DeRidder Mill (Packaging Corporation of America)
Large load · 4200 US-190, Deridder, LA
Packaging Corporation of America's DeRidder mill in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana makes containerboard. PCA scheduled a maintenance outage at the mill for the fourth quarter of 2025. In April 2026 PCA said it is scoping a third gas turbine project for the mill that would make DeRidder's electricity independent of the grid in the same manner as its Valdosta mill, to be submitted at the company's May 2026 board meeting.
Overview
On its first-quarter 2026 earnings call, PCA said its board had approved gas turbine projects for its Jackson, Alabama and Riverville, Virginia mills, and that it was scoping a third project for DeRidder, Louisiana. The company said the Louisiana project would be submitted at the annual board meeting in May. PCA described the three projects as opportunities that would give Jackson, Riverville and DeRidder electricity independent off the grid in the same manner that Valdosta is. PCA said that would leave four of its 10 mills electricity independent, which it described as a huge benefit.
Profile
- Fourth-quarter 2025 outage
- In July 2025 PCA said it would build containerboard inventory ahead of a fourth-quarter maintenance outage at the DeRidder mill, and that it expected higher corrugated shipments to drive increased containerboard production. The company said export containerboard sales would be lower because of the global trade environment. In its third-quarter 2025 results, reported in October 2025, PCA said containerboard production in its legacy system would be slightly lower than in the third quarter because of the DeRidder outage, and that maintenance outage expenses would be higher by approximately 0.29 dollars per share. Containerboard production at legacy mills totaled 1,255,000 tons in that quarter.
- Ownership and the 2017 explosion
- The DeRidder mill is owned by Packaging Corporation of America, according to trade coverage of an explosion there on February 8, 2017. The blast occurred at about 11:10 a.m. during repair work on piping in the pulp mill area, and three men died and six workers were injured. The same coverage describes PCA as a maker of corrugated containers, retail packaging and displays, and interior packaging for the snacks, confectionery and beverage industry. PCA's 2026 gas turbine plan covers this same mill, as described in the section above.
Facility
- Activity
- Containerboard
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Site type
- Facility
- Operating status
- Operating
Related records
Timeline
- Feb 8, 2017
- Explosion during repair work on piping in the pulp mill area killed three men and injured six
Three dead in Packaging Corporation of America paper mill explosion
- Jul 23, 2025
- PCA said it would build containerboard inventory ahead of a fourth-quarter maintenance outage at the DeRidder mill
Packaging Corporation of America Reports Second Quarter 2025 Results
- Apr 23, 2026
- PCA said it is scoping a third gas turbine project for the DeRidder mill
Packaging Corp (PKG) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript