Sappi history

The decision to go ahead with construction of the Tugela Mill was made in 1950.

Completed in 1954, the Tugela Mill was devoted to kraft packaging production, while the original Enstra location turned its specialty to the manufacture of fine papers.

By the end of that decade, South African Pulp and Paper Industries sought further growth through acquisition, buying up a controlling share of Union Corrugated Cases in 1959, then taking over Cellulose Products, which made tissue wadding products, the following year.

South African Pulp and Paper Industries pursued organic growth as well; among the company’s capital investments was the installation of a second machine at the Tugela Mill in 1963.

The company began construction of a new mill, completed in 1966, and called Ngodwana.

The company established a new dedicated timber division in 1968.

South African Pulp and Paper Industries changed its name to Sappi Limited in 1973.

With the growth of its three core operation areas, the company moved to reorganize its operations in 1977, placing its activities into three new operating subsidiaries: Sappi Fine Papers, Sappi Kraft, and Sappi Forests.

In 1979, Sappi acquired local market rival Stanger Pulp and Paper.

To encourage this development the company founded Sappi International, a subsidiary dedicated to international marketing of the company’s products, in 1986.

The first of these came in 1992, when Sappi acquired Hannover Papier, the leading manufacturer of coated wood-free paper in Germany.

In 1995, the company began a R 800 million expansion of its Saiccor subsidiary.

In 1997, Sappi agreed to acquire KNP Leykam, the coated wood-free paper division of Burhmann, paying nearly $800 million.

That company sold off Sappi Novobord in 2000, exiting the particleboard and mid-density fiberboard market.

2011: Sappi sells entire 119-acre site to Melching Inc., a Nunica demolition company.