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Forest Products News

Best practices, governance can create sustainable local wildlife economies

By: Schalk Burger 1st July 2022 Sustainable wildlife economies that directly benefit local communities and provide resources to support development, can be created, but require best practices and standardisation to ensure the quality, safety and marketability of products and services, as well as transparency across the value... →

As drone deployment continues to expand, miners unearth whole-of-mine uses

By: Donna Slater 6th May 2022 The use of drones and ground-based robotics is evolving to such an extent locally that various companies are using them in all aspects of their operations, which is resulting in “bun fights” about which department gets to use the devices and payloads, says Dwyka Mining Services MD Jamie van... →

Deforestation, forest degradation responsible for 10% of yearly human-made carbon dioxide – report

By: Donna Slater 4th May 2022 A scientific assessment of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+) policy finds that while REDD+ has provided a “convenient umbrella” for many forest and land use-related activities aimed at reducing deforestation and forest degradation,... →

Lifting project comes to a close

By: Halima Frost 29th April 2022 Heavy lifting and rigging specialist Lovemore Bros has successfully concluded a longstanding contract with a global pulp and paper company based in South Africa. The contract, initially signed in February 2019, commenced in May 2019 and concluded in February 2022. →

A night time photo of a large truck mounter crawler crane, lifting boiler plant elements for the refurbishment of a boiler plant at a paper mill in South Africa

HOT N HEAVY The heavier elements of the boiler refurbishment were undertaken by Lovemore Bros

TWK lifts interim profit to R247m

By: Schalk Burger 12th April 2022 Diversified agriculture and forestry company TWK Investments achieved 30.6% increase in revenue to R4.88-billion for the six months ended February 28, compared with revenue of R3.74-billion achieved in the six months ended February 28, 2021. Profit after tax increased by 175.5% to... →

Sappi launches campaign to attract skilled engineers

By: Donna Slater 11th April 2022 Woodfibre products manufacturer Sappi has launched a campaign to encourage skilled engineers and production specialists to join its growing team and its endeavours of pursuing a circular economy. Besides a number of current vacancies in various fields, Sappi is also building up a database of... →

Engineers at a Sappi plant

Agriculture continues to outperform nearly all other sectors of South Africa’s economy

By: Rebecca Campbell 1st April 2022 Over the past two years the agriculture sector has been one of the few very stars in the firmament of the South African economy. In 2020 and 2021, agriculture was one of only four sectors of the economy to register growth, the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) has pointed out. Last... →

Engineering News and Mining Weekly cover image

Vergelegen wine estate tests environment-friendly gum poles

By: Schalk Burger 14th January 2022 Wine producer Vergelegen Wine Estate, in Somerset West, is testing a new concept – environment-friendly eucalyptus poles that have not been chemically treated – in some of its vineyards The untreated poles have been installed in two blocks of vineyards, extending over 3.55 ha. These are planted... →

Vergelegen Wine Estate viticulturist Rudolf Kriel

CHEP pallet rental solution reduces Clover's carbon emissions

By: Schalk Burger 14th December 2021 Supply chain solutions company CHEP rents out and reuses 345-million wooden pallets used in the transportation of goods, which reduce costs and minimise environmental impact. The reuse model makes business sense, said CHEP South Africa customer relationship manager Celeste Enoch. →

York Timber swings to record Ebitda in FY21

By: Marleny Arnoldi 28th September 2021 JSE-listed integrated forestry company York Timber Holdings has managed to swing from a loss a share of 69c in the 2020 financial year to earnings a share of 44c in the financial year ended June 30. The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation improved by... →

Garden project boosts local nutrition

20th August 2021 Power tools and hardware wholesaler Matus South Africa’s premier garden brand Aquacraft partnered with Johannesburg-based nongovernmental organisation Siyakhana on an organic vegetable garden situated in Bezuidenhout Park, which supplies a range of fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs to local... →

gardening tools in garden soil among vegetation

GARDENING WITH A PURPOSE A portion of all Aquacraft sales will go towards the expansion of urban vegetable gardens across the country

