Europe

Sappi Limited announced today that it has concluded an agreement with AURELIUS Investment Lux One S.à.r.l. (“AURELIUS”) regarding the divesture of its Maastricht Mill in the Netherlands, its Stockstadt Mill in Germany and its Kirkniemi Mill in Finland (the “Transaction”).

With the increased global push for environmentally friendly and sustainable paper-based packaging solutions, Sappi has made great strides in developing breakthrough proprietary barrier technology to offer new opportunities to satisfy this need.

Sappi Limited, a leading global producer of dissolving pulp, speciality and packaging papers, graphic paper and biomaterials, today announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire the 270,000 tons per year Matane high yield hardwood pulp mill from Rayonier Advanced Materials for US$175 million.

In an effort to address ongoing cost inflation Sappi Europe will increase prices for its Fine Paper grades by 7-10% from January 2024.

Commenting on the group’s results, Sappi Chief Executive Officer Steve Binnie said: “Following the records achieved in FY2022, I am pleased that we have been able to deliver a satisfactory set of results under particularly difficult circumstances with an EBITDA excluding special items of US$731 million for the year ended September 2023.”

The persistent global economic downturn is proving to be much tougher than anticipated with depressed markets, geopolitical instability and weak economic growth combining to put significant pressure on Sappi, particularly in Europe.

Sappi Europe’s Kirkniemi Mill in Lohja, Finland, has successfully made the switch from using fossil fuels to renewable energy to fuel the production of the Galerie paper range.

In an effort to address prevalent supply chain uncertainties and to maintain the commercial viability of its Graphic Paper business, Sappi Europe will keep prices for its Woodfree Coated Paper grades stable at today’s level for the remainder of 2023.

Championing the theme of ‘Cycling for a better climate’, a 75-strong team of keen riders from Ehingen Mill joined a total of 419 cyclists and 22 other teams who were cycling for the city of Ehingen/Donau, Germany, to take part in CITY CYCLING’s three-week challenge to swap their cars for two wheels.