Georgia-Pacific Plans Restarts on Housing Futures

Saying it sees “emerging signs in the housing market that are whetting the appetite for more building products, ” Georgia-Pacific has announced plans to invest some $400 million in its Southeastern plywood and lumber operations.

Company plans call for changes that would “streamline workflow” in lumber plants and add equipment to increase production and get more from each log in the plywood plants.

Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific has eight facilities in Alabama, with 2, 400 employees, including a dimensional lumber mill in Fayette and an engineered wood products plant in Thorsby, as well as a plywood plant in Talladega that is currently idled.

To date, company officials have not identified which facilities will be included in the upgrades.

Alabama ranks fourth for the number of Georgia-Pacific employees and in the top five for recent capital investment by the company. In 2007, the company acquired a Brewton containerboard mill from Smurfit Stone Corp. and, in 2010, the Alabama River Cellulose facilities in Monroeville. Last year, Georgia-Pacific announced a $13 million investment in its Huntsville corrugated box plant.

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Text by Nedra Bloom

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