Sappi invests nearly $6 million in Cloquet mill

The Cloquet paper and pulp mill got a $5.94 million upgrade this fall as parent company Sappi replaced the headbox on Paper Machine 12.

“The new headbox will ensure that we’re fulfilling orders to the highest quality standards that Sappi’s customers have come to expect,” Sappi North America CEO Mark Gardner said in a news release Tuesday. “This project will not only improve upon our longstanding history with the graphic papers market, but also support our growing paper-based packaging business.”

The investment is a vote of confidence for the mill and its 700 employees in an industry where uncertainty has reigned for decades. Sappi, based in South Africa, poured $170 million into the Cloquet plant in 2011 to open up chemical cellulose production.

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