Cascades Inc., Kingsey Falls, Quebec, has announced that its Norampac Mill LLC division will invest in Greenpac Mill LLC, the company created with the Fund dépôt et placement du Quebec, Jamestown Container and another industry partner to build and operate a recycled containerboard mill in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
The $430 million plant will be built adjacent to an existing Norampac facility. When fully operational, the recycled board mill will have an annual capacity of 540,000 tons, according to Cascades.
The company says that funding will be spread out between Greenpac U.S., Cascades, Fund dépôt et placement du Quebec and Jamestown Container. The balance of the funding for the mill will be in the form of debt, including a credit agreement of $ 228.9 million, which will be led by GE Capital, and a subordinated loan of $ 61 million.]
Alain Lemaire, president and CEO of Cascades, says, “The investment we are announcing today is the result of joint efforts of Cascade and its partners and is part of our development strategy aimed at positioning the company among the leaders in terms of productivity and profitability in the areas of packaging and tissue. As we have stated in the past, we strongly believe that the future success of Cascades depends on our ability to offer innovative and efficient products that meet further needs of our clients and whose costs are among the lowest in the industry. “
Metso will supply the paper machine for the facility, while Voith will supply the stock preparation equipment and Siemens will supply the electrical systems and controls.
Cascades says that it already has sales commitments for more than 80 percent of the mill’s production, with Norampac contracted to purchase 170,000 tons (39 percent) of the output.
Startup is scheduled to occur by the end of the third quarter of 2013.