Most newsprint brought into South Africa now carries a 5% customs duty. The International Trade Administration Commission (Itac) backed a request from paper company Sappi to protect its Ngodwana mill in Mpumalanga, TechCentral reported.
The general duty on newsprint in rolls or sheets rose from 0% to 5% on 16 October. The change came through a tariff amendment signed by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) published the amendment. Itac, which recommended the higher duty, gave its reasons in a statement on Tuesday.
Itac said the local industry faced “a significant price disadvantage against imports”. It found that profits had fallen steadily during the period it investigated.
The commission also found that local production, sales and market share had dropped. The use of factory capacity had gone down too. Itac said the duty will be reviewed after three years.
Sappi applied for the duty in March, Business Day reported at the time. The paper described Ngodwana as the only working newsprint plant in South Africa and the Southern African Customs Union.
According to Itac, Sappi argued that ongoing losses put the mill’s newsprint machine, known as PM2, at risk. The company blamed falling world demand, too much supply worldwide and more cheap imports.
Sappi said protection was needed to save jobs and keep newsprint production in the country, according to Itac.
Sappi’s share of the local market fell from 60.8% in 2021/2022 to 51.1% in 2024/2025, Business Day reported, citing Itac. Over the same period, the use of its capacity dropped from 68.5% to 46.1%.
Ngodwana can make 110 000 tonnes of newsprint a year. That is about a fifth of everything the mill produces. The whole mill supports 1 500 direct jobs, the newspaper reported.
Not all imports will pay the new duty. According to the Sars schedule, newsprint from the EU and the UK still comes in duty free.
The same applies to imports from the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the Southern African Development Community. Newsprint from the African Continental Free Trade Area is also exempt.
Imports under the general rate will pay 5%. So will imports from Mercosur, the South American trade group.
Most of South Africa’s newsprint comes from countries that are not exempt. Canada supplied 47.2% of imports in 2024/2025, Brazil 19.8% and Norway 18.3%, Business Day reported, citing Itac.
Newsprint from Canada will now pay the duty. Brazil falls under the Mercosur rate, which is also set at 5%. Norway is a member of EFTA, so its newsprint will not be charged.
The extra cost lands on a newspaper industry that has been shrinking for years. Publishers have closed or cut many print titles, including national newspapers, TechCentral reported.
Source: this article is based on reporting by TechCentral. Image: TechCentral. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.