Dissolving wood pulp, paper and biomaterials manufacturer Sappi has appointed Graeme Wild CEO of Sappi Southern Africa, with effect from December 1.

Wild, who is currently Sappi Southern Africa sales and marketing VP, will succeed Alex Thiel, who has been CEO of Sappi Southern Africa for 14 years and will now assume new strategic project duties until his retirement at the end of December 2025.

Sappi CEO Steve Binnie thanked Thiel for his service during the 34 years he had worked for the company.

"He is an outstanding leader both for the company and for the industry. Returning from Sappi Europe in 2010, he led the restructuring and repositioning of the South African business to improve profitability, align with our group strategic objectives and deliver on our sustainability commitments.

"The region streamlined and focused its operations and product portfolio, enhanced customer engagement, improved efficiencies as well as safety performance, and implemented a number of expansion and performance improvement projects, including the recent dissolving pulp expansion and environmental improvements project at Saiccor Mill," he said in a September 19 media statement.

He added that he was pleased that Sappi was able to ensure a smooth transition in leadership at Sappi Southern Africa.

“The appointment is testimony to the success of Sappi’s strong succession planning processes and the importance we place on stability and continuity during any such leadership transition,” he said.

"Graeme is an experienced leader who has served the group at a global level, has deep understanding of investors as well as the increased priority of sustainability concerns. He has been integral to the development and execution of Sappi’s strategy and the investments and decisions we have made in South Africa to ensure we maintain our domestic leadership in paper and packaging, along with our dissolving pulp and forestry asset investments.

"I am confident that under Graeme’s leadership the business will take the next steps to ensure competitiveness and the adjustments required by our sustainability commitments, while delivering clear value to the communities where we operate," he added.

Wild joined Sappi Southern Africa in 1995 as a forester rising to strategy manager for Sappi Forests. In 2012, he was appointed Sappi's group head of investor relations and sustainability with additional responsibility for a global procurement optimisation work stream.

He returned to Sappi Southern Africa in his current role in January 2021 with responsibility for the marketing and sales of all Sappi products in South Africa. He has overseen growth in the containerboard segment to supply the significant increase in demand from citrus exporters and the development of new packaging grades for the food (on-shelf) and fast food (takeaway) markets.

He holds a BSc Forestry degree from Stellenbosch University, an MBA (cum laude) from the Gordon Institute of Business Science, as well as a Sappi Management Development Programme from the University of South Africa's Graduate School of Business Leadership. He has also completed the Executive Education programme at Harvard Business School, in the US.