6 0 Y e a r s a n d g r o w i n g
N C T F o r e s t r y C o - o p e r a t i v e L i m i t e d
6 0 Y e a r s a n d g r o w i n g
It is very fitting that during these times of uncertainty and economic turbulence we recognise and reflect on NCT’s 60th birthday. Time and again, during its life, NCT has stood out as a beacon of stability and hope when the economic prospects of the timber farmer looked bleak. This was the situation when NCT was formed and is again very much the situation today. Since NCT’s formation during those difficult times, it has steadfastly adhered to the original objectives. It is the adherence to these original objectives which has played a major role in NCT’s successful development. We, the present members of NCT, must forever be grateful to the founders of NCT for their foresight and wisdom. Similarly, we must be thankful for those in charge of NCT over the many years, for the fact that they have led NCT on a clear cut, well-defined course. Dr Carl Seele, Chairman Foreword N C T F o r e s t r y C o - o p e r a t i v e L i m i t e d
6 0 Y e a r s a n d g r o w i n g In November 1948, a group of 28 timber farmers in the Umvoti and New Hanover distincts met under the auspices of the Union Co-operative Limited (then known as the Union Co-operative Bark & Milling Company Ltd). They discussed the problems being experienced at the time to negotiate the sale of their timber and concluded that as individuals they were weak but as a united group, marketing their timber collectively, they stood a better chance. As the regulations of the Union Co-operative prohibited trading in this type of market, the meeting unanimously agreed to form a separate cooperative. The new organisation was registered with the Registrar of Cooperatives in February 1949 as the Natal Co-operative Timber Company Ltd. Later in 1993, to cater for expanded services offered and operating beyond KZN boundaries, the name was altered to NCT Forestry Cooperative Limited. Brief history
Milestones The fifties • Initial membership was a modest 38 Members • The co-operative signed its first timber supply contract for wattle logs to Masonite The sixties • Wattle bark quotas introduced leading to the export of several shipments N C T F o r e s t r y C o - o p e r a t i v e L i m i t e d
of wattle timber to Italy, highlighting the need to utilise wattle more advantageously (1964) • It enrolled more Members on the strength of new timber process facilities starting up The seventies • A decade of growth in supply (recording 100 000 tonnes in 1970 and peaking at 800 000 tonnes in 1980) 6 0 Y e a r s a n d g r o w i n g
• Black growers join NCT. As NCT’s market grows, it extends its resources base to farmers in tribal authorities • The formation of CTC (Central Timber Co-operative) which opened the market for the export of woodchips to Japan (1970) • NCT moves from Dalton to Pietermaritzburg and opens its new head office a year later (1976) • The first general manager appointed (1978) • An over-supply in the late seventies leads to the export of logs to Europe (370 000 tonnes 1978 - 1980) • Runner-up Exporter of the Year by the SA Foreign Trade Organisation (1979) The eighties • Northern KZN farmers join NCT. Timber growers who were members of the Natal Landbou Koöperasie became dissatisfied with the way in which timber matters were handled by their co-operative and looked at alternatives to market their timber. They joined NCT as a group in 1982 • First holding depots established in the midlands • NCT takes over management of the Pietermaritzburg & Harding Town Board’s forests (October 1988) • First woodchip export by CTC to Taiwan (October 1989) • NCT initiates the first afforestation programme for small growers with the issue of free seedlings to secure a further resource into CTC The nineties • The opening of district offices: Greytown & Vryheid (1991), Richards Bay (1992), Nelspruit (1994), George (1997) • Name changed to NCT Forestry Co-operative Limited from Natal Co-operative Timber Company Limited (March 1993) • NCT Tree Farming formed (1996) N C T F o r e s t r y C o - o p e r a t i v e L i m i t e d
• NCT joins the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (March 1997) • ShinCel is formed (1999) • NCT becomes the first organisation in southern Africa to obtain the FSC group certification accreditation (1999) The millenium • Membership exceeds 2000 • CTC opens its second wood chip line which has the capacity to chip a further one million tonnes (2001) • NCT becomes affiliated to the Oribi Working Group/Endangered Wildlife Trust (2002) • Log exports to Europe continue and peak in 2002 (600 000 tonnes 1998 - 2004) • A record 2,4 million tonnes of timber sold (2003) • US Dollar/SA Rand exchange rate hits US$1:R12 (2003) • NCT forms Pulp United and enters into a joint venture with Swedish pulp manufacturer, Södra Cell AB, to investigate the feasibility of the construction of a BCTMP (bleached, chemi, thermal, mechanical pulp) mill in Richards Bay (2003) • NCT Durban Wood Chips commissioned (2004) • Piet Retief district office opens (2006) • ShinCel becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of NCT (2007) • NCT Durban Wood Chips becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of NCT (2008) • NCT wins FNB KZN Top Business Portfolio Award – Agriculture category (2008) • NCT purchases CTC and sells a portion of the Richards Bay wood chipping business to TWK. The new brand name for the former CTC is BayFibre (2009) • BayFibre becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of NCT (2009)
