The mill will produce containerboard using OCC and mixed paper.

Green Bay Packaging Inc. (GBP), Green Bay, Wisconsin, has announced that the first reel of paper was produced March 11 at its paper mill in Green Bay. The company says this milestone comes two-and-a-half years after it broke ground on the site. The company now operates a total of five paper mills in the U.S.

GBP is a family-owned, vertically integrated manufacturing company consisting of corrugated shipping container plants, a folding carton facility, recycled and virgin containerboard mills, pressure-sensitive label roll-stock plants, timberlands a paper slitting operation, specialty converting operations and a sawmill facility.

The new mill, which will produce containerboard and is expected to consume old corrugated containers and mixed paper, is located at the mouth of the Fox River, south of the Leo Frigo Bridge. According to a news release from GBP, the company’s $500 million investment has had “a profound, positive impact on northeast Wisconsin’s economy and the environment.”

“These are exciting times at Green Bay Packaging as we ramp up production on our new paper machine,” says Will Kress, chairman and CEO of Green Bay Packaging. “This is the single biggest project in our company’s history, and it certainly would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of our internal people and our many partners and suppliers working together to turn this dream into reality. Not to be overlooked are the many great customers we have, without whom this project would not have been necessary or feasible.”

GBP says the construction and startup of the new mill will preserve about 1,100 Green Bay Packaging jobs across Brown County, Wisconsin, and more than 1,500 jobs in the state of Wisconsin. At the new mill, the company says it planned to add approximately 200 full-time jobs. 

“The team, led by Matt Szymanski, has done an outstanding job bringing this project in on time,” says Bryan Hollenbach, executive vice president of GBP. “This complex and intense project was completed on time and will play a significant role in the future of Green Bay Packaging. The entire team did an outstanding job.”

GBP reports that it partnered with local companies to design and construct the facility. Neenah, Wisconsin-based Miron Construction served as the general contractor for construction of the new mill.

Voith Paper was chosen as the full-line equipment supplier for this project, GBP says. Voith Paper’s North American headquarters are located in Appleton, Wisconsin. GBP says its partnership with Voith includes cutting-edge papermaking and fiber recycling technology.

“Every member of the Green Bay Packaging mill team worked tirelessly over the past several years to bring this vision to reality,” says Matt Szymanski, vice president of mill operations. “I am very proud of our team and the partnerships we forged during this project. The chemistry that was developed allowed us to meet our startup schedule in light of a global pandemic. Voith, Miron and our other major equipment suppliers have proven to be great partners that were committed to the success of this project, delivering a world-class paper mill.”

The company has announced increases for some of its paperboard products.

Greif Inc., a packaging producer based in Delaware, Ohio, has announced that it implemented price increases on certain paperboard products. The company reports that these price increases come in addition to previously announced price increases.

According to a news release from Greif, it plans to institute a $50-per-ton price increase for all grades of uncoated recycled paperboard (RUB) and a $50 per ton price increase for all grades of coated recycled paperboard (CRB), effective March 18 with new orders placed. The company says the price increases are in response to the “continued robust demand across the Greif paperboard network and ongoing cost pressures in production and transportation.”

The company says it achieved record EBITDA for the quarter in its latest earnings report.

Commercial Metals Co. (CMC), Irving, Texas, reports that its second-quarter earnings from continuing operations increased compared with the prior-year earnings from continuing operations. According to CMC’s latest earnings report, the steelmaker achieved earnings from continuing operations of $66.2 million, or 54 cents per diluted share, on net sales of $1.5 billion compared with prior-year earnings from continuing operations of $63.6 million, or 53 cents per diluted share, on net sales of $1.3 billion.

During the second quarter of fiscal 2021, CMC reports that it incurred $13.5 million in net after-tax charges, primarily from the previously announced refinancing of long-term debt, as well as closure costs associated with the final decommissioning of CMC’s Steel California operations. CMC says those costs were partially offset by a gain on the sale of certain facilities. Excluding these items, CMC reports that second-quarter adjusted earnings from continuing operations were $79.8 million, or 66 cents per diluted share.

