Twin Rivers Paper Co., Madawaska, Me., USA, will invest approximately $12 million at its Madawaska facility as part of a strategic realignment to focus on growth-oriented market segments and maximize productivity.

"Our industry has undergone a great deal of change in the past decade, and we must continue to innovate and position Twin Rivers for the future," said COO John Reichert. "As part of our strategic repositioning, we have reviewed our papermaking assets and have initiated a substantial upgrade to the largest machine in the system, PM 8, which will be completed in 2017. Additionally, this repositioning will result in the permanent closure of PM 3 at the end of July, improving productivity across our operations."

 

 

Twin Rivers plans to invest approximately $12 million in PM 8 to dramatically enhance the machine’s capabilities and broaden the markets served by the largest asset in the Twin Rivers paper mill system. The rebuild will establish PM 8 as one of the largest producers of lightweight technical specialties in North America, ideally positioned to support strategic growth initiatives while strengthening the company’s industry-leading lineup of hybrid and freesheet lightweight publishing grades. The machine to be shut down, PM 3, is one of the mill’s higher-cost machines—an older, slower, and smaller machine that produces a variety of coated and uncoated grades.

"Twin Rivers does not take these decisions lightly, and we recognize they will impact employment for approximately 49 of our valued associates. We will work closely with these individuals and the unions to facilitate this transition, and provide whatever resources are available to assist them," said Reichert. "At the same time, we have a responsibility to make strategic decisions for the future of the company, our approximately 1,000 associates and the 5,800 people who rely on Twin Rivers’ operations across the regions in which we operate."

The proposed capital investment brings to more than $47 million the level of strategic capital investments to date since the transition of mill ownership in 2013. Twin Rivers operates three additional paper machines that manufacture a range of specialty packaging, label, and publishing papers with options in fiber content, functional characteristics, aesthetics, and sustainability. The company is known for rapid innovation and its commitment to co-development.

Twin Rivers is a vital part of the region’s economy. An economic impact study conducted in 2014 by Gardiner Pinfold Consultants Inc. (of Sackville, New Brunswick) showed that Twin Rivers is responsible for C$268 million in economic output at its New Brunswick operations each year, and approximately C$344 million at its operations in Maine.