PCA Invests $20 Million to Expand Mill Power Plant in Minnesota

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PCA) (PCA) (Lake Forest, Illinois) is investing in the future of its pulp and paper mill operations in International Falls, Minnesota. PCA is spending $20 million to expand the mill's power plant, which calls for adding a steam turbine and replacing vintage equipment. Last March, PCA purchased a used, 57-megawatt General Electric (NYSE:GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut) steam turbine from a site in Millinocket, Maine.

Construction began late last year, and builders recently began pouring the pedestals for the turbine. The generator will increase the mill's electricity-generating capability 53%, and is on schedule to be operational by the end of this summer.

The project is being carried out by LHB Engineers & Architects (Duluth, Minnesota), WSP Canada Incorporated (Montreal, Quebec), CR Meyer & Sons Company (Oshkosh, Wisconsin), and a host of local and regional contractors.

PCA purchased all the paper and linerboard assets from Boise Incorporated in a $1.9 billion transaction at the end of 2013. PCA acquired four pulp and paper mills, along with a number of box plants and converting operations.

The PCA project at International Falls is one of more than 400 U.S. Pulp and Paper Industry capital and maintenance projects being tracked by Industrial Info. The cumulative investment value of the projects is just more than $6 billion. Industrial Info's database of active capital and maintenance expenditures in the Pulp, Paper & Wood Industry worldwide shows current expenditures of $66 billion and more than 1,200 active projects.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.