Andritz Equipment Chosen For Viscose Pulp Mill Expansion at Sappi Saiccor

Graz, Austria, 08 August 2008 -- International Technology Group Andritz, Austria received an order from Sappi Saiccor (Pty.) Ltd., the world's largest manufacturer of viscose pulp (dissolving pulp) for the supply of the bleaching, evaporation, and pulp drying equipment for its Saiccor mill in Umkomaas, near Durban, South Africa.

With this investment, the capacity of the mill will be increased from 600,000 to approximately 800,000 tons/year of bleached viscose pulp, which is used for a wide range of products (textiles, food, chemicals, and plastics).

Andritz will provide the basic and detail engineering, supply of equipment, mechanical erection, supervision, start-up, and training. The start up of the plant is scheduled for February 2008. The order value for Andritz is approximately EUR 100 million.

The new bleach plant supplied by Andritz represents state-of-the-art process technology providing best washing efficiency while minimizing chemical consumption. The pulp drying line (working width: 4 m) is based on the high-capacity Andritz Twin Wire former concept.

In addition, Andritz Küsters, one of the world's leading suppliers of roll and calender technologies for the paper industry, will supply a calender. The Andritz six-effect, 370 tons/hour evaporation plant is an advanced sulfite liquor evaporator, with special emphasis on the production of clean reusable condensates. It is equipped with a stripper and a methanol recovery unit for the cleaning of condensates and other specific features required by the sulfite process.