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Corporate History

Apr. 1907 Hokuetsu Paper Mills, Ltd. is founded at the inaugural meeting held in Nagaoka City (Registration of incorporation on May 9 of the same year)
Oct. 1908 Cardboard production starts at Nagaoka Mill
Jul. 1914 Hokuetsu Itagami Co., Ltd. is founded in Niigata City
Feb. 1917 Hokuetsu Itagami Co., Ltd. is merged with Hokuetsu Paper Mills, Ltd. and becomes Niigata Mill
Dec. 1920 Ichikawa Mill is built in Ichikawa City; production of wood-free paper starts
Dec. 1935 Production of vulcanized fiber begins at Nagaoka Mill
May 1937 Hokuetsu Pulp Co., Ltd. is founded in Niigata City
Mar. 1944 Hokuetsu Pulp Co., Ltd. is merged with Hokuetsu Paper Mills, Ltd. and becomes Pulp Mill
Oct. 1950 Kishu Pulp & Paper Co., Ltd. is founded in Minami-Muro-gun, Mie Prefecture
Aug. 1951 Kishu Pulp & Paper Co., Ltd. constructs Kishu Mill; starts production of unbleached kraft pulp
Nov. 1954 Kishu Pulp & Paper Co., Ltd. starts production of printing paper at Kishu Mill
Sep. 1955 Kishu Pulp & Paper Co., Ltd. constructs Osaka Mill in Suita city; starts production of printing paper
Jul. 1956 Wood-free paper machine (No. 3) is introduced at Nagaoka Mill
Mar. 1957 Completion of bleached kraft pulp production facilities at Pulp Mill
Feb. 1958 Three locations of Niigata Mill, Pulp Mill and Niigata Branch are integrated to become Niigata Mill
May 1960 Kishu Pulp & Paper Co., Ltd. changes its tradling name to Kishu Paper Co., Ltd.
Oct. 1961 Coated white lined board machine (No. 4) is introduced at Ichikawa Mill
May 1964 Coated white lined board machine (No. 5) is introduced at Ichikawa Mill
Jun. 1964 Niigata Mill is damaged by the Niigata Earthquake, but reconstruction starts immediately (including the latest paper machines)
Mar. 1966 Reconstruction of Niigata Mill is completed (transfer of No. 2 machine and introduction of No. 3 machine also completed)
Aug. 1968 Fourdrinier triple-layer ivory board paper machine (No. 4) is introduced at Niigata Mill to start production of Japan's first reversible paperboard
Apr. 1970 Large wood-free paper machine (No. 5) is introduced at Niigata Mill
Sep. 1971 Construction of production facility for fiberboard "Pasco" is completed at Nagaoka Mill
Oct. 1971 The Katsuta Mill is newly established and as the first phase of construction facilities for liquid paper containers and paper processing are completed
Apr. 1975 Cardboard machine (No. 1) is introduced at Katsuta Mill
Jul. 1986 Ultra-lightweight coated wood-free paper and wood-containing paper machine (No. 6) introduced at Niigata Mill
Sep. 1990 Ultra-lightweight coated wood-free paper and wood-containing paper machine (No. 7) introduced at Niigata Mill
Jul. 1998 On-machine coater (No. 8) is introduced at Niigata Mill to start production of ECF pulp
Apr. 2000 ECF process adopted company-wide for all pulp products
Ichikawa Mill and Katsuta Mill are integrated into one organization to become Kanto Mill
Mar. 2002 Specialty paper machine (No. 6) is introduced at Nagaoka Mill
Oct. 2004 Nagaoka Mill is damaged by the Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake, but quickly resumes operation
Jul. 2006 A business alliance is concluded with Mitsubishi Corporation
Dec. 2006 A strategic alliance is concluded with Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd.
A technical alliance is concluded with Daio Paper Corporation
Apr. 2007 100th anniversary of the Company's founding
Sep. 2008 On-machine coater (No. 9) is introduced at Niigata Mill
Oct. 2009 Kishu Paper Co., Ltd. becomes, through an exchange of equity, a 100% subsidiary of Hokuetsu Pulp Co., Ltd., which changes its trading name to Hokuetsu Kishu Paper Co., Ltd.
Apr. 2011 Merger with Kishu Paper Co., Ltd. is completed and operations integrated.
Hokuetsu Kishu Sales Co., Ltd. is founded.
Oct. 2011 The sales businesses of agents Marudai Shigyo Co., Ltd. and Tamura Paper In., are merged with Hokuetsu Kishu Sales Co., Ltd.
Jiangmen Xinghui Paper Mill Co., Ltd. is established in Guangdong Province, China
Feb. 2012 Toyo Fibre Co., Ltd. is converted into a wholly-owned subsidiary through a share exchange
Aug. 2012 Through acquisition of stock, Daio Paper Corporation is converted into an affiliate company, by applying the equity method
Sep. 2012 Financiere Bernard Dumas S.A.S. is made into a wholly-owned subsidiary through acquisition of stock
Nov. 2012 Agreement on comprehensive technical cooperation is concluded with Daio Paper Corporation
Feb. 2014 Natural gas power generation operations are started by MC Hokuetsu Energy Service Co., Ltd., a joint venture company with Mitsubishi Corporation
Apr. 2014 Fiber business of the Nagaoka Mill is concentrated at Hokuetsu Toyo Fibre Co., Ltd.
Jan. 2015 White paperboard manufacturing facilities are newly installed at Jiangmen Xinghui Paper Mill Co., Ltd. and operations and sales are launched.
Apr. 2015 Hokuetsu Package Co., Ltd., merges with BF Co., Ltd., with the name of the new company being changed to BF & Package Co., Ltd.
Oct. 2015 Alpac Forest Products Inc. and Alpac Pulp Sales Inc. are made into wholly-owned subsidiaries through acquisition of stock.
Sep. 2016 Alpac Forest Products Inc. and Alpac Pulp Sales Inc. merge into Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc.
Jul. 2018 The trading name is changed to Hokuetsu Corporation
BF & Package Co., Ltd. changes its trading name to Hokuetsu Package Co., Ltd.

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