Potlatch Adding Tissue Machine to Converting Plant in Nevada

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Potlatch Corporation (NYSE: PCH) (Spokane, Washington) is bolstering its position as a leading manufacturer of tissue products to suppliers in California and the Rocky Mountain region by installing a tissue paper machine at a converting plant in Nevada. The $66 million investment will enable Potlatch to produce jumbo rolls of tissue paper at its paper converting facility in North Las Vegas. Over the past ten years, the plant received jumbo rolls of tissue paper from the company's pulp and paper mill in Lewiston, Idaho. The rolls would then be converted into private labeled finished packages of bathroom, facial tissue, and napkins.

The company has started construction of a 135,000 square foot addition that will house a new 102-inch tissue paper machine. Erection of the new tissue machine will begin this summer and start-up is scheduled for early 2004. The machine will produce 30,000 tons annually of tissue paper.

The Haskell Company (Jacksonville, Florida) was awarded a design/build contract for the new structure. Machinery installation, erection, and startup are the responsibility of paper machinery manufacturer, Meccaniche Toschi SpA (Italy).

Click on the image at right to view the Potlatch Corporation U.S. Plants Table

Potlatch Corporation is a mid-sized, diversified forest products company with over $1.29 billion net sales in 2002. Potlatch's wood products include oriented strand board, plywood, lumber, and particleboard. Pulp-based products include coated printing papers, bleached paperboard, consumer tissue products, and market pulp. Founded in 1903, the company has timberlands in Idaho, Arkansas, and Minnesota, totaling more than 1.5 million acres.