Today, RockTenn announced a $25 million investment in a new, state-of-the-art chip mill to furnish its Demopolis solid bleached sulfate (SBS) and southern bleached softwood kraft (SBSK) pulp mill with wood chips and bark. Together with the company’s nearby existing Rooster Bridge Chip Mill facility, RockTenn will become the area’s largest chip producer. With more than two million tons of total annual chipping capacity, the Saltwell and Rooster Bridge complexes will produce excess chips and bark allowing for future sales to third parties.

The new Saltwell Chip Mill, located adjacent to the Demopolis Airport Industrial Park, will produce 1.3 million tons per year of chips and 150,000 tons per year of bark for fuel. All permitting is in place, and road and site preparation work has begun. Start-up is scheduled for March 2011 and will create approximately 16 new jobs. The project is expected to reduce wood costs for the paperboard and pulp manufacturing facility, which would contribute to maintaining the mill’s position as one of the lowest cost producers of SBS in North America.

RockTenn has worked with leadership from the City of Demopolis, the Marengo and Demopolis Industrial Development Boards and the Marengo County Commission to develop the project and secure government incentives of approximately $2.6 million to improve highway and rail access to the Saltwell site.

The Saltwell Chip Mill, Rooster Bridge Chip Mill and Demopolis Mill are part of RockTenn’s Consumer Packaging segment, an integrated system of five coated recycled paperboard mills, an SBS mill and 22 folding carton operations.

Check back to www.demopolistimes.com for more as this story develops.