Taylor County Foley mill announces closure; more than 500 jobs impacted

PERRY, Fla. (WCTV) - Georgia-Pacific has announced the permanent closure of their Perry Foley Cellulose mill.

The paper company said in a press release that “Various factors influenced this difficult decision,” and that they do not believe in the long term the mill can serve their customers in a competitive manner.

Georgia-Pacific said that approximately 525 jobs will be directly impacted by the decision to close the mill. The company also made mention that the decision to close this mill was made before Hurricane Idalia and “is not a reflection of the hard work and effort of the Foley team.”

An official date for the closure has not been announced, but Georgia-Pacific says production will continue “for a limited time as the site works to fulfill as many customer commitments as possible.”

A flyer from gpcellulose describes the plant as “one of four world-class wood pulp mills in the Georgia-Pacific Cellulose business.” The flyer also describes that the mill produces “fluff pulp” that can be found in products ranging from “clothing, tires, shampoo, diapers, filters and towels.”

In recent years, WCTV reported that the very same mill laid off 150 employees after scaling back production in June 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a developing story. Keep checking back for more information.

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