SIC 2621

Paper Mills

How the companies in this industry began, and the forces that shaped them.

51companies1801–1997founding years48still active3no longer operating
§ 01

The industry over time

Companies foundedEconomyTechnologyEnvironmentHistory
1903
TechnologyThe Wright brothers achieve powered flight.
1914
EconomyWorld War I begins; global trade reorders.
1939
EconomyWorld War II begins; wartime production surges.
1945
EconomyThe war ends; a long global expansion begins.
1947
TechnologyThe transistor is invented.
1958
TechnologyThe integrated circuit is demonstrated.
1962
EnvironmentSilent Spring launches the modern environmental movement.
1975
TechnologyThe personal-computer era begins.
1981
TechnologyThe IBM PC launches and sets a standard.
1984
TechnologyApple ships the Macintosh; the GUI era begins.
1989
HistoryThe Berlin Wall falls; global markets open up.
1991
TechnologyThe World Wide Web is released to the public.
1993
TechnologyThe Mosaic browser brings the web to everyone.
1995
TechnologyWindows 95 launches; the internet goes mainstream.
1997
EnvironmentThe Kyoto Protocol sets the first climate targets.
2004
TechnologySocial media and Web 2.0 take hold.
2007
TechnologyThe iPhone launches the smartphone era.
2010
TechnologyCloud computing goes mainstream for business.
2015
EnvironmentThe Paris Agreement sets global climate targets.
2020
EconomyThe COVID-19 pandemic upends the global economy.
2022
EconomyInflation spikes; central banks raise rates sharply.
2023
TechnologyGenerative AI reaches mainstream business use.
§ 02

