Thiel Named Sappi Southern Africa Divisional CEO

Sappi Limited, Johannesburg, South Africa, this week appointed Alex Thiel CEO of Sappi Southern Africa, effective December 1. Thiel, a South African, has been with the Sappi Group for 21 years. He is currently the Group head of procurement, a member of the Sappi Limited Executive Committee, and the executive charged with leading the integration of the M-Real business acquired in January 2009 into Sappi Fine Paper Europe.

Thiel joined Sappi in December 1989 as the executive assistant to the executive chairman in Johannesburg. In April 1993, as part of Sappi's expansion into Europe, he moved to Brussels, Belgium, as administration manager. With the creation of Sappi Fine Paper Europe (SFPE), he was appointed in February 1998 as manager of marketing intelligence. In January 2003 he became the director of logistics for SFPE. He was appointed Group head of procurement in January 2008 and added the responsibilities as integration executive on the M-Real transaction from July 2008. He holds a BSc, Mechanical Engineering, and an MBA from WITS University in Johannesburg.

TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/