Eastern Cape Business 2017 edition
The 2017 edition of Eastern Cape Business is the 10th issue of this highly successful publication that, since its launch in 2006, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to the Eastern Cape Province. The Eastern Cape enjoys an abundance of natural and human resources, as well as established industrial infrastructure that drives the economy of the province. This includes three ports and two industrial development zones which are home to a wide range of manufacturers and exporters. The 2017 edition includes an in-depth look at the province’s two Industrial Development Zones, a focus on skills development and investment climate information from the Nelson Mandela Business Chamber and the Border-Kei Chamber of Business.
The 2017 edition of Eastern Cape Business is the 10th issue of this highly successful publication that, since its launch in 2006, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to the Eastern Cape Province. The Eastern Cape enjoys an abundance of natural and human resources, as well as established industrial infrastructure that drives the economy of the province. This includes three ports and two industrial development zones which are home to a wide range of manufacturers and exporters.
The 2017 edition includes an in-depth look at the province’s two Industrial Development Zones, a focus on skills development and investment climate information from the Nelson Mandela Business Chamber and the Border-Kei Chamber of Business.
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OVERVIEW<br />
Forestry<br />
The private sector is working with community land owners to boost timber production.<br />
The <strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Cape</strong> has large swathes of land that have been identified<br />
as suitable for forestry, to add to the already sizable industry in<br />
the province. According to the <strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Cape</strong> Rural Development<br />
Agency (ECRDA), government plantations have more than<br />
15 000ha of unplanted areas which would be easy to develop: they do<br />
not require high initiation costs (environmental impact assessments)<br />
because no licence is required.<br />
The <strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Cape</strong>’s forestry sector comprises 130 000ha of plantations,<br />
46 sawmills, two chipboard operations, 10 pole treatment plants,<br />
a veneer plant and six charcoal plants, which collectively process about<br />
770 500 cubic metres of timber annually.<br />
The region is well-served by wood-processing facilities such as<br />
the R1.3-billion board plant outside Ugie that is owned by JSE-listed<br />
Steinhoff’s subsidiary company, PG Bison. Another of the province’s<br />
major forestry stakeholders is Amathola Forestry, along with their sister<br />
company Rance Timber’s Kubusi and Sandile Sawmill near Stutterheim,<br />
producing 45 000 cubic metres of sawn board annually.<br />
About 75% of the province’s plantations are controlled by the private<br />
sector. Forestry South Africa has set up a <strong>Business</strong> Development<br />
Unit to empower small-scale timber growers.<br />
The ECRDA aims to transform unproductive communal land assets<br />
through commercial forestry development. The ECRDA’s Sinawo<br />
project in Mbizana has started selling timber to Sappi and is fast<br />
approaching commercialisation of all its operations. In 2015/16 the<br />
project earned about R7-million from the sale of timber and the total<br />
ONLINE RESOURCES<br />
<strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Cape</strong> Department of Rural Development and Agrarian<br />
Reform: www.drdar.gov.za<br />
<strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Cape</strong> Rural Development Agency: www.ecrda.co.za<br />
Forestry SA: www.forestry.co.za<br />
Institute for Commercial Forestry Research: www.icfr.ukzn.ac.za<br />
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries:<br />
www.daff.gov.za<br />
South African Institute for Forestry: www.saif.org.za<br />
SECTOR INSIGHT<br />
40 new jobs can be created<br />
for every 25ha planted.<br />
employee count rose to 208. Sappi<br />
and PG Bison are supporting these<br />
community initiatives.<br />
Paper and packaging group<br />
Sappi is working with the ECRDA<br />
and with several communities<br />
in the <strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Cape</strong> to establish<br />
forestation programmes. At<br />
Mkambathi a total of 668ha has<br />
been planted and Sappi has<br />
agreed to buy 65% of the timber<br />
produced and to give technical<br />
support where it can.<br />
As much as 100 000 hectares of<br />
land is suitable for forestry in the<br />
<strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Cape</strong>, much of it on communal<br />
land. Government is keen<br />
to find private investors who will<br />
partner with local communities.<br />
If all of the projects come<br />
to fruition, there is potential for<br />
an additional 1.8-million cubic<br />
metres of new timber to be processed<br />
and for 40 new jobs to be<br />
created for every 25ha planted.<br />
Downstream opportunities<br />
created by new plantations include<br />
a planned treated-pole<br />
plant in Butterworth and a paper<br />
and pulp mill in Mthatha, which<br />
has also been selected as a future<br />
furniture-sector incubator.<br />
EASTERN CAPE BUSINESS <strong>2017</strong><br />
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