Continued Development Of Sappi Alfeld As Leading Competence Centre For Speciality Papers And Boards

Thomas Rajcsanyi has recently joined Sappi Alfeld GmbH as managing director. He replaces Stefan Karrer, who has left Sappi Alfeld to return home to southern Germany for personal reasons.

Mr. Rajcsanyi learned the business of paper manufacturing from the bottom up and has held a number of successful positions in the paper industry. Most recently, he served for seven years as the managing director of Feldmühle Uetersen, a German based paper company. "We're delighted to take on board such a skilled and experienced leader as Thomas Rajcsanyi. With his expert knowledge, he will lead the Alfeld mill and the strategic development of our speciality papers and boards forward into the future," says Berry Wiersum, Chief Executive Officer, Sappi Europe.

When asked about his goals, Mr. Rajcsanyi (47 years) replied, "We want to maintain our standards of excellence and sustainability and continue to develop Sappi Alfeld as a competence centre for speciality papers and boards." Mr. Rajcsanyi is enthusiastic about his move to Sappi Alfeld. "My predecessors have made absolutely the right decisions and laid the foundation for a successful future," he says, referring to the Alfeld plant's exclusive focus on speciality papers. The conversion of PM2, successfully completed last year at a cost of over €60 million, is already proving extremely successful after just under two years. The mill’s competence centre for speciality papers and boards, including a world-class paper lab, continues to add value to customers and to the mill’s operations. 

Mr. Rajcsanyi will in his new role continue to build upon the current strategy of strengthening the speciality paper business. He will focus on further optimising and utilising the mill’s five paper machines. He also intends to maintain or improve the high quality standards of the wide range of speciality papers and cartons manufactured at the plant. In addition, he plans to add further innovative products and packaging solutions to the Sappi product portfolio.