Italian tissue giant Sofidel has strengthened its presence in America after announcing plans to build a second greenfield tissue mill.
Located in the south-central town of Inola, Oklahoma, the site will house an integrated plant with two tissue paper machines with a production capacity of 120,000 tonnes per year each, as well as related converting lines.
One machine will be dedicated mainly to toilet tissue production while the second one will produce mostly towels.
Luigi Lazzareschi, Sofidel Group chief executive, said the investment will “significantly support our growth in the US”.
He said: “The American market is a crucial market for our group. Sofidel will build a new, modern integrated plant to serve the south-central and central-western areas of this great country, where we have been operating since 2012 and where we have been growing year after year at a very fast pace.”
The company is committed to investing $360m over the next three years.
Construction is expected to start in March 2018 and will be completed by Q2 2020, while the converting lines and the warehouse functions will be in place by the end of Q2 2019. The new production plant, once completed, will employ 300 full-time workers.
The site will be the second greenfield investment made by Sofidel in America, the first of which is based in Ohio.
