en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 13, UFP Industries announced plans to invest approximately $5.31 million to build a UFP Packaging wood packaging products plant in Cherokee County, South Carolina, to expand its structural packaging business capacity. The project is expected to create 136 new jobs over the next five years, with operations slated to begin in the second quarter of 2027.
The new plant will be located at 50 Peachview Boulevard in Gaffney. The project will utilize and renovate an existing industrial facility, with investments covering real estate, plant renovation, machinery and equipment, and production support. The South Carolina Coordinating Council for Economic Development has approved job development tax credits related to the project.
The plant will produce wood packaging products for industrial customers, primarily serving manufacturing, equipment transportation, and logistics companies in the southeastern United States. UFP Packaging's structural packaging business includes custom wooden crates, pallets, bases, and packaging made of wood, steel, foam, and composite materials, primarily used for securing and protecting large equipment during transportation, warehousing, and handling.
UFP Packaging currently operates more than 100 production and service locations globally, including two existing plants in Orangeburg County, South Carolina. The new project will expand its manufacturing footprint in the southeastern United States and reduce distances to local industrial customers and major transportation corridors. The project is still subject to routine approvals and the execution of related agreements, and no details have been disclosed regarding the construction contractor, equipment suppliers, specific production capacity, or production line configuration.
From the perspective of the production process of a wood structural packaging plant, subsequent equipment procurement may cover wood cutoff saws, CNC panel cutting equipment, automatic pallet and wooden crate assembly lines, nailing equipment, conveying and turnover systems, dust collection systems, air compressors, forklifts, and finished product handling equipment. If the plant produces export packaging, it may also be equipped with wood heat treatment kilns and temperature recording and traceability systems that meet international phytosanitary requirements. The above equipment scope represents a supply chain assessment based on product type; the final procurement content will await announcements from UFP Industries or the project contractor.
Chinese manufacturers of woodworking machinery, automatic nailing equipment, industrial dust collection, air compressors, conveying systems, and packaging inspection equipment should closely monitor the procurement window that will open once the project enters the plant renovation and equipment installation phase. Given the project's investment scale of only $5.31 million, equipment procurement is expected to focus primarily on individual machines, modular production cells, and adaptation to existing facilities, with the likelihood of large-scale integrated line orders being relatively limited. Equipment entering the U.S. market must also meet UL electrical certification, OSHA safety requirements, and NFPA fire and explosion prevention codes, and must have local U.S. installation, spare parts, and after-sales service capabilities.
