Sappi Limited Announces $165 million Paper Machine Rebuild at its Somerset Mill in Skowhegan, Maine

BOSTON, Feb. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sappi Limited, a leading global producer and supplier of diversified woodfibre products, today announced the approval of a range of projects in Europe and the United States including the approval of a US$165 million capital project to expand Sappi North America's manufacturing capabilities and flexibility to include a variety of consumer packaging products. This investment on Paper Machine No. 1 at its Somerset Mill in Skowhegan, Maine establishes a strong platform for growth in paper-based packaging while maintaining Sappi's leadership position in the graphic paper market, increasing annual production capacity at this mill to almost one million tons per annum.

"This move complements our long term 2020Vision strategy, which seeks opportunities to substantially increase our group EBITDA," said Steve Binnie, CEO of Sappi Limited. "By investing in our business to pursue growing areas of demand, we can remain profitable and competitive in the global marketplace."

"Somerset's existing world class infrastructure together with its talented workforce and access to high quality fiber makes the mill an excellent and obvious choice for this investment," said Mark Gardner, President and CEO of Sappi North America.  "Increasing our flexibility and expanding the paper mill's capability and capacity will ensure that we continue to make superior products at Somerset for years to come."

The planned project at the Somerset Mill in Maine is slated to come online early in 2018.

About Sappi Limited 
Sappi Limited (JSE: SAP), is a global company focused on dissolving wood pulp, paper pulp and paper-based solutions to our direct and indirect customer base in over 160 countries around the world. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with over 13,000 employees and manufacturing operations on three continents in seven countries and group sales of US$6 billion. Learn more about Sappi at www.sappi.com.

About Sappi North America 
Sappi North America, headquartered in Boston, is a market leader in converting wood fiber into superior products that customers demand worldwide. The success of our four diversified businesses – high quality Coated Printing Papers, Specialised Cellulose, Release Papers and Specialty Packaging – is driven by strong customer relationships, best-in-class people and advantaged assets, products and services. Our high quality Coated Printing Papers, including McCoy, Opus, Somerset and Flo, are the key platform for premium magazines, catalogs, books and high-end print advertising. We are a leading manufacturer of Specialised Cellulose used in a wide range of products, including textile fibers and household goods, and one of the world's leading suppliers of Release Papers with our Ultracast, PolyEX, Classics and Neoterix lines for the automotive, fashion and engineered films industries. Our Specialty Packaging products, such as LusterPrint and LusterCote, represent an important asset in the food packaging and labeling industries. Customers rely on Sappi for high technical, operational and market expertise; products and services delivered with consistently high quality and reliability; and, state-of-the-art and cost-competitive assets and innovative spirit.

Sappi North America is a subsidiary of Sappi Limited (JSE), a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with more than 13,000 employees and manufacturing operations on three continents in seven countries and customers in over 100 countries around the world. Learn more about Sappi at: www.sappi.com.

SOURCE Sappi Limited

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