Mpumalanga Business 2023-24

Forestry and paper
An agroforestry project plans to convert unused land.
Dry bamboo biomass is one of the products that private
company Terragrn wants to produce in large quantities as
part of its ambitious plans to restore and use large tracts of
land in Mpumalanga (pictured). The company’s stated goal
is to turn up to 200 000ha of unused land into a $2-billion sustainable
land-management agroforestry project over the next 10 years.
A 68ha pilot project is to be rolled on the land of the Manala
Mgibe in association with the Community Property Association
(CPA). Trying to create a “nature-based solution” to the worldwide
problem of carbon emissions and the transition from fossil fuels,
the project is targeting the agriculture and forestry sectors as a
means of promoting employment and involving rural communities.
Mpumalanga has the ideal climate and topography for
forests. Sabie and Graskop represent the hub of the industry, but
commercial forests are also found to the east and south along the
Swaziland border. About 11% of the land mass is forested, with
4% of that being natural forest. The province is the national leader
in total hectares under forest (514 000ha) and in export earnings.
Forestry accounts for about 8% of Mpumalanga’s gross
domestic product. The sector comprises logging, saw-milling,
wood product and pulp and paper manufacture. Pulp and paper
are the main exports, along with sawn lumber, wood chips and
wattle extract. Most sawn timber in South Africa is used in the
construction sector.
One of the biggest operations in the forestry and paper
sector in Mpumalanga is Sappi’s Ngodwana Mill. Although it has
a big international footprint, Sappi’s biggest sales volumes are
achieved in South Africa, making up nearly 50% of group sales. In
ONLINE RESOURCES
Forestry South Africa: www.forestry.co.za
Sawmilling South Africa: www.timber.co.za
Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry of
South Africa: www.tappi.org
Credit: Terragrn
SECTOR INSIGHT
OVERVIEW
Energy generation is being
investigated.
the six months to March 2023,
South Africa also accounted
for 39.5% of operating profit.
The JSE-listed company has
a valuation of R22.9-billion.
Sappi’s other large facility
in the province, the Lomati
Sawmill in Barberton, produces
kiln-dried Southern African
pine lumber from sawlogs
supplied by Sappi Forests.
Forestry companies
are looking into energy
generation, including Sappi
and AFCOL. Mpumalanga has
40% of South Africa’s forestry
resources, which presents an
opportunity to exploit the
sector’s byproducts in the
biomass-to-energy field.
The Industrial Development
Corporation (IDC) has a stake
in Hans Merensky Holdings
and York Timbers, which has
planted out 40ha in high-value
crops as the first phase of a
diversification strategy.
PG Bison, a subsidiary
of KAP Industrial Holdings,
is investing R560-million in
a new front-end dryer for
its particleboard plant in
Mkhondo (Piet Retief ). The
company is also building a new
medium-density fibreboard
(MDF) plant at its Mpumalanga
plant, to complement its
existing factory at Boksburg in
Gauteng. ■
39 MPUMALANGA BUSINESS 2023/24