The companies

Crane & Co., Inc.
Active · founded 1801
Crane & Co., Inc.
Ahlstrom Corporation
Active · founded 1851 · Finland
Ahlstrom Corporation celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2001 by breaking up.
Matussière et Forest SA
Active · founded 1858 · France
Group Matussière & Forest SA (MF) is one of France's leading makers of "communications paper," which includes newsprint…
Papeteries de Lancey
Active · founded 1869 · France
Papeteries de Lancey has entered a new era of its 120-year history.
UPM-Kymmene Corporation
Active · founded 1872 · Finland
UPM-Kymmene Corporation is Finland's leading forestry company and Europe's largest papermaking concern.
Holmen AB
Active · founded 1873 · Sweden
Early 1900s:[fsps*2.5]Company builds a sulfite pulp mill at Domsjö.
Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Active · founded 1880
With its 1995 merger with Scott Paper Co., Kimberly-Clark Corporation solidified its position as the number two player…
Beckett Papers
Active · founded 1887
With sales of less than $100 million, Beckett Papers is a rather small, yet distinctive, segment of the Fine Papers…
Champion International Corporation
Active · founded 1893
Champion International Corporation is a leading U.S.
Consolidated Papers, Inc.
Active · founded 1894
Consolidated Papers, Inc., which was acquired by Finnish-Swedish paper giant Stora Enso Oyj in August 2000, is the…
Simpson Investment Company
Active · founded 1895
One of the oldest and largest privately owned companies in the Pacific Northwest, Simpson Investment Company operates…
De La Rue plc
Active · founded 1896 · United Kingdom
The world's largest commercial banknote printer and banknote paper manufacturer, De La Rue plc has a presence in…
Stora Enso Oyj
Active · founded 1896 · Finland
1288: First documentary evidence of mining at the copper mountain near Falun, Sweden.
International Paper Company
Active · founded 1898
International Paper Company (IP) is the world's largest producer of paper, packaging, and forest products.
Westvaco Corporation
Active · founded 1899
Westvaco Corporation is a major manufacturer of printing papers and envelopes, consumer and industrial packaging, and…
Weyerhaeuser Company
Active · founded 1900
Weyerhaeuser Company is the world's largest private owner of softwood timber and the world's largest producer of…
Potlatch Corporation
Active · founded 1903
Potlatch Corporation--a mid-sized manufacturer of wood products, printing paper, and other pulp- and paper-based…
P.H. Glatfelter Company
Active · founded 1906
P.H.
Willamette Industries, Inc.
Defunct · founded 1906
Willamette Industries, Inc., headquartered in Portland, Oregon, is a medium-sized, diversified forest-products company.
Wausau-Mosinee Paper Corporation
Active · founded 1910
Wausau-Mosinee Paper Corporation is a leading producer of specialty, fine printing and writing, and towel and tissue…
Abitibi-Consolidated, Inc.
Active · founded 1912 · Canada
Abitibi-Consolidated, Inc.
Brascan Corporation
Active · founded 1912 · Canada
Brascan Corporation is working on an image change, from being known as one of Canada's largest conglomerates to a…
The Siam Cement Public Company Limited
Active · founded 1913 · Thailand
One of Thailand's largest companies, The Siam Cement Public Company Limited is a diversified conglomerate with…
Ledesma Sociedad Anónima Agrícola Industrial
Active · founded 1914 · Argentina
Ledesma Sociedad Anónima Agrícola Industrial, Argentina's largest sugar producer, is a model of stability: it has had…
Empresas CMPC S.A.
Active · founded 1920 · Chile
Empresas CMPC S.A.
Kruger Inc.
Active · founded 1921 · Canada
A leading manufacturer of recycled newsprint and other paper products, Kruger Inc.
Kimberly-Clark de México, S.A. de C.V.
Active · founded 1925 · Mexico
Kimberly-Clark de México, S.A.
Georgia-Pacific Corporation
Active · founded 1927
Georgia-Pacific Corporation is a leading manufacturer and distributor of paper-based consumer products, pulp, office…
Longview Fibre Company
Active · founded 1927
Longview Fibre Company owns and operates a pulp and paper mill as well as 16 container and bag plants in 11 states.
Badger Paper Mills, Inc.
Active · founded 1929
Badger Paper Mills, Inc.
Miquel y Costas Miquel S.A.
Active · founded 1929 · Spain
Miquel y Costas Miquel S.A.(MCM) is a manufacturer of specialty papers and one of only four cigarette paper…
The Mead Corporation
Active · founded 1930
The Mead Corporation is one of the world's largest manufacturers of paper (producing more than 1.7 million tons each…
Jefferson Smurfit Group plc
Defunct · founded 1934 · Ireland
Jefferson Smurfit Group plc has expanded from its origins in the Irish packaging industry to become one of the world's…
Daishowa Paper Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Active · founded 1938 · Japan
An independent public company for much of its history, Daishowa Paper Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
DS Smith Plc
Active · founded 1940 · United Kingdom
DS Smith Plc has wrapped up leading European positions in its two primary lines of business: packaging (paper-based and…
Monadnock Paper Mills, Inc.
Active · founded 1948
Monadnock Paper Mills, Inc.
Sierra Pacific Industries
Active · founded 1951
The largest timber company in California, Sierra Pacific Industries harvests and mills timber in northern California.
Grupo Portucel Soporcel
Active · founded 1952 · www.portucelsoporcel.com
The addition of Soporcel also allowed the company to shift away from its reliance on the pulp market, which had come…
Pubco Corporation
Active · founded 1958
Pubco Corporation is a diversified company with an unusual mix of interests.
Norske Skogindustrier ASA
Active · founded 1962 · Norway
Norske Skogindustrier ASA (the name literally means Norwegian Paper Industry) has repositioned itself at the beginning…
Cascades Inc.
Active · founded 1964 · Canada
Cascades Inc., over its 40-year history, has grown from the operator of a single paper mill in a small Canadian town to…
Mercer International Inc.
Active · founded 1968
Mercer International Inc.
Fletcher Challenge Ltd.
Defunct · founded 1981 · New Zealand
Fletcher Challenge Ltd., New Zealand's largest group of companies, specializes in transforming resources into…
Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation
Active · founded 1983
Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation is the world's largest manufacturer of paperboard and paper-based packaging…
Gaylord Container Corporation
Active · founded 1986
Gaylord Container Corporation is a major national manufacturer and distributor of corrugated containers,…
M-real Oyj
Active · founded 1986 · Finland
M-real Oyj--known as Metsä-Serla Oy until 2001--operates as a leading supplier of paper and paperboard and is Europe's…
Riverwood International Corporation
Active · founded 1989
Riverwood International Corporation is a global paperboard, packaging, and packaging machinery firm that produces…
Arjo Wiggins Appleton p.l.c.
Active · founded 1991 · United Kingdom
Late 1990s:Company undergoes major reorganization while the Agnelli family assumes a 40 percent ownership position.
Crown Vantage Inc.
Active · founded 1995
Crown Vantage Inc., a relatively new company in the U.S.
Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc.
Active · founded 1995
Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc.
Fort James Corporation
Active · founded 1997
Fort James Corporation is one of the largest makers of tissues, napkins, and other paper products in the world.
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