IP Closes Georgetown, Hits SC Markets Hard

Officials with the International Paper Co. mill at Georgetown, SC wasted no time after announcing on Halloween the imminent closure of the facility by the end of the year. On November 1, the mill took delivery of its last load of logs, blowing a huge hole in the local logging economy as the mill took up to 400 loads a day.

The more than 6,000 loads a month that the mill paid for helped support hundreds of loggers and their employees who worked in its procurement area. Local economic officials say the impact in the logging industry alone could be more than 1,000 jobs in addition to the 674 high-paying jobs lost at the mill. The Georgetown closure follows the closure of the WestRock mill at North Charleston in August 2023.

The Georgetown facility had been a major direct and indirect employer for the regional timber industry since 1937. One local official estimated the plant also worked with and provided opportunities for more than 200 local and regional contractors and suppliers of all kinds. The Georgetown mill produced about 300,000 tons of fluff pulp annually as well as an amount of uncoated freesheet paper that was filling a sales contract that expires December 31.

The company is keeping a box plant open in Georgetown that will operate with raw material shipped from Louisiana. Due to general labor concerns in many industries, local economic officials say they have been contacted by multiple companies that would like to possibly hire former IP employees.

The Georgetown closure is the latest of several announced by IP including a packaging facility in Kansas City, a container plant in Statesville, NC, a container plant in Cleveland, Tenn., a corrugated sheet plant in San Antonio, plus plans to lay off 400 employees at IP’s Memphis, Tenn. headquarters.