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Mike Haws named President, CEO of Sappi North America

Sappi, a supplier of dissolving wood pulp as well as graphic, packaging and specialty papers, has appointed Michael (Mike) G. Haws as President and CEO of Sappi North America, effective October 1.

Haws is currently Vice-President Manufacturing at Sappi North America. He will succeed Mark Gardner, a 38-year veteran of Sappi in North America, who has been President and CEO of Sappi North America for 12 years, as he retires at the end of September.

“I would like to thank Mark for his sterling service to Sappi over 38 years and for the support he has shown me as CEO,” says Steve Binnie, Chief Executive Officer of Sappi Limited. “He is an exemplary leader both for the company and for the industry. His tenure saw massive changes as we restructured and refocused the business, a task he embraced and has executed with aplomb.”

Haws joined Sappi in 2012 as Managing Director of the Somerset Mill before being promoted to Vice-President Manufacturing in October 2015 with responsibility for the Somerset, Westbrook and Cloquet mills, the Allentown sheeting facility, and the safety, research and development, and customer care segments.

Prior to joining Sappi, Haws had extensive experience in the industry and held numerous leadership roles with St. Regis, Champion International, International Paper and Verso Paper. While leading the Somerset Mill, Mike received the Pulp and Paper International (PPI) Mill Manager of the Year award in 2014.

“Mike is an experienced industry leader who has been integral to the development and execution of Sappi’s 2020Vision and the investments we have made in North America to grow our dissolving wood pulp and packaging and [specialties] businesses,” says Binnie. “I am confident that under Mike’s leadership our business will take full advantage of the exciting opportunities for the pulp and paper industry in North America.”

Sappi Limited, headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, has over 12,000 employees and manufacturing operations in seven countries. In 2018, the company produced approximately 5.7 million tonnes of printing and writing, specialty and packaging paper; 2.3 million tonnes of paper pulp, and 1.4 million tonnes of dissolving wood pulp.