- Project Type: Specialty Paper Mill
- Tons of Steel: 3,300 tons
- General Contractor: J.E. Merit
- Engineer: ABGS Inc.
- The Lufkin mill was originally opened in 1940
- $230 million modernization project
- Three older paper machines are being replaced with a single, more efficient machine
- The new machine will produce 250,000 metric tons of uncoated supercalendered specialty paper (SC-B) and HiBrite paper annually
- The mill's water requirements will be reduced by 2 million gallons per day
In September 1999, Donohue announced that they had hired Jacobs Engineering Group to perform engineering, procurement and construction services for a $US 230 million modernization plan.
Big Plans and Big Money
The Lufkin paper mill was nearing its sixtieth year of operations when Donohue Industries purchased the plant in 1998. The No.1 newsprint machine was an original piece of equipment and the No. 3 and 4 machines were also aging and inefficient. Donohue clearly had changes in mind as they made their purchase of the Texas mill.
SC-B paper demand in North America grew at the average annual rate of 14% through much of the 1990s, and is expected to continue to grow by another 10% annually.
Then in September 1999, Donohue announced that they had hired Jacobs Engineering Group to perform engineering, procurement and construction services for a $US 230 million modernization plan. The older machines were to be completely shut down and replaced by a far larger and more efficient SC-B machine.
The advantages of this plan were numerous. First, by shutting down the three older machines, 126,500 tons of newsprint would be taken out of world newsprint market, which was facing slow growth and over-production. Second, the addition of the new SC-B machine would bring 250,000 tons of valuable uncoated supercalendered specialty paper into a market that was far more valuable and growing quickly.
Less than five months after the modernization plan was announced, Donohue made another important announcement; their entire organization had been purchased by Abitibi-Consolidated for $US 7.1 billion. Abitibi, already the world's largest newsprint producer before the purchase, quickly made clear its intention to follow through with the modernization plan for the Lufkin mill.
Shortly after they announced the Lufkin modernization plan, Donohue Papers was purchased by Abitibi Consolidated for US$7.1 billion. The combined company is, by far, the largest newsprint producer in the world.
The facility's kraft pulp mill will also be improved to comply with stricter environmental standards.
A Long Haul to the Long Horn State
When Donohue announced their intention to modernize the Lufkin mill, a combination of market conditions and a developing merger meant that the refit would face an accelerated start. Because of this J.E. Merit - the construction division of Jacobs Engineering - set strict scheduling demands that shortened the list of potential sub-contractors.
Despite the nearly 2,000 miles that separated our plant in Quebec from the paper mill in Texas, we were able to prove our ability to insert the project into our production schedule, to meet the tight deadlines, and to do it all in a cost-effective manner.
A steady stream of trucks was carefully managed in the delivery of 3,300 tons of steel to the Texas location, where our project representatives supervised the erection of the main building and a system of conveyors.