US forest products company Georgia-Pacific, a Koch Inc company, has announced an $800m investment to modernise and expand its Alabama River Cellulose mill in Perdue Hill/Alabama. Once completed, the facility will become the largest softwood pulp mill in the United States, according to GP.
The project is set to begin in late 2025 and finish in 2027. It will involve upgrading and replacing key manufacturing equipment at the mill. The company will install a new digester, a new pulp dryer and a new, more efficient power boiler, among other improvements.
The Alabama River Cellulose pulp mill is part of Georgia-Pacific's subsidiary GP Cellulose headquartered in Zug, Switzerland. The mill produces softwood fluff pulp for the production baby diapers, paper towels, tissues, and disposable tableware as well as SBSK and UKP market pulp. The investment is said to boost the mill's efficiency and increase daily production capacity by about 300 t (approximately 100,000 tpy) raising total annual production capacity close to 1 million tpy.
"Once the project is completed, the Alabama River Cellulose mill will be the largest and one of the most technologically advanced softwood pulp mills in the US," Georgia-Pacific announced.
According to GP, demand for softwood pulp products is projected to grow by 3 per cent annually over the next several years, and the company seeks to meet the growing demand through its investments at Alabama River Cellulose.
