Appleton Papers said it is in the process of adding 25,000
tons of lightweight thermal coated paper capacity to the US marketplace over
the next several months.
"We began this initiative in December and will continue
our efforts over the next few months," Appleton said in a letter to customers
on Wednesday. "We expect to quickly increase our capacity for lightweight
thermal paper by up to 25,000 tons annually in response to Koehler Paper
Group's stated intention to leave the US market in April."
The Appleton move stems from a US Dept of Commerce (DOC)
preliminary determination last month to significantly increase lightweight
thermal import duties on Koehler's paper. The higher duty has not yet become
final and was expected to be final by April. It's unclear if Koehler will
appeal the DOC action taken last month or if it will fully exit the US market
by April, as it said was possible last month.
