Sofidel Plans $775 Million Expansion in Oklahoma
This project will bring the plant's total footprint to nearly 3 million square feet.
Sofidel America will build a 1 million-square-foot expansion at its production plant in Inola, Okla. The $775 million expansion plan was first unveiled in October last year. Completion is expected for 2028.
The U.S. subsidiary of the Italian paper products manufacturer will add a new, 75,000-tons-per-year tissue machine, expand its pulp and parent reel warehouse, as well as construct a fully automated finished goods warehouse.
Planned upgrades will also include a laser-guided vehicle transportation system and automated loading systems.
READ ALSO: Emerging Industrial Markets in the U.S.
Sofidel’s two-building production plant is at 16400 E. 620th Road and measures 1.8 million square feet across 124 acres, Yardi Matrix information shows. The new additions would bring the total footprint to 2.8 million square feet.
The company built its plant in 2020 with a $360 million investment. It represented Sofidel’s second built-from-scratch production facility, after opening its first one in Circleville, Ohio, in 2018.
The property is near the Tulsa Port of Inola and near major thoroughfares, including interstates 44, 244 and U.S. highways 169 and 412. Tulsa International Airport and the city’s downtown area are within 30 miles.
This new investment and development move comes as the city recently attracted a new partnership. U.S. Aluminum Co. has teamed up with Emirates Global Aluminum and Century Aluminum to explore building a new aluminum fabrication plant. This planned facility will be located near the upcoming $4 billion aluminum smelting plant at the Tulsa Port of Inola, scheduled to break ground this year.
Sofidel bets on U.S. investments
Last year, Sofidel broke ground on another expansion at its Duluth, Minn., facility. The 600,000-square-foot addition is expected to come online in the third quarter of this year.
The Italian company first entered the U.S. market in 2012 by purchasing Cellynne and creating its subsidiary Sofidel America. Back then, the company operated three plants in Florida, Wisconsin and Nevada. Since then, Sofidel Group has become the fourth-largest tissue manufacturer in North America.
Other recent investments included the acquisition of Clearwater Paper Corp.’s tissue division, including four properties in North Carolina, Idaho, Nevada and Illinois, and the purchase of four Royal Paper properties in Arizona and South Carolina. To date, the company’s footprint includes 14 production plants spread across 11 states, according to its website.
You must be logged in to post a comment.