The new Yankee Dryer, which weighs approximately 321,000 lbs (160.5 tons) and has a diameter of 18.5 feet and a width of 22 feet, arrived at Sofidel's tissue mill in Circleville, Ohio, on March 2.

Sofidel Takes Delivery of New Yankee Dryer at Circleville Mill in Ohio

March 7, 2025 - Sofidel announced that its tissue mill in Circleville, Ohio, took delivery of a new Yankee Dryer on March 2. The Yankee Dryer will be installed on a new Valmet DCT 200 tissue machine, which will be the mill's third machine and is scheduled for start-up in the third quarter of 2025.

The Circleville mill, which started-up in October of 2018, currently operates two Valmet Advantage NTT tissue machines. Each machine has the capacity to produce 70,000 metric tons per year.

Long Voyage from Karlstadt

The Yankee Dryer, which weighs approximately 321,000 lbs (160.5 tons) and has a diameter of 18.5 feet and a width of 22 feet, was manufactured at Valmet's facility in Karlstadt, Sweden, before being shipped across Europe to the Bremen Ports in Germany.

The journey to the United States began on December 12, 2024, and took about a month to reach the port of New Orleans, arriving on January 14, 2025.

Due to the size and weight of the Yankee Dryer, transportation took place in stages, with the equipment traveling approximately 40-60 miles per day in compliance with road weight restrictions. The full route plan from Portsmouth to Circleville had been carefully mapped out to ensure safe and efficient delivery. The addition of the new Yankee Dryer helped further enhance the facility's capacity and efficiency.

After clearing the New Orleans port, the Yankee Dryer embarked on its journey up the Mississippi River, continued along the Ohio River, and finally arrived in Portsmouth, Ohio, on February 22.

After some preparation, the dryer began its escorted journey to the Sofidel Circleville facility on February 27 and was delivered on March 2.

The new tissue machine has a production capacity of 70,000 tons per year. When fully operational, the Circleville plant will reach a total production capacity of over 200,000 tons per year.

The Sofidel Group, headquartered in Porcari (Lucca, Italy), is one of the leading manufacturers of tissue paper. Established in 1966, the Group is active in 12 European countries and the U.S. with over 9,000 employees and a production capacity of 1,852,000 metric tons per year (these numbers also include the acquisition of ST Paper and Clearwater Paper's tissue operations in the U.S. in 2024).

SOURCE: Sofidel