KwaZulu-Natal Business 2016-17 edition

OVERVIEW
to Sappi’s dissolving wood pulp
operations.
In 2015 Sappi moved the production
of its Typek paper from a
mill in Gauteng (which it has sold)
to its Stanger facility, where office
and tissue paper are the key
products.
Timber
Timber plantations are found in
five parts of the province: northern
KwaZulu-Natal, Midlands, southern
KwaZulu-Natal, Zululand and
Maputaland. Close to half a million
hectares – 38.5% of the land in the
province – is allocated to timber
plantations. Of this area, 70% is devoted
to hardwoods and the balance
to pine, the only softwood
grown in large quantities in South
Africa.
The percentage of privately
owned forest land is 93.4%.
Merensky has plantations in the
Dargle forest, while Sappi and
Mondi have holdings across the
province. Mondi has 220 000
plantation hectares on 330 000
hectares of land, while Sappi
manages and owns about
230 000 hectares.
The South African forestry industry
is valued at R40-billion per
year. The National Department of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
reports that South Africa has a
shortage of sawn timber and that
this problem is set to get worse.
Labour writer and researcher
Terry Bell reports that 82% of the
forestry workforce on the 17 largest
operations (36 025 employees)
are employed on contract
through labour brokers (Business
Times). With a further 5% on fixed-term contracts, Bell believes this has
the potential to increase tension between employer and employee.
Processing
KwaZulu-Natal is a major centre for the beneficiation of timber products,
with more than half the country’s timber coming from the province.
The Sappi mill at KwaDukuza produces 110 000 tons of paper and
60 000 tons of pulp annually, and is the only producer of coated graphic
paper in the country. Its Tugela Mill, at Mandeni, is the only one in the
country to manufacture high-performance containerboard packaging.
The giant Sappi Saiccor mill 50km south of Durban is the world's
biggest manufacturer of dissolving wood pulp. The mill's capacity is
800 000 tons. Dissolving wood pulp is sold as a raw material to converters
around the world who produce from it a range of products such as
textiles, cellophane wrap and pharmaceuticals.
The country’s largest hardboard plant is at Estcourt and South Africa’s
only woodchip export plants are located at Richards Bay.
Mondi’s Richards Bay facilities produce pulp, linerboard and wood
chips and its paper mill at Merebank, south of Durban, has a capacity
of 600 tons per day. It produces 400 000 tons of uncoated, wood-free
paper per year.
Nampak produces crêpe paper at Verulam and Rafalo produces
tissue paper. SA Paper Mills is another paper producer.
The Merensky Group operates one softwood sawmill in addition
to a panel-processing plant in Kokstad that is geared to manufacture
according to customers’ needs in any sector. Export is done through
the Port of Durban.
NCT Forestry Co-op Limited is a key timber-marketing entity with
more than 2 000 members and three wood-chipping mills. R&B Timber
Group has three pole treatment plants and is headquartered in Harding.
Flaxton Timbers operates out of Ixopo and Natal Forest Products is in
Richmond.
ONLINE RESOURCES
Forestry South Africa: www.forestry.co.za
KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Environmental
Affairs: www.kzndae.gov.za
National Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries:
www.daff.gov.za
Paper Manufacturers of South Africa: www.thepaperstory.co.za
South African Institute of Forestry: www.saif.org.za
Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry of South
Africa: www.tappsa.co.za
65 KWAZULU-NATAL BUSINESS 2016/17