Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) announced today the introduction of a modified kraft pulp fiber that is used to generate lyocell fibers for textiles and non-woven products. This marks the first time the high yield kraft pulping process has been used to produce pulp for use in manufacturing lyocell.

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Peach™ is a softwood kraft cellulose pulp with uniformly stable low intrinsic viscosity. It is an excellent cellulose feed stock for manufacturing lyocell fiber. The Weyerhaeuser proprietary kraft process for lyocell imparts fiber characteristics that can not be achieved with the dissolving pulps that are currently used for lyocell. Peach™ is the only kraft pulp fiber on the market designed to be used for manufacturing lyocell.

Lyocell is a man-made cellulosic fiber made from wood pulp, using an advanced "closed loop" direct solvent spinning process. It has minimal environmental impact and makes economical use of energy and water, which gives lyocell a significant advantage over Viscose. "World population growth and higher incomes are driving demand for comfortable, breathable fibers beyond the existing supply," said Marian Herz, Product Line Market Director for Weyerhaeuser's Pulp Business.

"A modified kraft pulp has a higher yield, due to the higher level of hemi-cellulose," said Herz. "The higher yield can lead to lower fiber supply costs for lyocell manufacturers, when compared to the cost of today's dissolving pulps that are used for lyocell manufacturing."

Lyocell is used to make products such as fashion apparel and industrial and consumer wipes.

Weyerhaeuser's modified kraft fiber for lyocell provides optimized pulp viscosity, purity and stability. It also provides the opportunity for manufacturers to have faster processing under optimized conditions. These advantages lead to improved fiber absorbency in textile and non-woven applications and allow faster dye uptake in textiles.

Peach™ is manufactured by Weyerhaeuser at mills that are ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified. The wood for the pulp is from an SFI certified forest. The product is backed by Weyerhaeuser's Pulp Business technical support team.

Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world's largest integrated forest products companies, was incorporated in 1900. In 2003, sales were $19.9 billion. It has offices or operations in 18 countries, with customers worldwide. Weyerhaeuser is principally engaged in the growing and harvesting of timber; the manufacture, distribution and sale of forest products; and real estate construction, development and related activities. Additional information about Weyerhaeuser's businesses, products and practices is available at http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/ .

    For more information contact:
    Frank Mendizabal, 253-924-3357
    Marian Herz, 253-924-3593

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SOURCE: Weyerhaeuser Company

CONTACT: Frank Mendizabal, +1-253-924-3357, or Marian Herz,
+1-253-924-3593, both of Weyerhaeuser Company

Web site: http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/