Johannesburg - Listed chemicals and energy company Sasol yesterday commissioned its R1 billion polypropylene expansion project in Secunda, Mpumalanga.
Sasol said the project, which is part of its dual-regional, multi-asset hub growth strategy in southern Africa and North America, would increase the company’s polypropylene production capacity by 103 000 tons per annum in its Secunda chemicals operations, while realising improvements in environmental impact.
The company said the project would reduce the percentage of propylene not utilised in the production of higher value chemicals.
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It added that this amount had been in decline over the past three years from 25 percent to 20 percent.
“This particular investment further entrenches Sasol as a global chemicals player. With more than R1bn invested, we are proud to unveil yet another major capital investment in South Africa, our home,” Sasol joint president and chief executive Stephen Cornell said.
The project took three years, from concept to production.
“It was a three-year effort to design and construct this project, creating almost 1 000 jobs during construction... The increased capacity was made possible by de-bottlenecking our existing plants, with most of the work being done while the plants were operational,” Cornell said.
Polypropylene, one of the commonly produced plastics in the world, is used in a range of commercial and household applications.
These include packaging consumer products, fibres, automotive components, hygiene products, yoghurt tubs, household containers, paint containers, car batteries, garden furniture, carpets, as well as film.
Sasol has been producing polypropylene since 1990.
The chemical serves a double duty, both as a plastic and as a fibre.
In a statement yesterday, Sasol said the market for polypropylene was a mix of local consumption and exports.
It said local industries could not absorb the entire output.
Sasol said it exported 424 000 tons of polypropylene to markets including China, South America, Europe, the US and the rest of Africa.
Sasol said the demand for polypropylene was expected to rise as a result of trends in consumer packaging and preference for light motor vehicles.
“The volume of polypropylene consumed in South Africa has grown at an average of 4.1 percent year on year over the last five years and significant opportunities prevail to establish further downstream manufacturing facilities,” Sasol said.
Shares rose 2.59 percent to close at R377.50 on the JSE yesterday.
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