Sweden-based Billerud sold off the Wisconsin Rapids Paper mill to Capital Recovery Group, LLC. to scrap and sell off the assets. In addition, Billerrud will not be investing $1 Billion Dollars in the Escanaba paper mill per their announcements! It was cost prohibitive to invest in the Wisconsin Rapids Paper and Pulp Mill. ND Paper, the Wisconsin Paper Mill plant converted its B26 paper machine at the end of 2022 from the production of coated lightweight groundwood papers losing 260,000 tons of light weight paper.
Wisconsin and the Great Lakes States Region has the largest customer base for coated printing paper. The Wisconsin Printing Industry, Label Manufacturers, Packaging Companies, and the Converting Industries were built on the paper manufactured in Wisconsin. Today, they must purchase coated paper products from a limited number of paper manufacturers in the USA and across the globe while the largest coated paper mill in the world in Wisconsin Rapids is being liquidated! Unfortunately, it could be too late to save the Wisconsin Paper Industry for coated paper products! However, the time is right to purchase the mill at a huge discount!
Industry Updates on the Industry
- We are witnessing the coated and uncoated paper markets holding steady and the election year will be a boom for the printing and direct mail industry!
- USA Paper Production for the coated and uncoated ranges from 13 – 17 percent of the total paper production in the USA.
- We have seen that standard paper products are more available today!
- The USA Paper Companies will no longer produce unprofitable grades of paper.
- The USA Paper Companies in most cases NO LONGER have converting facilities.
- The USA Paper Companies will NO LONGER carry inventory and simply produce rolls for Paper Merchants and Converters.
- The Paper Companies since COVID have increased prices over 30 percent with announced increases anticipated in 2024-2025 based upon industry reports!
- The Paper Manufacturers are dictating delivery times for their products.
- The Paper Manufacturers are dictating FINANCIAL terms for their products.
- The USA based paper companies will shut down production unless they get their prices for their paper products!
- The Wisconsin and USA Paper Manufacturers NO LONGER provide a wide variety of paper products with NO inventory available with required minimum quantities on available papers!
- We have seen the US Postal Service increase the price of stamps two times in 2024.
- We are witnessing the cost of shipping containers; the worldwide supply chain and the state of the world are having key issues with no end in sight!
- While inventory for the Printing Industry has caught up, the Printers still must maintain high inventory levels to service their customers.
If we do not see changes, consumers will move away from paper products. We will see more foreign paper being imported into the United States increasing our dependence on foreign companies at the expense of the American consumer. We are allowing our Paper and Pulp Manufacturing to be bought up for Foreign Companies at record levels. Wisconsin no longer is the leader in Paper and Pulp Manufacturing. Wisconsin has ALL the resources to support Paper and Pulp Manufacturing. We need re-investments in the Paper and Pulp Industries to support the backbone of the Wisconsin economy!
