Weyerhaeuser Co. has invested millions of dollars to upgrade its Longview sawmill and liquid packaging plant, but sales at its Norpac paper mill are sagging, company officials said at a community leaders briefing Friday at Cowlitz Regional Conference Center.
The liquid packaging plant — which makes cartons for juice, milk and other liquids — recently completed a major 30-day maintenance shutdown to make upgrades to the press section, evaporators, digester and head box. The investments will lower energy and fiber costs while improving product quality, company spokesman Anthony Chavez said.
Production volume at the liquid packaging plant dropped in the third quarter, from 79,000 tons to 57,000 tons, in part because of the shutdown. However, higher prices for pulp and liquid packaging board and improved sales helped offset the loss of production, according to the company.
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The company declined to reveal the amount of its 2014 investments in Longview, but they included a new swing machine to help sort logs at its sawmill here.
Sawmill Operation Manager Erik Wilson said the mill, though only six years old, already is in need of other upgrades. The mill is benefitting from “very good markets” for its lumber and is not seeing a seasonal drop in sales that is common in winter, he said.
The sawmill hired new operators, millwrights and electricians throughout 2014 and continues to search for journeymen millwrights and electricians. The woodworkers union is looking for three new employees on the operations side for the log yard. Company officials also said they are struggling to find qualified maintenance workers for the log yard after several employees reach retirement age.
Yard Operations Leader DeDe Stover said the log yard experienced a few short months in sales and had to temporarily reduce overtime earlier this year. After securing a new customer , however, sales are improving, fueled by strong log demand from Japan related to recovery from the massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami, she said.
Norpac, a joint venture between Weyerhaeuser and Nippon Paper Group of Japan, hasn’t experienced a similar rebound. The paper industry has struggled in 2014, as global demand for newsprint and books shrinks, said Ray Harrison, strategic project manager at Norpac.
“Books make a great Christmas present,” Harrison joked, as he urged the audience to buy more books to help the paper industry. Harrison said the plant will continue to focus on new grades of paper to compensate for the decline.
Overall the company completed a strong third quarter, reporting net earnings on continuing operations of $178 million, or 33 cents per diluted share. That was up from $136 million for the same period last year and $234 million for second quarter 2014.