South Africa's Last Paper Mill Is Closing and 400 Jobs Are Going With It

Somewhere in Springs, a town east of Johannesburg, a factory that has been running since before most African countries gained independence is packing up for the last time. The Mpact Springs Mill is closing by May 2026, and nearly 400 workers are losing their jobs because of it. What makes this story particularly painful is that the mill was not failing. It was profitable. It was produced, and it still could not survive.

Mpact Limited, the company behind the mill, has roots going all the way back to 1877 and today generates over R14 billion in annual revenue. But none of that history or financial muscle was enough to save this one facility from a problem that had been quietly building for years.

What Happened and Why?

The mill made cartonboard, which is the paper-based material used for everyday packaging like takeaway boxes, tea boxes and firelighter packaging. It was the only factory in South Africa producing this material domestically, handling over 130,000 tonnes every year. Then in January 2026, the mill's biggest customer sent a message that changed everything: they were switching to imports instead.

The reason was simple and brutal. International suppliers, mostly from Asia, were selling the same cartonboard at prices up to 20 per cent cheaper than what the Springs mill could produce it for. Once the biggest buyer walked out, there was not enough remaining demand to keep the facility financially viable, and Mpact's board approved the closure shortly after.

But cheap imports were not the only villain here. Over the past year, the mill lost nearly 30 full days of production due to water shortages and load-shedding from the local municipality. An entire month of output, gone, not because of poor management or bad strategy but because the lights went out and the taps ran dry. Those interruptions made it impossible to run at full capacity, which meant the mill could never achieve the kind of scale needed to compete with overseas producers on price.

A formal retrenchment process covering 377 workers is already underway under South African labour law, and the full closure is expected by May.

The Warning the Rest of Africa Should Hear

This is not just a South African story. It is a cautionary tale about what happens when a country's infrastructure crumbles, cheap imports go unchecked and governments move too slowly to protect the industries anchoring their local economies. South Africa's manufacturing sector is currently running at just 77 percent of its total capacity, a sign of a sector bleeding slowly and quietly.

Factories like this one are closing not because Africa lacks talent or resources but because the basic conditions needed to compete, stable power, reliable water and fair trade policy, are still not guaranteed.

For Nigeria and every other African country watching this unfold, the question worth asking is not whether this could happen here. It is whether anything is being done to make sure it does not.

What do you think African governments should do to protect local manufacturing from cheap imports?