PAPERMAKER SAPPI ACHIEVES BIG RESULTS

Sappi has bounced back from the Covid doldrums, the global papermaker’s earnings for its third quarter reaching two and half times the figure it achieved a year ago, and beating its Q2 figure by 10 per cent.

Earnings for its third quarter were U$371m, compared to US$145m in the same quarter a year earlier when the world was in the grip of Covid. It achieved US$337m in Q2 this year. Sales for the quarter were up by 40 per cent to US$1.82bn, from US$1.39bn.

Sales for the nine months of the year so far are also up by 40 per cent on the prior year, reaching US$5.37bn from US$3.84bn. The company says that while there are steep rise in prices, global demand for paper remains strong, enabling equally strong pricing momentum for paper, meaning Sappi has been able to maintain and grow margins even with input price increases.

Sales in graphic papers increased by four per cent, with capacity full. The company said its is expecting strong demand to continue, and at favourable rates, although it says there are early indicators of the graphic paper market softening in some sales regions.