Name of the Project
Project Vulindlela.

Location
Umkomaas, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Client
Sappi.

Project Description
Sappi proposes to expand capacity and undertake various continuous improvement initiatives and upgrade projects at the Saiccor mill – collectively known as Project Vulindlela.

Vulindlela will increase the mill’s production from 780 000 t/y to 890 000 t/y of dissolving wood pulp. The projects will include a new evaporator, recovery boiler and screening and washing plant, as well as upgrades to bleach plant and pulp machines, improved recovery circuits and additional magnesium digesters.

Potential Job Creation
At its peak the project will have about 5 800 people employed in construction activities. The expansion will also result in a 9% increase in permanent jobs at the mill, which currently employs about 1 300 people.

Value
The capacity expansion project will cost an estimated R2.7-billion and the various continuous improvement initiatives and upgrade projects an estimated R5-billion.

Duration
The project is scheduled for completion by mid-2020.

Latest Developments
Sappi is considering further expansion of its giant Saiccor dissolving wood pulp (DWP) mill, in KwaZulu-Natal, having only recently started the R7.7-billion investment to expand output at the facility by 110 000 t/y.

An investment decision is likely in 2022 or 2023.

Sappi’s decision to adopt a phased approach to the expansion of Saiccor is also informed by a need to secure sufficient hardwood feedstock.

For the past number of years, the group has been transitioning its forests from softwood to eucalyptus, which, in the favourable KwaZulu-Natal environment, takes about eight years to mature.

The current, as well as any future, Saiccor expansion will also reinforce Sappi’s ongoing strategic transition from “paper to wood fibre”.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Sappi group corporate affairs head André Oberholzer, tel +27 11 407 8044 or email Andre.Oberholzer@sappi.com.