What a month it’s been! The sector has been buzzing with activity.
The FSA AGM remains one of those events that lift the spirits each year. This time around, we had Rudi Dicks from the Office of the President delivering a compelling keynote on Operation Vulindlela’s progress, accelerating structural reforms, and supporting our economic recovery. It’s always encouraging to hear about tangible progress on this front.
The AGM also gave us some exciting industry news, with Mondi unveiling Project Masilela, their ambitious biomass-to-energy plant planned for Richards Bay.
Speaking of progress, the skills development space is heating up. We’re seeing some substantial investments here, including R20 million in FP&MSeta funding for FSA’s unemployed forestry graduates programme. Then there’s Sappi’s new Forestry Skills Centre in Richmond, plus their partnership with Agricolleges to roll out online forestry courses. They’ve introduced four courses so far, but I’d keep an eye on this space – there’s clearly more to come.
On the equipment front, AFGRI Group’s acquisition of Mascor’s John Deere dealerships across KwaZulu-Natal and the Mpumalanga Lowveld is significant news. Bell announced the launch of its 2006AF Haulage Tractor in response to customer demand for increased power.
Speaking of Bell, we catch up with harvesting contractor Wes Redinger, who’s been putting a Bell Skogger through its paces in the Weza area for the past two years. His insights into how it’s transformed their harvesting and extraction operations make for compelling reading.