From our file of things you may not know, we dig into items associated with the Shandong Sun Paper pulp mill complex developing in Clark County:
♦ Shandong Sun Paper Industry JSC Ltd., described as the largest papermaking concern in China, generated total revenue of $1.6 billion in 2015.
♦ Dissolving pulp, essentially high-grade cellulose, is listed as a top product envisioned for its Arkansas plant. Sheets of the material are rolled or baled for use by factories to make rayon, tire cords, photographic film, medical surgery products and cellophane.
♦ The project will incorporate a power-producing feature into its design. In addition to generating enough electricity to supply its own needs, the plant will contribute excess megawatts to the power grid.
One possible configuration had the plant cranking out 150 megawatts, of which 100 megawatts would be surplus electricity.
♦ During the week of Aug. 22, an Arkansas delegation is traveling to China to formalize environmental engineering contracts for the project.
♦ The Arkadelphia tree basket produces an estimated annual surplus of 8 million tons. The pulp wood plant will tap into a largely dormant small-timber market and create hundreds of jobs supplying trees.
♦ Landing the Shandong Sun Paper project is touted as the biggest industrial deal in Clark County since scoring the Reynolds Metals aluminum reduction plant in 1951. Boosters raised $300,000 locally to buy land for the project that employed 500.