Barbara R. Smith, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer at CMC, says the company achieved “record” second-quarter core earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). She notes that the company achieved that in a particularly challenging environment of “rising scrap costs and weather-related disruptions,” which she says demonstrates the value of CMC’s vertically integrated structure and the agility of its commercial, operational and support teams.

Smith says, “CMC’s second-quarter results also highlight the benefits of managing the operating factors that are within our control, including leveraging opportunities to improve efficiency throughout our organization. From this solid foundation, CMC will further enhance our earnings capability in the coming quarters, as we continue to capitalize on benefits from ongoing network optimization efforts and ramp up our third rolling line in Poland this summer.”

During an earnings presentation March 18, Smith provided an update on several projects the company is working on. She reported that site work at CMC’s Arizona micromill “is progressing well,” and that the company remains on target for startup in early 2023. That mill is replacing CMC’s shuttered rebar capacity at its Steel California operations in Rancho Cucamonga, California. All production ceased at that site as of December 2020.

“This will be our third micromill and the first in the world capable of producing merchant bar product,” Smith said of its Mesa site. “Once fully operational, we expect this state-of-the-art mill to contribute roughly $50 million of annual EBITDA. WE look forward to giving future updates as activity progresses.”

On the call, the company noted that it plans to invest about $85 million on the new micromill in fiscal 2021.

CMC is also working to expand its sustainability disclosures and reporting; Smith said the company plans to provide an update in its corporate sustainability report in the summer.

CMC reports that its North America segment generated adjusted EBITDA of $171.6 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2021, an increase of 12 percent compared with $152.8 million in the prior-year period. The company reports that this improvement reflects “solid management of controllable costs at each stage of [its] vertically integrated value chain.” 

CMC says cost performance at the mills was particularly strong in its second quarter, driven by network efficiencies and lower costs for consumables. Earnings also benefited from expanded margins on sales of raw materials, as well as the impact of selling lower cost inventory within an environment of rising prices for steel products. 

Shipment volumes of finished steel, which include steel products and downstream products, increased by 2 percent from the prior-year quarter. CMC’s earnings report states that demand for rebar from the mills remained strong, growing year over year, supported by resilient construction activity. 

Single-family residential construction within CMC’s core geographies has increased significantly over the last year, which CMC says has opened additional selling opportunities for the company and is a positive indicator of future infrastructure and nonresidential spending in these areas.  According to the company, shipments of merchant and other products increased by 13 percent from a year ago, driven by rising industrial activity and the construction of warehouses and metal buildings. Downstream products volumes declined 6 percent year over year due to a backlog contraction and weather-related job-site disruptions in several regional markets. 

Margins over scrap cost within the vertical chain declined from the second quarter of fiscal 2020, with compression in both steel products and downstream products. Average selling price for steel products increased $70 per ton year over year, which CMC reports was offset by higher scrap costs. Steel products margins improved sequentially throughout the second quarter and exited February at the highest level in nearly a year. According to the company, margin over scrap cost on downstream products declined compared to a year ago, driven by higher input costs and modestly lower pricing in CMC’s committed backlog, which led to lower average selling prices. 

CMC’s Europe segment reported adjusted EBITDA of $16.1 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2021, up 20 percent compared with adjusted EBITDA of $13.5 million for the prior-year quarter. The company reports that the improvement was driven by a modest expansion in margin over scrap, as well as the impact of selling lower cost inventory within an environment of rising prices for steel products. 

Demand for steel products from both construction and industrial end markets remained healthy during the quarter. However, shipments declined by 7 percent year over year due to the “unusually high volumes” that shipped during the second quarter of fiscal 2020. During the quarter, CMC says it shifted product mix “to capitalize on opportunities with customers of merchant and other products.” The company says the reduction in rebar shipments from a year ago reflects the operations commercial agility rather than any softening of market conditions.

