ND Paper announced that it will invest capital to improve its mills in Maine and Wisconsin next year.

A strategic modernization of mill assets will ensure these two facilities can operate efficiently for decades.

“We have four mills, three of which were built more than 100 years ago,” said group deputy chairman and chief executive officer Ken Liu. “By focusing on high return strategic investments, we are building world class, first-quartile mills that deliver innovative, high quality products for our customers.”

Rumford Division

At their Rumford, Maine facility, their pulp dryer and all three paper machines will undergo upgrades.

• R9, the pulp dryer at Rumford, will take downtime in the first quarter of 2020 for a rebuild to increase pulp production.
• R10 machine will pause operation in late March to install a new headbox and shoe press, as well upgrade the forming section. Upon restart, these improvements will enhance product quality for our printing and C1S paper customers, as well as increase capacity and productivity.
• R12 machine will convert out of printing and writing grades to focus on specialty packaging products.
• R15 machine will take an extended outage in the summer months for the installation of a new shoe press. This addition, combined with calender enhance-ments completed earlier this year, will transform the machine into a top quartile producer of C1S and printing grades.
• The upgrades on R10 and R15 will increase production output to effectively absorb R12’s exit; Rumford’s printing and writing papers capacity will be the same post-conversion with two machines as it is today with three.

This investment will not only enhance the quality of their printing and writing and C1S grades, but also ensure the long-term viability of the Rumford Division.

Biron Division

As previously announced in October 2018, ND will complete the conversion of the B25 machine from lightweight coated mechanical papers to recycled linerboard and corrugating medium in the first quarter of 2020. This project will serve as ND Paper’s entry into new markets, as well as stabilize the Biron Division and solidify the job security of dedicated employees.

Published in the November 2019 Edition