NCT & its wholly-owned subsidiaries BAYFIBRE CENTRAL TIMBER CO-OPERATIVE LIMITED (formerly CTC) CTC (Central Timber Co-operative Limited) was formed out of necessity by a group of farsighted timber growers. In the late 1960’s a huge discrepancy in timber pricing developed between processors and private timber growers; wattle could only be sold at firewood tariffs! It was at this time that NCT together with the Transvaal Wattle Growers (TWK) and Natalse Landbou Koöperasie (NLK) 10 N C T F o r e s t r y C o - o p e r a t i v e L i m i t e d
agreed to form a central co-operative to cater for private growers’ needs. However NLK closed its timber division in 1981 and sold its share in CTC to NCT. CTC was registered as a co-operative in 1973 and a 10-year contract was signed with Sanyo-Kokusaku Pulp Company (now Nippon Paper Company Limited) and Sumitomo Shoji Kaisha Limited (now Sumitomo Corporation) to export wattle wood chips to Japan. The new co-operative erected a chipping plant at Cato Ridge and a ship loading facility in the port of Durban. Its first vessel sailed from Durban in 1975. In March 1982, CTC opened its Richards Bay mill and went on to achieve peak volumes in 2004 by exporting 67 shipments (or 2.4 million tonnes). In June 1996, CTC, Sumitomo and Nippon Paper Industries entered into a joint venture, Forest Resources (Pty) Limited (Forestco). In 2005 Forestco became a CTC-owned subsidiary company with Nippon SC Tree Farms maintaining a preference share interest. Two timber estates were purchased, Longridge Estate (Paulpietersburg) and Lenjane Estate (Vryheid). Forestco played a vital role in strengthening the longstanding relationship between CTC, Sumitomo Corporation and Nippon Paper Industries. In 2008, sole members of CTC, NCT Forestry and TWK resolved to end their 11 6 0 Y e a r s a n d g r o w i n g
co-operation in the mill whereby the whole of CTC was purchased by NCT, who simultaneously sold a portion of the Richards Bay wood chip business to TWK. The assets sold to TWK consisted of one chipping line and two wood chip piles. NCT retained a chipping line and chip pile and a number of farms and leases on which there are 11 000ha of planted forestry land and office property in Pietermaritzburg. NCT’s portion of the former CTC was renamed BayFibre and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the co-operative. SHINCEL (PTY) LTD NCT took up a shareholding in another wood chip export company, ShinCel, in 1998 and acquired 100% of the equity in 2006. ShinCel was established following the unbundling of the timber interests of HL&H in 1996. Mondi acquired HL&H Mining Timber and SilvaCel (the hardwood divisions of HL&H) and Sappi acquired the softwood interests. 12 N C T F o r e s t r y C o - o p e r a t i v e L i m i t e d
Three former SilvaCel executives decided to start ShinCel with market support from Oji Paper Company and Marubeni Corporation. (The name ShinCel is derived from Shin meaning new in Japanese and Cel relating to the cellulose content of the wood chips). NCT took up the offer of an initial 45% stake in the business with a limited supply contract for eucalyptus logs. Construction started in February 1999 and ShinCel dispatched its first shipment to Oji Paper Company in November of that year. In 10 years, ShinCel has exported 5.1 million tonnes (or 151 shipments) and continues to make a substantial contribution to NCT’s bottom line. NCT DURBAN WOOD CHIPS (PTY) LTD In 2003, NCT increased its export activities by investing in its third wood chip processing and export plant in the port of Durban. Commissioned in August 2004, the mill exported its first load of wood chips to Japan in February 2005. NCT’s partners in this venture, Zululand Chip Manufacturers (ZCM), held 30% equity. NCT became 100% shareholder of NCT Durban Wood Chips in March 2009 when the co-operative purchased the remaining shares from ZCM. 13 6 0 Y e a r s a n d g r o w i n g
