Sofidel Group, celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, has finalized the details of the expansion plan announced last October
Sofidel, one of the world’s leading paper manufacturers producing tissue for hygienic and household use, known in Italy and across Europe for its Regina brand, has finalized the details of the expansion plan announced last October to further strengthen its production capacity in the United States.
The expansion will take place at the company’s integrated facility in Inola, Oklahoma.
The plan includes the construction of a new building to house the previously announced 75,000 tonnes per year Valmet Through-Air-Drying (TAD) tissue machine, along with the installation of converting lines with matching capacity for the production of finished goods. The project also includes the expansion of the pulp and parent reel warehouse, and the construction of a fully automated finished goods warehouse – developed using E80 technology – with 100,000 pallet positions. The new buildings will cover a total area of approximately 1,000,000 square feet (90,000 square meters).
The total investment amounts to $775 million, and the machine start up is scheduled for the second quarter of 2028.
“The new TAD machine we will install at our Inola, Oklahoma facility will further strengthen our production footprint and expand the availability of premium tissue products in the United States, enhancing our ability to meet growing customer demand, particularly in the South,” said Luigi Lazzareschi, Sofidel Group CEO. “Once again in Inola, thanks to the collaboration of our stakeholders, we have found the right conditions to invest and continue to grow. This is a significant investment, an important way to ‘open’ the year of our 60th anniversary with a determined industrial outlook toward the future”.
The new facility will also feature state of the art internal logistics. An automatic system using LGVs (Laser Guided Vehicles) will transport parent reels from the paper machine to the warehouse, and an automated loading system will be connected directly to the finished goods automated warehouse. The choice of TAD technology directly addresses the growing demand in a dynamic North American market that is increasingly oriented – also in the Private Label segment – toward premium products.
This operation adds to Sofidel’s recent major investments in the United States, including the acquisition of the tissue division of Clearwater Paper Corporation (four facilities in North Carolina, Idaho, Nevada, and Illinois), the acquisition of four Royal Paper facilities in Arizona and South Carolina, and the expansion of the Duluth, Minnesota facility. It also mirrors the recent project in Circleville, Ohio, where a new building was constructed to house a 70,000 tonnes per year Valmet DCT 200 tissue machine, which started up in September 2025.
Today, Sofidel Group operates 14 production sites across 11 states – Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Illinois, Mississippi, Florida, Ohio, South Carolina, and North Carolina – and maintains a corporate office in Horsham, Pennsylvania.
In just over ten years, Sofidel Group has become the fourth largest tissue producer in the North American market, which today accounts for 50% of Sofidel’s total revenue, and where it holds a leadership position in the Private Label segment.
Photo/Sofidel
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