An industrial company is establishing operations in Greenwood County to convert forest matter into wood pellets. Portucel, S.A. is investing $110 million to open a manufacturing facility in Greenwood, S.C. The investment is expected to create 70 new jobs.
Portucel is an integrated forest, pulp, paper and energy company and is currently Europe´s largest producer of uncoated wood free paper. It has total paper capacity of 1.5 million tons/year and eucalyptus pulp capacity of 1.3 million tons. Its activities are based at three large scale production mills in Portugal which have state of the art technology and are a benchmark for quality in the sector. Portucel is listed in Euronext, a pan-European stock exchange. The company’s long term majority shareholder is focused on industrial assets.
Today, the Portucel Group accounts for more than three percent of Portugal’s tangible exports. As of September 2014, the company achieved record paper output, as its year over year sales volume saw an increase of three percent, to 1.147 million tons. Portucel’s facility in Greenwood County will be located in the Emerald Road Industrial Corridor and is expected to have a production capacity of 460 thousand tons per year once it is fully operational.
Hiring for new positions is expected to begin in January 2015. Those interested in joining the Portucel team will soon have the company’s recruitment page online. For more information on Portucel, S.A. please visit www.portucelsoporcel.com.
The Coordinating Council for Economic Development has approved a $150,000 grant to assist with the costs of road, site and infrastructure improvements as well as job development credits related to the project.