Sappi North America’s CEO and President Highlights Sappi’s Milestones in Employee Safety, Financial Performance and Sustainability

I am proud that Sappi North America contributed significantly to enhancing our company’s commitment to people, prosperity and the planet. We reached important milestones in employee safety, financial performance and sustainability across our business and our environment.

The hard work by all of our employees at SNA not only exceeded our expectations for safety and prosperity, but also resulted in one of our company’s most successful years. We posted record highs in EBITDA, margin and cash flow, and we kept ahead of inflationary pressures with our input costs. This success allowed us to reduce debt, continue investing in our facilities, and provide resources for the research and development of innovative new processes and products.

We also announced a major investment in both capital and sustainability at the Somerset Mill, converting Paper Machine No. 2 to increase the mill’s capacity to produce solid bleached sulfate (SBS) board products. Demand for packaging and speciality papers in North America is particularly robust, especially because SBS is a more environmentally sustainable alternative to plastic packaging. This move also complements our long-term Thrive25 strategy, which focuses on growing our portfolio in packaging and speciality papers, pulp, and biomaterials.

In 2022, we further demonstrated our dedication to sustainability by committing to science-based targets through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), and we secured an EcoVadis Platinum sustainability rating for the third year in a row, keeping Sappi at the top 1% of pulp and paper companies assessed.

I am also very proud of our commitment to our people. SNA’s record for safety in 2022 was unmatched. Somerset has surpassed 750 days without a lost-time injury and is expected to exceed 3.5 million work hours in the second quarter. Additionally, Matane has been LTI-free for over 5.5 years, Allentown for over 6.5 years and our Technical Center for over 16.5 years. We achieved a record low for LTI frequency rate, with zero lost-time injuries at three of SNA’s five manufacturing sites. Our team’s commitment to improving safety has been exceptional, and the results show it.

We also enhanced our focus on employee engagement across all sites and departments, creating a newsletter distributed to all employees; posting frequently on social media to recognize them and their achievements; and producing videos that showcase our employees, their expertise and their dedication to their occupations.

I am very proud of the entire North American team for delivering these record-breaking results. We are sure to face some headwinds in the coming year, but we have proven that we are capable of navigating and overcoming many business challenges. I look forward to continuing our success in 2023.