Six units now online comprise more than 86% of LCCP's total
output
HOUSTON, June 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sasol today
announced that the Guerbet alcohol unit at our Lake Charles
Chemicals Project (LCCP) achieved beneficial operations on
19 June 2020. This follows three days
after achieving beneficial operations on the Ziegler alcohol unit,
bringing the online capacity of LCCP's specialty chemicals units to
100 percent and LCCP's total online nameplate capacity to 86
percent.
The beneficial operations of these LCCP facilities progresses
Sasol's seven-unit U.S. Gulf Coast mega project to the cusp of
completion," said Sasol President and Chief Executive Officer,
Fleetwood Grobler. "The additional
capacity strengthens Sasol's leadership position in the specialty
alcohol and alumina markets, which is core to the company's
Chemicals growth strategy."
"Our investment in Lake Charles – including the additional
ethoxylation capacity that began operation in January 2020 – combined with the startup of our
new ethoxylation unit in Nanjing,
China in 2019, strengthens our
existing asset base," said Sasol Executive Vice President:
Chemicals Business, Brad
Griffith.
"With this expansive global footprint, we continue aligning our
business with powerful global megatrends to identify high-value
growth opportunities we can support with our unique chemistries.
These megatrends underpin our strategy of providing solutions to a
growing and urbanising middle class focused on health, hygiene and
sustainability. Through collaborative innovation with our
customers, we are committed to developing sustainable solutions
which form a part of the developing circular economy," said Mr
Griffith.
The Ziegler and Guerbet alcohols expand Sasol's position in
having the broadest integrated alcohols and surfactants portfolio
in the world. Sasol is a recognised leader in chemicals for
essential care markets such as laundry, home care, personal care
and hygiene.
Sasol is also well-positioned to offer specialty,
performance-based chemicals and tailor-made solutions to customers
in a wide range of industrial applications including agrochemicals,
abrasives, metalworking and lubrication, oil and gas, automotive,
and paints and coatings.
The LCCP Ziegler unit is an extension of the existing Ziegler
plant in Lake Charles and is the largest of its kind in the world
adding nameplate capacity of 173,000 tons per year (173 ktpa) of
alcohol and 32,000 tons (32 ktpa) of alumina. This addition
strengthens Sasol's significant economies of scale, leveraging the
company's deep technical and operating experience.
The Ziegler unit supplements Sasol's global production of
alcohols and aluminas, adding to existing Ziegler capacity in both
Lake Charles and Brunsbuettel, Germany. The unit is the most technically
complex of the units in the LCCP and is based on Sasol's
proprietary technology. Benefited by the most modern technology and
years of experience with this unique process, the Ziegler unit
started up smoothly, within market guidance through the sterling
efforts of our project and operations teams.
The additional alumina capacity from the Ziegler unit will
enable Sasol to supply the increasing market demand for
tailor-made, high purity alumina products used in a variety of
market applications such as catalysts, films, ceramics and
abrasives. The expansion will support the growth aspirations of
customers requiring Sasol's unique alkoxide based alumina
products.
Sasol's new Guerbet unit on the U.S. Gulf Coast is the company's
second Guerbet alcohol production site; the other is also located
in Brunsbuettel. The unit in Lake Charles is the largest Guerbet
alcohol plant in the world and has a nameplate capacity of 30,000
tons per year (30 ktpa).
The Guerbet unit is a two-fold scale-up of Sasol's proprietary
technology used in Brunsbuettel. The project and operations teams
from both Lake Charles and Brunsbuettel worked exceedingly well to
bring the Guerbet unit onstream without problems. The positioning
of Sasol's Guerbet alcohol production sites in Europe and North
America is unrivaled and provides our customers with
expanded access to a more efficient and sustainable global supply
chain.
The last remaining unit to come online at LCCP will be the low
density polyethylene (LDPE) plant. This is on track for beneficial
operations by the end of September
2020, as per previous guidance. At the end of
May 2020, the LCCP capital
expenditure was tracking the previously communicated guidance of
US$12,8 billion.
To date, the LCCP has generated more than 800 full-time quality
manufacturing jobs, with up to 6,500 people on site during
construction, with nearly US$4
billion spend on construction to Louisiana businesses and nearly US$200 million paid in local and state taxes.
About Sasol:
Sasol is a global integrated chemicals and energy company.
Through our talented people, we safely and sustainably create
superior value for our customers, shareholders and other
stakeholders. We integrate sophisticated technologies in
world-scale operating facilities to produce and commercialise
commodity and specialised chemicals, gaseous and liquid fuels, and
lower-carbon electricity.
Issued by:
In South Africa:
Alex Anderson, Senior Manager:
Group External Communication
Direct telephone: +27 (0) 10-344-6509; Mobile: +27 (0)
71-600-9605;
alex.anderson@sasol.com
In the U.S.:
Kim Cusimano, North American
Operations Corporate Affairs
Direct telephone: +1 (225) 776-0758
kim.cusimano@us.sasol.com