Rayonier Advanced Materials Restarts Jesup Plant's A Line Ahead of Schedule

Rayonier Advanced Materials' plant in Jesup, Georgia, has three fiber lines, manufacturing hardwood and softwood high-purity cellulose specialties, fluff-pulp and acetate products.

Oct. 22, 2024 - Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) announced that power has been fully restored to its Jesup, Georgia, site and that the plant's A Line has restarted operations.

The A Line, which primarily produces cellulose specialties for use in filtration, food and pharmaceuticals, and tire cord, is currently operating at approximately 80 percent capacity, with an anticipated ramp-up to full capacity within a week.

Repair work on the B line is ongoing and is expected to be completed with a restart on or around October 28, the company said.

The repair work is due to an isolated fire that occurred at the Jesup plant on October 11 during planned maintenance activity. The fire was quickly contained with no injuries to employees or contractors and no risk to the surrounding community.

The Jesup plant is RYAM's largest facility, with a production capacity of 330,000 metric tons of cellulose specialties (A and B lines) and an additional 270,000 metric tons of fluff pulp (C line).

While the plant's C line operations have resumed, the A and B lines remained offline for repairs. The majority of the repairs will be focused on instrumentation and electrical cabling systems in the isolated area near the fire, RYAM said.

RYAM has been working with affected customers to address potential impacts during the outage.

RYAM noted that it continues to assess the financial cost of the incident along with any potential insurance recovery.

RYAM is a global leader of cellulose-based technologies, including high purity cellulose specialties, a natural polymer commonly used in the production of filters, food, pharmaceuticals, and other industrial applications. The company also manufactures products for paper and packaging markets, and has manufacturing operations in the U.S.,Canada and France.

SOURCE: Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. (RYAM)