SKOWHEGAN — The multiyear, $500 million effort to convert and expand a paper machine at the Somerset Mill in Skowhegan is complete, Sappi North America announced Tuesday.

Sappi, a Boston-headquartered subsidiary of a large international company based in South Africa, said it is now delivering customers commercial product manufactured on Paper Machine No. 2 at the Skowhegan mill on Waterville Road.

Production is expected to ramp up to volume in 2026, the company said.

The effort to overhaul the machine, which was announced in 2022 and dubbed Project Elevate, doubled its production capacity and made the Skowhegan facility a top production site of high-performance solid bleached sulfate paperboard, according to the company. The material  is used for packaging across several industries.

“Sappi’s investment is more than just an upgrade to a paper machine, it’s a long-term commitment to our people and our community in Maine,” President and CEO Mike Haws in a statement. “Our team at Somerset pulled off the largest rebuild in our company’s history, all while continuing daily operations. Their dedication and skill are what made this possible.”

Sappi says it has invested $700 million at the Somerset Mill in Skowhegan since 2018, first with work on its No. 1 paper machine.

“These improvements support Sappi’s transition from the declining graphic paper markets to growing sectors like packaging for food, beverages, and consumer goods,” the company said in a news release.

The project was not expected to add a significant number of jobs at the Skowhegan mill, which employs about 780 people.

Sappi North America employs about 2,100 people at its four mills, technology center, service center and sheeting facilities in the United States and Quebec, according to its website. In addition to the Somerset Mill, Sappi operates mills in Westbrook; Cloquet, Minnesota; and Matane, Quebec. It claims it is one of Maine’s largest employers, with nearly 1,200 workers at the Skowhegan and Westbrook mills and a Portland corporate office.

At the peak of work at the Somerset Mill, about 1,000 workers employed by contractors were on site, Sappi said.

“This project brought an incredible level of activity and investment to the region,” Blue Keim, managing director of operations at the Somerset Mill, said in a statement.

Keim said the No. 2 paper machine is more than three times the length of a Boeing 747 aircraft and takes more than four times as many instruments to operate it.

“That’s the level of advanced engineering we’ve brought to life right here in Skowhegan, setting the facility up for future generations of papermakers to thrive,” Keim continued in the statement.

The project was not finished without incident. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued penalties to a contractor working at the site for a worker’s 40-foot fall. But in a separate inspection conducted at the same time, an OSHA official praised Sappi’s health and safety program.

Sappi’s expansion comes as Maine’s forest products industry has seen change — both positive and negative — in recent years, as companies respond to changing demands from consumers.

In 2023, TimberHP brought back manufacturing to the Madison Paper Industries mill in Madison that closed in 2016. But the startup, which makes wood fiber insulation, entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March. Three months later, TimberHP completed its restructuring process, which the company said will allow it to finish building its last production line.

Last year, ND Paper in Rumford announced layoffs that affected about 100 workers. The company’s CEO, however, later told the Sun Journal he was optimistic about the mill’s future.

And in Jay, work is underway to repurpose the site of the former Androscoggin Mill, which closed in 2023, for a new mill making oriented strand board. Another business has plans to use part of the site as a waste processing facility.

A long-shuttered mill in Bingham was also being eyed by a Chicago businessman looking to manufacture plywood.

The industry has also recently been criticized by environmental advocates. A recent report from the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project found the Sappi Somerset Mill and ND Paper to be among the top 100 highest-polluting industrial facilities in the country.