Initially announced in January 2020, Ahlstrom-Munksjö has completed its investment and started production for additional capacity in both filtration and energy storage materials at its plant in Turin, Italy. By successfully expanding manufacturing facilities, Ahlstrom-Munksjö is making a strong commitment to customers in both the High-Performance Filtration and Energy Storage markets. The new machine at the Turin plant is a state-of-the-art line specifically designed to produce glass microfiber media. The line will serve applications where glass microfiber media is required, supporting Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s growth initiatives in industrial filtration as well as in Absorbed Glass Matt (AGM), a key component in Lead Acid Batteries. In addition, the new line will also be able to deliver online saturated filter media, supporting the increasing global demand for filtration media.

Georgia-Pacific announced that it is modernizing one of its premier sawmills in its Pineland, Texas lumber complex with a $120 million investment. Construction is expected to begin early next year and is scheduled to be completed in late 2022. The Pineland Lumber Complex was built in the 1910s and is the largest business in Sabine County, where Pineland, Texas, sits. The investment should increase the mills’ overall production. The modifications include a new sawmill which will replace the existing stud mill that was built in the 1960s. The new mill will have the ability to produce 450 million board feet of dimensional lumber each year once operational and running at full capacity, compared to the 380 million it can currently produce. It should also increase the number of trucks delivering the wood from 250 to 300 loads each day.

In a letter today, Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) of the Senate Finance Committee urged Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to negotiate a softwood lumber trade deal with Canada that would lessen the harmful impact of subsidized Canadian lumber imports on the U.S. economy. The Senators' letter also expressed strong support for fair competition and the enforcement of existing U.S. trade laws. "The U.S. Lumber Coalition applauds the efforts by members of the Senate Finance Committee to push for a fair trade deal, especially the letter's provision calling for a clean quota agreement to hold Canada to its commitments and maintain a stable, enforceable system," U.S. Lumber Coalition spokesperson Zoltan van Heyningen said. Click Read More below for more of the story.