A Choctaw County plant is helping to meet the nation’s demand for toilet paper in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

As nervous shoppers strip grocery and variety store shelves of tissue, Georgia-Pacific’s Naheola mill is working to churn it out. The Naheola mill currently employs more than 900 people. It produces retail bath tissue and paper towels, and also makes bleached paperboard used to make Georgia-Pacific’s Dixie plates, cups and bowls.

Everything from panic buying to hysteria to uncertainty about the spread of the virus are being given as reasons, but shoppers across America are buying large quantities of toilet paper. Eric Abercrombie, a spokesman for Georgia-Pacific, said the company is seeing two times the normal demand on its retail side.

However, the company says its existing inventory should be enough to meet demand. How? Georgia-Pacific also has a business-to-business side, which supplies offices, theme parks, hotels, restaurants and resorts. As Americans curtail travel and social activities to stem the spread of the virus, the company expects that demand to shrink. While the market picks up in one sector, it is slowing in the other.

“We’re a market-based company, so we’ll continue to review and adjust to meet any demand,” Abercrombie said.

At the same time, Georgia-Pacific also manufactures hand sanitizer products for businesses and the medical industry. Abercrombie said demand for hand sanitizer is currently ten times the normal amount.

Another reason the company is able to meet the demand is that the Naheola mill last year saw a $120 million investment that specifically targeted its toilet paper capability. Georgia-Pacific has pumped more than $500 million into the mill over the past six years, and about $1.6 billion into its Alabama operations.