Sappi returns to profit in Q3 but expects $16m Ebitda impact from unrest for Q4

By: Chanel de Bruyn 5th August 2021 Pulp and paper producer Sappi has posted a profit of $18-million for the quarter ended June 30 – the third quarter of its 2021 financial year – compared with a loss of $73-million recorded in the third quarter of 2020. Earnings a share, excluding special items, were $0.05, compared with a loss a... →

Patel says vision for R200bn in additional localisation has top-level corporate backing

By: Terence Creamer 18th May 2021 Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel announced that an “accord” had been reached at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) to drive progressive localisation of up to R200-billion of additional production over a five-year period. Delivering his virtual... →

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel

Sappi says recovery steady in second quarter as Ebitda climbs

By: Schalk Burger 6th May 2021 Pulp and paper producer Sappi says its operations are steadily recovering from the ongoing challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. For the quarter ended March 31, its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) continued to improve to $112-million, compared with... →

80 students to gain forestry sector skills as part of master plan rollout

By: Schalk Burger 14th April 2021 Under the Forestry Sector Masterplan, which emphasises forestry skills development, about 80 students will participate in the programme at the Fibre Processing and Manufacturing Sector Education and Training Authority (FPM Seta) and the universities of the Witwatersrand and Pretoria. They will... →

Tribunal gives go-ahead for eSwatini-based forestry merger

By: Marleny Arnoldi 26th February 2021 The Competition Tribunal has approved a merger between Shiselweni Forestry Company and Peak Timber and Peak Forest Products (PFP). The tribunal did, however, stipulate conditions related to the sawn and untreated mining timber, final product mining timber, untreated transmission poles, building... →

Sappi secures sustainable forest certification in South Africa

By: Schalk Burger 28th January 2021 Wood-fibre products company Sappi has achieved the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification- (PEFC-) endorsed Sustainable African Forest Assurance Scheme (Safas) certification in South Africa. The Safas project was a successful collaboration between Sappi and a number of South... →

New DG appointed for environment dept

By: Donna Slater 9th December 2020 During a virtual meeting of Cabinet on December 2, Nomfundo Tshabalala was appointed Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) DG. Former DG Nosipho Ngcaba had retired in June. →

Sappi Verve, Birla collaborate on forest-to-garment traceability solution

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 3rd November 2020 Sappi Dissolving Pulp has partnered with viscose manufacturer Birla Cellulose to provide a forest-to-garment traceability solution for brand owners. Through this collaborative partnership, its dissolving pulp brand, Sappi Verve, continues to strengthen its sustainability credentials within the... →

Nedbank commits to planting 100 trees a year in Western Cape

By: Marleny Arnoldi 6th October 2020 Nedbank Agriculture Western Cape has committed to planting 100 trees a year in the province in line with the objectives of the Boland Trees for Bees Pledge Fund. The fund was created by bee food diversity company The Bee Effect and Boland Cellar, which is a winemaking client of financial... →

Sappi signs up to Business for Nature’s Call to Action on environment

By: Donna Slater 17th September 2020 Woodfibre-based product producer Sappi has joined the Business for Nature’s Call to Action – which represents 560 companies from around the world, with combined revenue of $4-trillion – in urging governments to urgently adopt policies to reverse nature loss in this decade. Covid-19 is causing... →

Sappi undertakes Arbor Week activities

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 4th September 2020 In celebrating Arbor Week, Sappi Southern Africa has highlighted the company's efforts to help protect the pepper-bark tree, also known as the Warburgia salutaris. The company points out that the pepper-bark tree is highly prized in the Southern African healthcare sector and that commercial... →

Drones used to combat spread of water-sapping alien trees in semi-arid Karoo

By: Donna Slater 17th July 2020 Drones are being used by the agricultural community in the Western Cape, and more specifically the semi-arid Karoo region, where water resources are under strain, to fight invasive and water-hungry alien plant species. Southern Cape Landowners Initiative’s (SCLI’s) Cobus Meiring explains that,... →

Kammanassie farmer Morné Jonker with the drone sprayer used to fight alien vegetation

Timber suitable to help address Covid-19 housing requirement

By: Donna Slater 19th May 2020 In response to government investigating alternative housing solutions for densely populated informal settlements during the Covid-19 pandemic, Sawmilling South Africa (SSA) and the Institute for Timber Construction South Africa (ITC-SA) have approached government with a proposal that timber be... →

