Hood Container to invest $118.9 million in major upgrade of St. Francisville paper mill

Hood Container Corporation, a family-owned company active in the packaging and paper sector, has announced a $118.9 million investment to modernize its long-established paper mill in St. Francisville, Louisiana. The project aims to significantly enhance production capacity and product quality to meet the evolving needs of the market. The initiative will safeguard 295 existing jobs at the site, with average salaries reported to be more than 30% above the parish median.

“Projects like Hood Container’s are vital for reinforcing both our manufacturing strength and the timber industry, two sectors deeply rooted in Louisiana,” stated LED Secretary Susan B. Bourgeois. “The timber industry is a cornerstone of our agribusiness growth strategy outlined in the Comprehensive Statewide Strategic Plan. The continued modernization of this mill secures its historical role in St. Francisville and guarantees well-paying jobs for the local community.”

The upgrade will focus on the mill’s main paper machine, increasing production capacity by approximately 80,000 tons per year. To support this output, the company plans to purchase an additional 204,000 tons of wood chips and 22,000 tons of recovered fiber annually. The investment also covers major enhancements to the mill’s recovery boiler, a key component in powering the facility.

“We are excited to expand our containerboard operations with this new investment in St. Francisville,” said Wayne Morgan, Senior Vice President at Hood Container. “Louisiana has been an excellent partner since we acquired the mill in 2015, and we look forward to strengthening that partnership in the future.”

Originally built in the late 1950s by Crown Zellerbach and later managed by Tembec, the mill has been under Hood Container’s ownership since 2015. Over the past decade, the company has already invested more than $160 million in the site. The first stage of the modernization is scheduled for the third quarter of 2026, with final installations planned during the annual mill outage in May 2027.