Clearwater Paper expands premium paper products

Clearwater Paper Corp. will build a new tissue machine for producing premium and ultra-premium toilet paper, paper towels and napkins at its facility in Shelby, North Carolina.

The Spokane-based company is one of the nation’s largest producers of private label tissue. Premium and ultra premium are the fastest growing market segments in the tissue industry, said Linda K. Massman, Clearwater Paper’s president and chief executive.

The company will spend about $340 million on the project, including the equipment, buildings and the purchase and expansion of a warehouse in Shelby.

Clearwater reported net earnings of $9.3 million, or 56 cents per share, on sales of $425.5 million during the fourth quarter. The earnings, reported Wednesday, compare to $11.6 million, or 65 cents per share for the fourth quarter of 2015.

For all of 2016, Clearwater reported net earnings of $49.5 million, or $2.91 cents per share, on sales of $1.7 billion.