ATLANTA, Oct. 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WestRock Company (NYSE: WRK), a leading provider of differentiated paper and packaging solutions, today provided an initial update following the landfall of Hurricane Michael and its impact on the company’s containerboard and pulp mill located in Panama City, Florida.
As always, our first priority is the safety of our employees and their families. The Panama City area has been devastated by this hurricane, and we are working to support our employees and this community as the recovery begins.
An orderly shut-down process was started on Monday. The mill was in the direct path of the hurricane’s landfall, and it sustained a substantial amount of damage to buildings and equipment.
Our team is currently assessing the extent of the damage to the mill. At this time, we do not know when the mill will resume operations; this will depend upon the extent of the damage to our facility and the storm’s impact on local infrastructure, including available power supply, the ability of our employees to travel to the mill, and other factors.
The mill has annual production capacity of 353,000 tons of linerboard and 292,000 tons of market pulp.
The continued storm path is projected to traverse several states in which we have additional operations and the potential impact, if any, on these operations is unknown at this time.
We will provide additional updates as more information is available, and we have fully assessed the impact to our employees, local infrastructure and the mill.
About WestRock
WestRock (NYSE: WRK) partners with our customers to provide differentiated paper and packaging solutions that help them win in the marketplace. WestRock’s 45,000 team members support customers around the world from more than 300 operating and business locations spanning North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Learn more at www.westrock.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current views and assumptions and are typically identified by words or phrases such as "may," "will," "could," "should," "would," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "target," "prospects," "potential" and "forecast," and other words, terms and phrases of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements include statements such as those related to our expectations with respect to when the mill will resume operations and that resumption of operations will depend upon the extent of the damage to our facility and the storm’s impact on local infrastructure, including available power supply, the ability of our employees to travel to the mill, and other factors. Factors that may affect these forward-looking statements include any additional damage we discover at the mill and actions taken by our suppliers, among other factors. General risk factors include, but are not limited to, economic, competitive and market conditions generally, volumes and price levels of purchases by customers; and competitive conditions in WestRock’s businesses and possible adverse actions of their customers, competitors and suppliers. Please refer to the cautionary statements set forth in Item 1A of WestRock’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2017 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended December 31, 2017, March 31, 2018 and June 30, 2018. WestRock undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements.
CONTACT:
Investors:
James Armstrong, 470-328-6327
Vice President, Investor Relations
james.armstrong@westrock.com
John Stakel, 678-291-7901
Senior Vice President – Treasurer
John.stakel@westrock.com
Media:
John Pensec, 470-328-6397
Director, Corporate Communications
mediainquiries@westrock.com