| PAPER INDUSTRY NEWS - SEPTEMBER 2002 |
This page contains pulp and paper industry news for September 2002
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NEWS SEPTEMBER 2002
Weyerhaeuser to Close Two Plants
Sept. 4, 2002--Weyerhaeuser Company said that it will permanently close its Lillie, La., particleboard and Tulsa, Okla., corrugated sheet manufacturing facilities to improve the company's ability to compete in both markets.
Weyerhaeuser plans to close the Lillie operation on or before Dec. 31, a move that will eliminate 127 positions and 119 million square feet of production. The Tulsa closure, effective immediately, eliminates 25 jobs and 31 million square feet of capacity from the company's packaging system.
Weyerhaeuser said both closures would help the company match production to customer needs and improve operating efficiency. The closures will not affect customers, who will now be served by other Weyerhaeuser facilities.
Both operations were part of the Willamette Industries acquisition that Weyerhaeuser completed earlier this year.
SOURCE: Weyerhaeuser Company
Potlatch Agrees to Sell Hardwood Mill
Sept. 5, 2002 - Potlatch Corp. said that it has reached an agreement with Dr. David Chambers for the sale of its Bradley Hardwood mill in Warren, Arkansas.
The selling price was not disclosed.
Potlatch has been seeking a buyer for the hardwood mill since announcing the mill's closure and the company's exit from the hardwood lumber business on June 3, 2002.
The mill ceased production in late July. In July, the company also announced a second quarter 2002 pre-tax charge of approximately $9 million to cover costs associated with the closure and write-down of the Bradley mill's book value.
Sale of the Bradley mill is part of Potlatch's announced plans to align its Arkansas operations with available raw material and expand southern pine production. The company is currently hiring additional workers for its Southern Unit pine mill in Warren with the intent of adding a third shift to its current two-shift operation. Both the Warren pine mill and the company's pine mill in Prescott, Arkansas, are expected to increase the company's annual southern pine production by as much as 30 percent, according to Wood Products Vice President Rick Kelly.
SOURCE: Potlatch Corp.
MeadWestvaco Completes Sale of Stevenson Mill and Related Assets
STAMFORD, CONN. September 30, 2002 -- MeadWestvaco
Corporation (NYSE: MWV) today announced it has completed the previously
announced sale of its Stevenson, Ala., corrugating medium mill and related
assets to Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation for approximately $375 million.
The other assets include seven container plants located in the South and
Midwest, 82,000 acres of timberland, a hardwood sawmill and related working
capital assets.
These facilities were part of MeadWestvaco's
Containerboard Division and employ approximately 1,200 people. The company plans
to use proceeds from the sale to pay down debt.
MeadWestvaco Corporation, headquartered in
Stamford, Conn., has annual sales of $8 billion and is a leading global producer
of packaging, coated and specialty papers, consumer and office products and
specialty chemicals. The company operates in 33 countries, serves customers in
approximately 100 nations and employs more than 30,000 people worldwide. Using
sustainable forestry practices, MeadWestvaco manages 3.4 million acres of
forests. For more information about MeadWestvaco, visit the company's Web site,
www.meadwestvaco.com.
Rock-Tenn to Shut Paperboard Machine, 2 Plants
Sept. 30, 2002 - Packaging maker Rock-Tenn Co. said that it has permanently shut down its uncoated paperboard machine in its Dallas, Texas, mill, and closed its Dothan, Alabama, corrugated packaging plant. The company also said that it will close its El Paso, Texas, folding carton plant.
"We are closing the Dallas uncoated machine in order to match our capacity to sustainable market demand," stated Rock-Tenn's chairman and CEO James A. Rubright. "We intend to move the production from this machine to open capacity at other locations in our mill system and believe we will retain substantially all of the tons produced on the shutdown machine."
"The closing of our El Paso folding carton plant, which will be completed in approximately six months, is consistent with our strategy of operating larger, very well equipped and very low cost folding carton plants in strategic locations. We believe we will retain most of the volumes presently produced in El Paso and transfer them to other Rock-Tenn folding carton plants. Additionally, we will retain a warehouse, sales office and small finishing facility in El Paso, " said Rubright.
"Our Dothan corrugated plant was a small operation that would have required more capital investment than we could justify in order to continue to contribute positively to our operating results," said Rubright. "We expect to transfer some business from Dothan to other Rock-Tenn sheet plants and we have entered into a transaction with Container Service Corporation relating to the transfer of other business."
About Rock-Tenn
Headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, Rock-Tenn Company manufactures packaging,
merchandising displays and 100% recycled paperboard. The company has annual net
sales of approximately $1.4 billion and over 70 manufacturing operations in the
United States, Canada, Mexico and Chile.
SOURCE: Rock-Tenn
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