Italian tissue giant Sofidel has officially opened its 280-acre, $400m plant in Circleville, Ohio.
The site is one of the most technologically and environmentally-advanced paper plants in the world, and Sofidel’s largest worldwide.
It is also the company’s first integrated paper mill built from the ground up in the United States.
Equipped with two Advantage New Tissue Technology (NTT) 200 paper mill machines supplied by Valmet, each machine can produce 2,000 metres of 5.5-metre-wide paper sheets per minute.
The plant has 10 lines for producing finished products, including three Constellation lines supplied by Fabio Perini.
Once running at full capacity, it will employ 700 people and have a production capacity of 140,000tpy.
Luigi Lazzareschi, chief executive of the Sofidel Group, said: “The United States is a crucial market for us and is where we intend to grow.
“This plant will help us fuel our growth significantly and further our commitment to sustainable, environmentally responsible development.”
Since expanding to the United States in 2012, Sofidel now has operations in seven states: Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
