Sappi North America makes major investment at Minnesota mill

Sappi North America has made a 5.94 million USD capital investment at its Cloquet, Minnesota mill to replace the headbox on paper machine 12 (PM12).

Sappi North America has made a 5.94 million USD capital investment at its Cloquet, Minnesota mill to replace the headbox on paper machine 12 (PM12)

A headbox is an integral part of the paper machine responsible for spreading the pulp fibers evenly to form the sheet. Sappi said the investment to PM12 enables it to maintain capacity by adding a state-of-the-art, dilution profiled headbox that produces ‘excellent’ basis weight profiles.

‘This investment shows Sappi’s unwavering commitment to its graphic papers and packaging customers,’ said Mark Gardner, Sappi North America president and CEO. ‘The new headbox will ensure that we’re fulfilling orders to the highest quality standards that Sappi’s customers have come to expect. This project will not only improve upon our longstanding history with the graphic papers market, but also support our growing paper-based packaging business.’

The project was completed in October. This latest investment follows a 170 million USD capital investment in 2011 to enable the Cloquet Mill’s kraft pulp operations to also produce chemical cellulose used in textile and consumer goods markets. Through this product diversification, along with investments in renewable energy and waste reduction, the mill has stayed profitable and competitive in a challenging market. The Cloquet Mill was recently awarded for its investment in the state of Minnesota from the Minnesota Office of Foreign Direct Investment. The award highlights the company’s contributions to the economic vitality of local communities, and its commitment to keeping Minnesota a world-leading business destination.