KwaZulu-Natal Business 2016-17 edition

OVERVIEW
Forestry and paper
KwaZulu-Natal makes huge amounts of dissolving wood pulp and paper.
SECTOR HIGHLIGHTS
• Sappi has transferred production
of Typek paper to
its Stanger mill.
• Durban hosted the World
Forestry Conference in
2015.
• Mpact recently invested
an additional R200-
million in production
facilities.
• South Africa is set to have
many more small-growers
in the near future.
For the first time an African country hosted the World Forestry
Conference, when thousands of delegates descended on
Durban in September 2015.
Topics such as climate change, food security, plantations,
water supply and conservation (and how these issues relate to forests)
were given a full airing at the conference.
In her address to the conference, South Africa's Minister of Water
and Sanitation, Nomvula Mokonyane, stressed the threat posed by
invasive alien plant species to the country’s biological diversity, water
security and the productive use of land. She pointed out that alien
plants consume 30% of the country's water.
Deputy State President Cyril Ramaphosa told delegates that South
Africa's forestry sector will, look different in a few years time. Although
there are already 24 000 'small growers', this number is set to rise significantly
as land restitution claims are settled: Ramaphosa said that '50
to 60% of our plantation land' is under land claims, and he pointed out
that these new farmers will need support. This will present an opportunity
for entrepreneurs or companies in the agricultural services sector.
KwaZulu-Natal is a national
leader in the forestry and paper
sector. The forest-product export
sector in South Africa is made
up of paper (45.2%), solid wood
(23.3%) and pulp (28.9%).
Mpact, the paper manufacturing
and plastics packager that
was spun out of Mondi, invested
a further R200-million in its waste
paper and recycling operation
at Empangeni. The company
collects more than 450 000 tons
every year.
Mondi and Sappi are both
large international companies
and both have long-standing
ties with KwaZulu-Natal. Sappi
Southern Africa currently contributes
a quarter of the group’s
sales. The pulp and paper sector
makes a direct contribution to
South Africa’s balance of payments
of R4.5-billion, largely due
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