Weyerhaeuser includes Moses Lake plant in sale

MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake Weyerhaeuser plant is part of a business sale, which is expected to close in the second half of the year.

Weyerhaeuser sold its entire containerboard packaging and recycling business for $6 billion in cash to International Paper.

The transaction, announced March 17, includes nine containerboard mills, 72 packaging locations, 10 specialty-packaging plants, four "kraft" bag and sack locations and 19 recycling facilities.

The Moses Lake location is a packaging location.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steven R. Rogel said the announcement completes the company's strategic review of the containerboard packaging and recycling business.

"We are pleased with the outcome and we will continue to focus on those areas that present the greatest opportunities for the future," Rogel stated. "This future begins with the trees and the land, and our outstanding stewardship of these resources."

Weyerhaeuser spokesperson Bruce Amundson said the transaction is expected to close sometime in the second half of the year.

"Initially nothing" will happen for the 77 employees at the company's Moses Lake location, Amundson said.

"They will continue to be Weyerhaeuser employees and continue to operate as Weyerhaeuser business until the transaction closes," he said. "At that point, it really becomes a question for International Paper."

In a global statement International Paper said the Weyerhaeuser assets fit well with theirs and are in areas they have generally not occupied before, according to Amundson.

"They have stated that this is a business they intend to grow, so from that standpoint, it's really good news for the entire business," he said.

Until the transaction closes, the company is going through normal regulatory and antitrust reviews, Amundson said. Once completed, the companies will enter the transition process.

"In the meantime, what Moses Lake and all other locations do is they'll just continue to meet customer needs and fill orders as they come up."

Amundson stressed that the business is not cardboard boxes, but rather shipping containers and packages. The Moses Lake location is most likely producing containers for produce or boxes used for such companies as pizza companies or Amazon.com, he said.

"Shipping boxes, there are various custom applications and things like that, but for the most part, boxes are pretty uniform across the country," he explained. "What this does for International Paper, they have been clustered generally more in states on the East Coast and in the South. What this picks up is a larger presence on the West Coast and certainly in the Northwest."