Research · Sector note
Wood and paper: industrial revenue bonds
Which federal route fits wood and paper projects, and what SEC fund filings show about the sector’s bonds. Built only from the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations and public N-PORT holdings.
Which route fits ¶
- Qualified small issue bonds for a “manufacturing facility” — a facility used in the manufacturing or production of tangible personal property, including processing that changes the condition of the property — up to $10 million per issue under the capital expenditure election, with capital spending held within $20 million over six years (IRC §144(a)(1), (a)(4), (a)(12)(C)). Sawmills, millwork, pallet and packaging plants are typical small-issue borrowers.
- Recycled-fibre paper and packaging mills appear in the fund filings under solid waste disposal and exempt facility titles. Exempt facility bonds for solid waste disposal facilities have no $10 million limit (IRC §142(a)(6)). Treasury’s 2021 final regulations (Treas. Reg. §1.142(a)(6)-1) define solid waste and treat qualified processes that turn it into a product — recycling among them — as solid waste disposal, subject to their tests; bond counsel applies them to each plant.
- For small-issue bonds, no owner or principal user may be allocated more than $40 million of this issue plus its outstanding tax-exempt facility-related bonds (IRC §144(a)(10)). Small-issue and privately owned solid waste bonds alike need state volume cap (IRC §146).
Bond counsel decides whether a particular project qualifies. Use the decision tree for the questions they will ask, or check a project.
What fund filings show ¶
The paper and packaging bonds funds hold are mostly for large mills; small wood-products manufacturers’ bonds bought directly by banks do not appear in fund filings. Between 2026 Q2 and 2026 Q3 the value of these bonds held by funds moved from $128.9M to $165.8M.
| Bond title as filed | Fund series | Held | Change on quarter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Finance Authority, Wisconsin, Revenue Bonds, Vonore Fiber Products Sustainable Packaging Project, Taxable Green Series 2019 | 2 | $38.7M | $156K |
| NORTH PACIFIC PAPER CO LLC 9.0% 12-01-36 | 2 | $27.3M | $1.9M |
| GRAPHIC PACKAGING INTERNATIONAL LLC (MPT) 5.0% 12-01-64 | 1 | $23.5M | $14.1M |
| South Carolina Jobs-Economic Development Authority, International Paper Co. Project, Series 2023A | 4 | $16.5M | $14.5M |
| Mission Economic Development Corporation, Texas, Solid Waste Disposal Revenue Bonds, Graphic Packaging International, LLC Project, Green Ser… | 6 | $8.4M | −$4K |
| Mission Economic Development Corporation, Texas, Solid Waste Disposal Revenue Bonds, Graphic Packaging International, LLC Project, Green Ser… | 3 | $8.3M | new |
| Lowndes County, Mississippi, Solid Waste Disposal and Pollution Control Revenue Bonds, International Paper Company Project, Refunding Series… | 1 | $7.7M | $24K |
| Valparaiso, Indiana, Exempt Facilities Revenue Bonds, Pratt Paper LLC Project, Refunding Series 2024 | 3 | $6.8M | $74K |
| MISSOURI ST DEV FIN BRD SOLID WASTE DISP REV PROCTER and GAMBLE PAPER PRODS@ | 5 | $5.9M | −$22K |
| Build New York City Resource Corporation, New York, Solid Waste Disposal Revenue Bonds, Pratt Paper NY, Inc. Project, Series 2014 | 2 | $4.4M | −$7K |
| Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority, Solid Waste Disposal Revenue Bonds, Procter & Gamble Paper Project, Series 2001 | 2 | $3.7M | −$2.3M |
| South Carolina Jobs-Economic Dev Auth, Revenue Bonds, International Paper Company Project, Refunding Environmental Improvement Series 2023A | 2 | $3.5M | $46K |
| Selma Industrial Development Board, Alabama, Gulf Opportunity Zone Revenue Bonds, International Paper Company Project, Refunding Series 2019… | 2 | $3.3M | $120K |
| INTERNATIONAL PAPER CO (MPT) 3.45% 11-01-33 | 2 | $2.5M | −$8K |
| Columbus County Industrial Facilities and Pollution Control Financing Authority, International Paper Co. Recover Project, Series 2020A | 1 | $2.1M | −$73K |
Methodology ¶
Positions from Form N-PORT filings of registered funds that Securitief classifies as industrial-type municipal bonds are matched to this sector when the bond title contains a sector keyword (for example: containerboard, lumber, packaging, paper, paperboard, pulp, sawmill, timber); titles of schools, hospitals, housing and similar projects are excluded. Keyword matching can miss bonds whose titles do not name the activity and can include a bond that names a keyword for another reason, so treat the table as a reading of the filings, not a census of the sector. Bank-held and privately placed bonds do not appear in fund filings. CUSIPs are not shown.
Important information. Securitief Research is published by Securitief, operated by Applied America. Securitief is not a placement agent or underwriter and does not seek or receive compensation from any financing, including financings of issuers and borrowers discussed here. It is not acting as a municipal advisor and owes no fiduciary duty to any issuer or obligated person unless separately engaged in writing.
This material is general information. It is not tax, legal, investment or municipal advice, a recommendation, or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Offers are made only by offering documents and only where permitted by state securities laws. State allocation procedures change; confirm current rules with the allocating agency and bond counsel.
Sources: SEC Form N-PORT and FDIC call reports (holdings), IRS and Census (volume cap and population), state agency publications. Issuer classification and aggregation are Securitief’s own and may contain matching errors; figures may be revised. No licensed index levels (MMD, BVAL, ICE) or EMMA trade data are used. Past holdings do not indicate future demand, pricing or the availability of financing. Interest on private activity bonds may be subject to the alternative minimum tax; tax treatment depends on the facts and the opinion of bond counsel.
Cite this page: Securitief Research, “Sector note: wood and paper,” October 2026, https://securitief.com/sector-wood-paper.