UPDATE 02/16/2022

Bast Fibre Technologies Inc. (BFT), a manufacturer of premium natural fibres, has completed its purchase of Georgia-Pacific’s Lumberton Cellulose LLC. The Lumberton, North Carolina site is a highly automated state-of-the-art manufacturing facility with approximately 25 employees that will now operate under the new name of BFT Lumberton.

Original story: 01/11/2021

GP Cellulose has reached an agreement with Canada-based Bast Fibre Technologies (BFT) to purchase our Lumberton, North Carolina, cosmetic cotton operations.

The Lumberton facility currently serves the cosmetic cotton, filtration, hygiene and nonwovens segments and will be a good fit with BFT, a privately held clean tech natural fiber engineering company that produces natural fibers with the technical and performance requirements for a wide variety of nonwoven applications. The Lumberton team will continue serving existing customers and expects to build additional bast fiber capacity.

“Consistent with our MBM® philosophy, we continually evaluate our businesses to ensure we are maximizing long-term value for our customers and the company," said GP Cellulose President Munir Abdallah. “BFT’s plans to grow and invest in the operation as their flagship U.S. manufacturing site made it clear that the sale would provide the greatest opportunity for growth for the Lumberton business and its employees.”

The transaction is expected to close in early February and at that time employees will join BFT.