Graphic Packaging to build mill in Texas

Atlanta-based Graphic Packaging Holding Co. has announced plans to make an approximately $1 billion investment in a new coated recycled paperboard (CRB) mill to be located in or near Waco, Texas.

Graphic Packaging says the mill “will support growing demand and extend [our] position as the lowest-cost, highest-quality paperboard producer in North America.” The firm says the investment will be funded internally with operating cash flow over the course of three years.

“We remain committed to our Vision 2025 goals and are pleased with our progress to date," Graphic Packaging President and CEO Michael Doss says. "Investments such as the CRB machine in Kalamazoo [Michigan] and other strategic initiatives are delivering real returns for shareholders and high-quality packaging for consumers.”

Capacity expansions at existing mills and additions to North America’s paperboard roster have been made consistently in the past several years.

Among the projects recently completed, underway or planned are a 685,000 tons per year recycled-content board mill in Wisconsin by Green Bay Packaging; the conversion of a freesheet mill by Domtar to one that will produce 600,000 tons per year packaging grades in Tennessee; the fourth recycled-content mill in the Pratt Industries portfolio is under construction in Kentucky, with an estimated annual capacity of 500,000 tons per year; and updates to an International Paper containerboard mill in Iowa were announced earlier this year.