International Paper has broken ground on a new US$225 million corrugated packaging plant in Brandon, Mississippi, a greenfield build that will replace one of the company’s older box plants in the US Mid-South. That is according to a statement from International Paper, which marked the start of the project at a ceremony in Rankin County last week.
The 468,000-square-foot facility is being built on an 80-acre site in the East Metro Center industrial park, less than 10 miles from the Richland box plant it is designed to replace. Employees at the existing Richland operation are expected to transition to the new site once construction finishes.
Keith Townsend, group vice president and general manager of IP North America Packaging Solutions East, said the Brandon plant would give the company modern manufacturing capacity built around safety, reliability and operational performance. This groundbreaking represents an important step forward for International Paper, Townsend said.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, who announced the investment exactly two months before the ceremony, tied it to a wider run of industrial commitments the state has secured. When great companies want to move fast and build big, they come to Mississippi, Reeves said.
The plant is expected to secure 150 manufacturing jobs in Rankin County, where economic-development officials have spent years preparing the East Metro Center for large industrial tenants. This $225 million investment is a monumental win for our economy, said Noel Daniels, chairman of the Rankin First Economic Development Authority.
The new facility will produce corrugated packaging for a range of industries, and International Paper has presented the build as part of an effort to modernise its box-plant system and improve product quality across the Mid-South. The site replaces older infrastructure rather than adding new capacity for the company.
Rail access will run through the CPKC network, with International Paper and the railway pointing to integrated supply chain links as part of the case for the Brandon location. The company expects the plant to carry the latest safety, automation and operational-efficiency features when it comes online.
Construction begins in June, and International Paper expects the Brandon plant to start up in the fourth quarter of 2027, by which point the US$225 million site will take over the box-making work now run from Richland.
