“All of these things are placing huge pressure on the forests sector in general but more specifically on saw milling,” add Southey.South Africa’s new National Minimum Wage , including forestry, farm and domestic workers, increased by 9.62% effective from 1 March following a 6.9% increase in 2022.
“During this layoff, we intend to fulfill as many of our orders as possible with our finished stock, as well as produce additional stock from available material as per new order requirements,” she said.“The layoff will also give us time to explore, discuss and negotiate the best way forward for the continued operation of the mill. There is full commitment to this end.”
“The business is a high volume business and the margins are very tight because of the costs, so when you lose six hours or more per double shift, you cannot make it work,” she said.Smith said the company has applied to the Unemployment Insurance Fund to cover the salaries of SLM’s employees for the three-month period and while it seeks an investor to come into the business.
SLM is mainly involved in the growing of pine for processing into lumber for the construction market in South Africa. “The current schedule that is being implemented is very frustrating because you don’t know day to day when the power will be off and for how long it will be off because it varies all the time.