you have read my thoughts on maintenance storerooms over the years, you will accuse me of having been all over the place, and you will be correct. At one time, I adopted the attitude that everyone should do what they were best at doing, and in the case of paper mills, this was making paper, so they should outsource storerooms. I still think this is good for small consumables and specialized repairs (such as roll repairs and recovering). However, for other items, such as pump assemblies, screens, motors and so forth, keep your own--but take care of them. This philosophy certainly applies for existing papermills (but read to the end)...

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We have been conditioned to think maintenance is a cost and unscheduled maintenance is acceptable. There is no basis for this logic; it is just a rumor passed around from board room to board room. It is time for your senior management to take a long hard look at the numbers, not the traditions...

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