Construction began at a time of a strengthening SA Rand and challenging environmental demands that included the requirement of an enclosed wood chip storage area. Despite the space constraints of operating in the quayside area of Maydon Wharf, the plant has achieved very positive operational and financial results. This state-of-the-art facility exported its two millionth tonne to Japan in July 2009. NCT TREE FARMING (PTY) LIMITED In 1988, NCT started a management scheme where landowners received maximum profits from their trees while the day-to-day management of the plantation is carried out by NCT. As more schemes entered the fold, it became necessary to separate these activities from NCT’s other operations. The result was the formation of a wholly-owned private company, NCT Tree Farming (Pty) Limited in 1996, to manage the Co-operative’s own plantations and those of its members who required this management service. Today, NCT Tree Farming manages NCT Forestry’s two farms in the KZN midlands purchased in 1995 - Ingwe (Lidgetton), Enon (Richmond) and a further extensive timber area on leased land in the Baynesfield area. It also manages three ShinCel farms in the Mooi River area and BayFibre farms in Melmoth, Vryheid, Paulpietersburg and Piet Retief. The purpose of these farms is to act as a reservoir of timber in times of under-supply. NCT Tree Farming manages a further 22 member timber farms with a total managed planted area of 25 600ha. 14 N C T F o r e s t r y C o - o p e r a t i v e L i m i t e d
PULP UNITED (PTY) LIMITED In 2003, NCT formed Pulp United with Sweden’s Södra Cell AB to investigate the feasibility of the construction of a BCTMP (bleached, chemi, thermal, mechanical pulp) mill. The project suffered a setback when the Swedish shareholder withdrew from the joint venture in 2005. NCT opted to purchase Södra’s shares in the jointlyowned company and continued with the feasibility study despite Södra’s departure. In August 2006, Rottneros, another Swedish manufacturer of market pulp, announced plans to close down operations at one of its mills in Sweden and investigate the possibility of moving all or part of this production to a country with lower electricity prices. NCT and South Africa presented an ideal opportunity for Rottneros to consider relocation to Richards Bay. In April 2007, NCT and Rottneros signed a Letter of Intent to carry out further research into the possible relocation of the pulp mill to South Africa Since then, the project has been successful in obtaining environmental approval, securing a 65ha site for the mill and electricity supply. However a number of outstanding issues still need to be resolved before the project can be implemented. 15 6 0 Y e a r s a n d g r o w i n g
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Chairmen Jim Hershensohnn 1949-54 • Col. Walter Slatter 1954-63 Heinrich Küsel 1963-70 • Pieter van Breda 1970-1973 Dim Royden-Turner 1973-76 • John Slatter 1976-85 David Earl 1985-94 • Dr Carl Seele – 1994 to date General Managers Ken McLeod 1978-1984 • Steve Little 1985-1988 Peter Keyworth 1989-2004 • Patrick Kime 2004 to date Directors (present) Brian Aitken • Philip Day • Volly Keyser • Colin MacDonald Jack Mason • Rodney Miles • Sibusiso Mncadi • Harald Niebuhr Dr Carl Seele • Norman Sibetha • Graeme Freese Mike Woodburn • Andre van Rooyen Management (present) Vusi Dladla (Development Services) • Richard Golding (Financial Services) Andy Jones (Administration Services) Jacob Kotzé (General Manager : NCT Tree Farming (Pty) Ltd) Siga Moodley (IT Services) Craig Norris (Forest Technology Services) Rob Thompson (Asst General Manager & Member Services) James van Zyl (Commercial Services) Leadership: past & present 17 6 0 Y e a r s a n d g r o w i n g
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19 6 0 Y e a r s a n d g r o w i n g NCT today As we stand today, NCT has full ownership of three wood-chipping companies, strategic farms totaling 18 000 planted hectares of timber reservoir, experienced and committed staff in all fields and, most importantly, more than 2 000 loyal Members. Excellent trading relationships have been developed with a number of leading customers both locally and abroad. Furthermore, a number of projects aimed at securing and enhancing NCT’s Mission, which is to assist its Members to achieve their full forestry potential and to optimise their financial results on a sustainable basis, are being pursued with vigour. NCT is proud of the marketing achievements of the first 60 years of its history, and remains fully focused on building on these achievements. We are confident that timber growers will continue to co-operate in the years to come, as they have in the past and, given the considerable assets we now have, this will enable us to assist future generations of tree farmers to grow from strength to strength. Patrick Kime, General Manager
20 N C T F o r e s t r y C o - o p e r a t i v e L i m i t e d 346 Burger Street, Pietermaritzburg 3201 P O Box 1445, Pietermaritzburg, 3200 South Africa Tel: (033) 897 8500 • Fax: (033) 897 8501 www.nctforest.com Justin James Advertising JJD • Kendall & Strachan • Printed on Hokuetsu ‘Myu – coated neos 157gms’ paper
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