Major Expenditures

Smurfit Kappa's Bag-in-Box division has announced the completion of a €12 million investment in a new flexible material production facility at its plant in Ibi, Spain.

Canfor Corporation says will invest approximately US$160 million to build a new sawmill near DeRidder, Louisiana. The company will receive state and local incentives in support of the project. The facility will have an annual production capacity of 250 million board feet on a two-shift basis and will directly employ about 130 people plus create significant additional indirect jobs.

Kruger Packaging announced a $114.2 million investment to establish a state-of-the-art packaging manufacturing operation in Hardin County, a project that will create at least 150 quality jobs in the coming years.

Smurfit Kappa is substantially expanding its converting capacity at four manufacturing plants across the Czech Republic and Slovakia with a significant €20 million investment. The investment further highlights Smurfit Kappa's commitment to its customers and operations in Eastern Europe.

The financings, totaling $240 million, include the previously announced $165 million in investments.

Stora Enso on May 20 arranged a virtual inauguration ceremony to celebrate the successful conversion of the Oulu Mill which was transformed from paper production into high-quality kraftliner production. The Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, inaugurated the mill. Oulu is Stora Enso's second successful conversion, following Varkaus Mill, inaugurated in 2016.

The new facility with a total installed cost exceeding $1 billion will create 850 new jobs.

Domtar held a groundbreaking ceremony for its $300 million renovation and expansion of the Kingsport mill.

The Lenzing Group will invest more than Euro 200 million in its production sites in Purwakarta, Indonesia, and Nanjing, China, to convert existing standard viscose capacity into environmentally responsible specialty fibers.

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.

The unit will be built in the municipality of Ribas do Rio Pardo, in Mato Grosso do Sul state, and should start production by the end of the first quarter of 2024. The project estimates industrial investments of R$14.7 billion, making it one of the largest private-sector investments currently under development in Brazil.

Governor Brian P. Kemp announced that Interfor, a forest products company and the largest lumber producer in the state, will invest $30 million in expanding their sawmill operations in Perry.

DS Smith, bolstering its commitment to accelerate its work in the circular economy, announced today a $140 million investment in research and development, including developing new materials to replace plastics and a testing program to strengthen corrugated cardboard and reduce G-force shock in home delivery packaging.

West Fraser plans to invest roughly US$150 million at five of its U.S. South lumber mills under its strategic capital program. Already, it's increasing the number of working shifts at mills where possible, the company said.

Interfor is announcing a $35-million improvement project in its Castlegar facility, according to vice-president of western operations Andrew Horahan.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö will invest EUR 58 million in a new glass fiber tissue production line in the U.S. to support the flooring industry in North America. The investment will further strengthen the company's position as a leading global supplier of high performance materials. The new line will produce a full range of glass fiber tissue nonwovens with a main focus on Luxury Vinyl Tiles and Vinyl sheet materials. Customer deliveries from the new line are expected to start in mid-2023.

The company, a U.S. subsidiary of China-based Nine Dragons Paper Holdings Ltd., said the new operation will produce 200 metric tons of unbleached pulp daily and support 20 new jobs in Maine when it is at full operation.

IT Tech Packaging, Inc., a leading manufacturer and distributor of diversified paper products in North China, announced the Company has completed fundamental constructions on its new tissue paper production line (the "PM10") and is working on the installation of affiliated equipment.

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.

Global manufacturer USG Corporation will open a 90,000-square foot facility in the Montbello neighborhood.

With an investment sum of Euro 16.7 million DS Smith is expanding and modernizing its traditional site in Arnstadt, Thuringia, Germany. The recent symbolic ground-breaking ceremony marks the start of construction work to renovate and expand the plant, which will take place while production continues and will span the next 12 months.

North Pacific Paper Company (NORPAC) is excited to announce the arrival of a new state-of-the-art drum pulper that will help the company expand its production of lightweight recycled packaging papers and safeguard more than 400 mill jobs and support other indirect jobs in Cowlitz County.

North Pacific Paper Company is pushing further into the recycled paper market, adding a new drum pulper that will support an existing 400 mill jobs and produce recycled packaging papers from waste material previously sent to China.

Smurfit Kappa has announced a further investment of over €25 million at its Pruszkow 'mega-plant' located in central Poland. This investment forms part of the accelerated capital investment programme following the company's €660 million equity capital raise which took place in November 2020.

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. says it has begun producing and shipping building panels from the Chambord, Que., oriented strand board (OSB) mill it inherited with its recent $4-billion all-stock takeover of rival Norbord Inc.