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Boise Completes Expansion of Linerboard Mill and Reports Increased Costs
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Boise, Idaho, USA, 07 April 2008 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Boise Inc. announced that its 50,000-ton linerboard expansion at its mill in DeRidder, Louisiana, was completed in March 2008, adding capacity and reducing fuel use at the DeRidder mill. Meanwhile, substantial cost increases are being experienced, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, at the Boise mills in Wallula and St. Helens.

Linerboard expansion at DeRidder

"We are pleased with the execution of this important project, which we expect will further enhance our competitive position in packaging markets," said Alexander Toeldte, president and chief executive officer. "The expansion at DeRidder underscores our continued commitment to growing our packaging business and further improving our cost structure at what is already a low-cost facility."

In addition to increasing production capacity by 50,000 tons annually, the project is expected to result in reduced fuel consumption per unit of production at the mill. The company executed the project on budget and has estimated that the downtime, in combination with increased maintenance costs associated with the cold outage, negatively affected income from operations and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) in the first quarter of 2008 by approximately USD 21 million.

Substantial cost increases

Fiber costs have increased sharply in the Pacific Northwest, substantially affecting costs at the Boise mills in Wallula and St. Helens. These substantial cost increases are driven largely by the reduction of residual chip supply as a result of solid wood manufacturer closures in response to the extended housing downturn, as indicated in the company's post-merger call on 29 February 2008. These significant cost increases have risen further since then. This increase in fiber costs is now materially affecting the company, which is particularly sensitive to residual fiber availability and costs because of its dependence on residual fiber at its mills in Wallula and St. Helens.

The company also continues to be negatively affected by significant cost increases in natural gas and chemicals. These costs continue to rise. Under normal operations, the company's mills are expected to directly consume approximately 14 million mmBTUs of natural gas in 2008. Higher energy costs have also affected the costs of chemicals, transportation, and purchased electricity.

NYSE stock listing

As previously announced on 08 February 2008, Boise Inc., formerly known as Aldabra 2 Acquisition Corp., was authorized to list its common stock and common stock purchase warrants on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Its common stock and warrants have been trading under the ticker symbols BZ and BZ.WS, respectively, since 25 February 2008. Additional information upon which the NYSE relied to list Boise, which is included in the company's listing application, is available to the public upon request to Boise.

About Boise Inc.

Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, Boise Inc. (NYSE: BZ) manufactures a wide range of specialty and premium paper products, including papers for pressure-sensitive and flexible packaging applications. Boise manufactures containerboard and corrugated products, imaging papers for the office and home, printing and converting papers, newsprint, and market pulp. The company's team of more than 4600 employees is committed to delivering excellent value while managing the comapny's businesses to sustain environmental resources for future generations. For more information, visit http://www.BoiseInc.com.

Source: Boise Inc.
 

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