The Panama City pulp and paper mill of US company West Rock is partly up and running again. The site was significantly damaged by hurricane Michael in October and has been standing still since 8 October as a result. The company announced that containerboard production was resumed on 3 November and that it expects to ramp up to a full production rate during the month. Pulp production has not resumed yet. West Rock said that the market pulp line would be operating at 50% of its capacity in early December, while full production is expected to be resumed in approximately six months.
West Rock said that the initial estimate of the property damage and business interruption insurance claim is $100m. The majority of the costs is expected to be covered by insurance.
West Rock’s mill in Panama City in Florida has a total capacity of 353,000 tpy of containerboard and 292,000 tpy of market pulp. The company’s Florence mill was also recently hit by a hurricane, which resulted in a production stop of around one week in September. In Florence, West Rock produces kraftliner on three paper machines which have an overall capacity of 620,000 tpy.
