Domtar recently converted its Kingsport, Tennessee, paper mill into the company’s first containerboard facility. Once the Kingsport mill conversion is complete, which Domtar expects will be in the 1Q 2023.
The company will be able to produce and market about 600,000 tons of high-quality recycled linerboard and corrugated medium annually on North America’s premier lightweight containerboard machine. That level of capacity will make Kingsport the second-largest recycled containerboard mill in North America.
Producing recycled containerboard requires a good supply stream of recycled paper materials like boxes, chipboard, office paper and newsprint. Finding that material won’t be a problem. Domtar can source it from 72 recovered-paper suppliers with 116 locations in a seven-state radius.
Thanks to a high-quality paper machine capable of producing about 4,500 feet per minute, Kingsport Mill has the potential to become one of the lowest-cost recycled containerboard mills in the United States. Its central location in the Southeastern United States means it’s also geographically positioned to be the go-to supplier to more than 60 independent box makers across the region, representing nearly 4 million tons of annual containerboard demand.
“Repurposing the Kingsport Mill provides Domtar with an excellent strategic entry point into a growing market with a very competitive, low-cost asset,” says Domtar President and CEO John Williams. “We view this as a strategic first step toward building a large value-adding business in the containerboard market.”
