WestRock (Atlanta, Ga., USA) announced on Oct. 18, 2018 updated information on the impact of Hurricane Michael on its containerboard and pulp mill located in Panama City, Fla.

The Panama City area has been substantially impacted by Hurricane Michael, and the priority remains the safety and health of employees and their families. The company is pleased to report that all of Panama City mill’s employees have been accounted for and are safe. The company is working to support our team and the community as recovery continues.

The company’s mill in Panama City received extensive damage from Hurricane Michael. Due to the extraordinary efforts of employees, contractors, vendors, the insurance carrier and government officials, WestRock has already made substantial progress in assessing the damage and implementing required repairs to return the mill to operation.

 

 

The company expects that the linerboard production system will return to full production capacity within 30 days. Market pulp production is expected to begin by the end of November, but will likely be limited to no more than 50% of the mill’s market pulp production capacity for an estimated period of approximately six months. The mill has normal production capacity of 353,000 tpy of linerboard and 292,000 tpy of market pulp.

The total cost to the company from Hurricane Michael is currently unknown. While the company maintains property damage and business interruption insurance coverage, there will be a time lag between the initial incurrence of costs and the receipt of insurance proceeds as the Company restores the mill back to normal operations.   

The company will provide an additional update on the status of the mill on its November 5, 2018, earnings conference call.