Sustainable Renewable Resources
Sappi is a global diversified woodfibre company focused on providing dissolving wood pulp, specialities and packaging papers, printing and writing papers, as well as biomaterials and biochemicals to our direct and indirect customer base across more than 150 countries.
Our dissolving wood pulp products are used worldwide by converters to create viscose fibre for fashionable clothing and textiles, pharmaceutical products, as well as a wide range of consumer and household products. Quality specialities and packaging papers are used in the manufacture of such products as soup sachets, luxury carry bags, cosmetic and confectionery packaging, boxes for agricultural products for export, tissue wadding for household tissue products and casting and release papers used by suppliers to the fashion, textiles, automobile and household industries. Our market-leading range of coated and uncoated graphic paper products are used by printers in the production of books, brochures, magazines, catalogues, direct mail, newspapers and many other print applications.
The wood and pulp needed for our products is either produced within Sappi or brought from accredited suppliers. Across the group, Sappi is close to ‘pulp neutral’, meaning that we sell almost as much pulp as we buy.
Our industry is on the cusp of a period of unprecedented change and we’re at the forefront of technological innovation. By investing in an ambitious programme of research and development, we’ll continue to unlock the true potential of sustainable renewable resources, with woodfibre at our core. This commitment means we can diversify our product offering and meet future demand in areas such as bio-energy and pharmaceuticals in this current carbon-constrained age.
Sappi Southern Africa
Sappi Southern Africa operates four mills and has a combined production capacity of 690,000 tons of paper, 670,000 tons of paper pulp and over a million tons of dissolving wood pulp per annum.
We are also the world’s largest manufacturer of dissolving wood pulp (DWP), from our two mills in Southern Africa (Saiccor and Ngodwana Mills) which is used worldwide by converters to create viscose fibre for fashionable clothing and textiles, acetate tow, pharmaceutical products as well as a wide range of consumer and household products. Almost all the production of our mills in South Africa is exported.
Unlike many synthetic raw materials, the product supplied by Sappi Dissolving Wood Pulp is produced from a natural and renewable resource. The timber consumption of Saiccor Mill and Ngodwana Mills is comprised primarily of eucalyptus hardwoods. These fast-growing trees are grown in relative proximity to the mills, which contribute to the business’ position as a competitive producer of dissolving wood pulp.
We are currently investing a total of R7,7 billion capital investments at Saiccor Mill. The investments include a R2, 7 billion capacity expansion project and a planned R5 billion over five years in various continuous improvement initiatives and upgrade projects.
The planned investment would increase production of dissolving wood pulp from 800,000 tons a year of elemental chlorine free dissolving wood pulp per annum, most of which is for the export market, to 890,000 tons a year.
Sustainability in Southern Africa
Sustainability is the driving force in every decision we make as a company.
As we focus on creating value for our shareholders, we take cognisance of our impact on this planet and stakeholders to ensure that all benefit in the long term. Of importance in South Africa, is the role that Sappi plays in community development.
Our large footprint in rural areas due to the location of our forests and mills focuses our attention, as a responsible corporate citizen, on the needs of these communities; resulting in actions which not only strengthen our business but also have a positive impact on the lives of the people in our communities.