Smith says, “We expect finished steel volumes in both North America and Europe to follow typical seasonal trends during the third quarter, which is historically strong given the start of the spring and summer construction seasons. Shipments of steel and downstream products in North America should be supported by our construction backlog, with steel products also benefiting from elevated residential construction spending, continued manufacturing recovery and anticipated strong highway infrastructure activity. 

She concludes, “Volumes in Europe are anticipated to remain healthy, driven by growing demand from construction and industrial end markets. We expect margins over scrap on steel products in both North America and Europe to increase sequentially following the realization of price adjustments made throughout the second quarter.”

The company says the conveyors are optimized for the recycling industry to improve sorting efficiency.

Redwave has expanded its product portfolio of sensor-based sorting technology to include conveyor belts specially optimized for the recycling sector.

Redwave is headquartered in Austria, with branch offices in Germany, China, Singapore and the United States.

"In the past, we often had to live with compromise solutions when purchasing standardized conveyor belts,” says Redwave Managing Director Manfred Hödl. “In many cases, the systems lacked adaptability with regard to customer conditions and needs, such as a small footprint. In addition, we were dependent on the supplier with regard to delivery dates.”

For these reasons, Redwave says it has developed conveyor belts specifically designed for the recycling industry. "We know the recycling industry and how different materials behave on conveyors in the course of several years. The choice of scrapers, belts, etc., is already made during the planning and design process," he says.

The right conveyor belt optimizes the performance of sorting equipment and improves throughput, according to the company.

The requirements for conveyor belts in the recycling industry differ significantly from the requirements of other industries, Redwave says. Even within the recycling industry, the requirements vary based on the material being processed.

Redwave conveyor belts feature improvements of the chute connection for feeding the sorting machines. They offer easy accessibility, which plays a major role during cleaning and maintenance because contamination and blockages are not uncommon in recycling plants. For example, removable sheet metal cladding and swiveling floor panels make cleaning easier and minimize the amount of maintenance required, the company says. External lubrication points also improve accessibility and offer time savings.

Dust also can be an issue in recycling facilities. For this reason, Redwave has developed belt seals (covers and gutter seals) that are adapted for the material the recycling plant handles.

The conveyor belts are installed in Redwave systems as troughed belt conveyor, sliding belt conveyor and chain belt conveyor. Their modular design allows the length of the conveyor to be modified easily and also allows additional equipment (sensors, weighing system, scraper) to be retrofitted easily, according to the company.

Redwave says it purchases quality parts from well-known European manufacturers. These high-quality parts, such as the drive system, bearings, rollers and belts, guarantee long service life.

Using Redwave Mate, a form of artificial intelligence, the conveyor belts are networked into the entire sorting system to aid with optimizing the sorting process.

The 22,000-to-40,000-pound capacity forklift series features pneumatic tires.

Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas, Houston, the exclusive manufacturer and provider of Mitsubishi forklift trucks across North, Central and South America, has announced a series of forklift trucks ranging from 22,000 to 40,000 pounds of capacity. The forklifts have internal combustion engines and pneumatic tires. 

Spanning seven different capacities, four different wheelbases and three load center options, these forklifts are customizable and equipped with features to help increase productivity, improve the operator experience and minimize downtime through ease maintenance and onboard diagnostics, according to the manufacturer.

Powered by a Cummins B4.5 Tier 4 Final diesel engine, these forklifts are designed with the strength and durability to handle the tough material handling applications. They also feature a rugged mast, robust chassis and thicker components for greater performance and reliability, Mitsubishi says. 

“We are excited to offer this lineup of large, diesel pneumatic forklifts to our customers,” says John Sneddon, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas. These heavy-duty forklifts are not only comfortable to operate and easy to maintain, they offer the reliable performance that our customers have come to expect from the Mitsubishi forklift trucks name.”

The forklifts also are designed for easy maintenance. The one-piece engine hood allows complete and simple access from the ground level for daily inspections, while all major powertrain components can be fully accessed through the side-tilting cab with the standard, easy-to-use manual pump tilt or optional power tilt.