Lee & Man renames Samoa pulp mill

Lee & Man Paper Mfg. Co. has reportedly changed the name of the 210,000 mtpy market pulp mill that it acquired from Stockton Pacific Enterprises. According to the Eureka Reporter, the mill's new name is Evergreen Pulp. Contacts told Pulp & Paper Week that the Hong Kongheadquartered firm plans to use about 50% of the mill's output to supply pulp for its own Chinese containerboard mills, and tentatively plans to ramp Evergreen up in mid-February.

The company announced plans to build a second wastewater treatment facility to reduce environmental waste from the mill. The Samoa mill, which produces 100% chlorine-free processing bleached and unbleached softwood and hardwood kraft pulp, "blew a tube and had to close" on Jan. 13, while its prior owners awaited word on finalizing the sale with Lee & Man, a contact said.

The company, the second largest containerboard producer in China based on capacity, is the first Chinese paper company to purchase a market pulp mill in North America. China has been significantly growing its paper and board capacity the last 10 years, and has become a major buyer of market pulp and recovered paper.

Lee & Man previously negotiated a four-year labor agreement with the mill's workers, the Association of Pulp and Paper Workers Union, Local 49.