Billerud Cancels Expansion, Yet Remains Committed to Facility
Officials with Billerud announced in late May that the company will not go through with a major $1 billion expansion and conversion to cardboard production at its Escanaba, Mich. plant. The move comes after Michigan committed to more than $200 million in incentives to support the project. Company executives said current market dynamics don’t support such a plan, yet they remain committed to the plant and its three paper machines as a key part of their North American strategy.
The company acquired the Escanaba plant from Verso in 2022, and the facility remains a major market for the region’s loggers who supply pulpwood and hog fuel to the facility. While the local economy and forest products interests were disappointed with the announcement, Billerud executives say they will continue to invest in technology and efficiency at the plant.
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SFI Appoints New Chief Sustainability, Diversity Officer
Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) announced Bettina Ring as its new Chief Sustainability and Diversity Officer. Ring will provide leadership on strategic initiatives related to sustainability and diversity. She will also seek to leverage SFI’s scale to drive meaningful change in the forest and conservation sector through collaboration with SFI’s network…
Beginnings
Way back in the 1940s my father was a local kid with smarts. Born into a farming family in Butler County, Ala., he grew up loving his family, the land, animals and hunting and fishing. He was even working his way into the timber industry: The folks running W.T. Smith Lumber in Chapman gave him a summer job learning to cruise and mark timber, and he planned to attend Auburn University and go into forestry…
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