Saiccor - The First 50 Years 5.8 MB - Sappi

The First Fifty Years
Goodenoughs for about R20 million in 1994� In 1995 Brown & Root
made a proposal for a 10 million m 3 off-river facility at Ngwadini for
R83 million� Umgeni Water then wanted to form a joint venture with
Saiccor – the size of the dam increased to 12 million m 3 and the cost
to R100 million� While the debate on the need for a dam went back
and forth, the weather pattern was changing; the seasons were
becoming wetter and the plans for a dam were put on the back burner�
By October 1988 the dust of the Sappi purchase of Saiccor had settled,
making it propitious, I thought, to revitalise the other half of the
1982 magnesium plant proposal; the addition of a bleach plant and a
pulp machine� Roland Mazery was supportive�
As Courtaulds had sold Saiccor, their commitment to the dissolving
pulp business was then questionable, which made Saiccor vulnerable
as Courtaulds was the only customer who could use ‘flock’ pulp�
Therefore it seemed prudent to make the new pulp machine large
enough to be able to close down the flock plant� I redid the 1982
design, this time for a 700 t/d pulp machine (rather than 500 t/d)
and bleach plant� The calcium pulping plant would be taken to 1 000
t/d and the magnesium plant at 500 t/d for a total of 1 500 t/d (an
increase of 300 t/d or 25 per cent)�
Design Draughtsman Errol d’Oliveira produced new layout
drawings, Ciano Ioppo established capital costs, Trevor Larkan
performed the financial analysis and Ted Beesley wrote an
environmental justification� The proposal was submitted to the first
Sappi Saiccor Board meeting on 27 June 1989�
The proposal opened with the following statement:
An exciting opportunity exists to increase Saiccor’s output and profit
while at the same time putting the company in a far sounder strategic
position to meet the future with a more acceptable and better quality
product� In addition there would be significant improvements in
operating efficiencies and productivity�
The cost of the proposal was R263 million (base date February 1989,
$1 = R2,46)�
Eugene van As queried whether there was sufficient timber
available for the expansion� As he did not receive a satisfactory
response, he arranged for Sappi Forests to conduct a survey, which
indicated sufficient timber would be available from 1992� He then
asked whether a consultant had vetted the proposal� As this had never
crossed my mind, he informed me that no proposal of this magnitude
would ever be approved without being vetted by a consultant�
Thys de Waard, Sappi’s Engineering Director, arranged for Swedish
consultants Celpap to come to Saiccor to go through the proposal�
Thys also sent his Chief Engineer, Colin Kerr, to Saiccor to direct
Celpap� Colin was very experienced, having worked in all Sappi mills,
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Errol d’Oliveira
Colin Kerr