Sappi announces €250m senior notes offering

By: Donna Slater 14th May 2020 Pulp and paper company Sappi is offering €250-million of senior notes, due 2025. The notes will be issued by Sappi Papier Holding, a subsidiary of Sappi. →

Mulcher developed for S African conditions

1st May 2020 Local original-equipment manufacturer (OEM) Bell Equipment has developed the Bell M350 Mulcher, which caters to the forestry industry and has been specially geared for South Africa’s hot and dusty climate. This niche solution was developed in consultation with the company’s customer base. →

MULCH ADO The Bell M350 Mulcher is a niche solution developed in consultation with customers from the South African forestry industry

Covid-19 lockdowns, rand depreciation set to accelerate food inflation

By: Rebecca Campbell 24th April 2020 The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) has, in its latest brief report Food price outlook for Quarter 2 2020 and beyond, warned that food prices in South Africa are set to rise during this, second, quarter of the year. The country’s staple foods – maize, wheat and rice – would not be... →

Sappi starts production of essential medical items, donates to Solidarity Fund

By: Donna Slater 20th April 2020 Pulp and paper producer Sappi Southern Africa has made available several donations of scarce items such as hand sanitiser, face masks, nutritional porridge and paper products, to reduce pressure on the national government’s resources, as well as to support the most vulnerable during the Covid-19... →

Half of South Africans in a ‘precarious nutrition situation’

By: Rebecca Campbell 10th April 2020 Independent research body the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) has warned that poorer households in South Africa would be put at risk, in terms of both their nutrition and health, if they suffer a fall in their income or an increase in food prices, as a result of measures put in... →

South African production of key foods good to reasonable

By: Rebecca Campbell 10th April 2020 An independent research centre, the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP), has published an overview of five key foods produced in South Africa, as part of its analysis of the food and agricultural aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. The foods are chicken (meat), maize (grains),... →

ITC-SA puts dormancy on the backburner as it pursues new operating model

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 25th October 2019 The Institute for Timber Construction South Africa (ITC-SA) has reversed its resolution of dormancy following overwhelming feedback from various quarters of the structural timber industry, the full spectrum of its membership and government departments, on the critical role that the institute has... →

How to halt global warming for $300bn

By: Bloomberg 23rd October 2019 $300-billion. That’s the money needed to stop the rise in greenhouse gases and buy up to 20 years of time to fix global warming, according to United Nations climate scientists. It’s the gross domestic product of Chile, or the world’s military spending every 60 days. The sum is not to fund green... →

Strikes characterise difficult trading period for York Timbers

By: Simone Liedtke 30th September 2019 Integrated forestry company York Timbers on Monday reported that its performance in the financial year ended June 30 had been significantly impacted on by strikes, result in 239 lost production days. The company also lost plywood export contracts as a result of the strikes, with operational... →

KAP lifts full-year revenue, but profit tracks lower

By: Schalk Burger 20th August 2019 Diversified industrial company KAP Industrial Holdings has grown its revenue for the financial year ended June 30 by 12% year-on-year to R25.6-billion, but operating profit decreased by 13% to R2.5-billion. In a SENS announcement that contained extracted financial information from the audited... →

Tetra Pak’s innovation engendering sustainability, efficiency in packaging industry

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 15th August 2019 With sustainability at the core of its business, processing and packaging solutions company Tetra Pak says it is implementing a number of technological innovations and solutions that engender the lowest carbon footprint and highest efficiency. Tetra Pak Southern African MD Stefan Fageräng,... →

Stefan Fageräng

Sappi becomes international stakeholder member of the PEFC

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 1st July 2019 JSE-listed paper and pulp producer Sappi has become an International Stakeholder member of the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). This membership aligns with Sappi’s focus on sustainable forest management and responsible procurement throughout its supply and value chains. →

Mondi simplification still expected to be completed this year

By: Simone Liedtke 7th June 2019 LSE- and JSE-listed packaging and paper group Mondi on Friday confirmed that “good progress” was being made in simplifying the company’s corporate structure. This included the processes to obtain the necessary regulatory consents, Mondi said in a statement. →

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