The second quarter of 2014 registered an improvement in the working performance of Sappi Europe, in spite of the difficult global market conditions. The Group announced that as of 1st September the prices of its woodfree coated paper (CWF) sheets and coils have increased between 6% and 8% depending on country-specific situations. According to the company the increase was inevitable due to the current cost structure and the low profitability levels, which severely hit paper production. The company furthermore clarified that prices will increase by 6% for UK customers and that the increase was applied to all Sappi brands, including Magno, Quatro, GalerieArt, Vantage, Royal, Furioso and Galerie, as well as to white label products.
Sappi has furthermore recently finalized the sale of its controlled company Usutu Forest Products to Montigny Investments, which is a company based in Switzerland active in the sale of timber. The transaction, which is worth one billion South African rand, led to a jump in the price of Sappi shares, which increased by 2.71% to 44.30 rand.