Dec 02, 2010
Sasol builds world's first Ethylene Tetramerization Unit in Lake
Charles
Sasol today announced plans to construct the world's first commercial
ethylene tetramerization unit, capable of producing over 100,000 metric
tons per year of combined 1-octene(C8H16 ) and 1-hexene(C6H12), at its Louisiana
production site in Lake Charles.
This first-of-a-kind unit will be built in Southwest Louisiana
and will be located inside Sasol's existing Lake Charles Chemical
Complex. The tetramerization unit will expand the facility's
workforce by nearly 10%, employing an additional 36 full-time
employees and 12 contract employees. The expanded capacity is
also expected to add stability to the existing employee base as
it will further integrate the products manufactured at the plant
site.
Construction will commence in 2011, and the plant will reach
beneficial operation in mid-2013. During peak construction
periods, up to 500 contract employees with skills in welding,
pipefitting, carpentry, electrical and instrumentation, as well
as laborers, will be needed.
"We're pleased to be selected to construct and operate this
unique tetramerization process. Sasol's willingness to expand
operations in Southwest Louisiana is a vote of confidence in our
local employees, service providers and our state. We are
particularly thankful to Governor Bobby Jindal, our local
legislative delegation and Louisiana Economic Development for the
support they have provided to help make this opportunity a
reality," said Mike Thomas, Sasol North America President.
The unit will utilize Sasol's proprietary technology to convert
ethylene to 1-octene and 1-hexene. This unique process was
developed in Sasol's R&D laboratories in South Africa, and
selectively produces alpha olefins required for the high growth
polymer markets. Engineers and scientists from Sasol North
America participated with an international team to design the
unit, which will utilize the new technology on an industrial
manufacturing scale.
"This tetramerization unit at our Lake Charles complex is
supporting our strategy to further beneficiate our ethylene
produced at the site and is in line with our view to develop our
integrated multi asset sites", said Fleetwood Grobler,
Managing Director of Sasol Olefins & Surfactants, the
international holding company of Sasol North America.
With current production of over 350,000 metric tons per year,
Sasol is a major producer of comonomer range alpha olefins.
According to Alan Field, Managing Director of Sasol Solvents,
"The additional capacity to be built at the Lake Charles
Complex will help Sasol's global customer base achieve its
long-term polymer and elastomer growth prospects, and the
investment reflects our confidence in the competiveness of the US
petrochemicals industry."
1-octene and 1-hexene are used as comonomers in the manufacture
of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), high density
polyethylene (HDPE) and elastomers. The products impart special
characteristics of elasticity and strength in plastic used in
consumer products such as food packaging, bags, toys, automotive
interiors, power cable coatings and more.
Sasol North America Inc. is a holding of Sasol Olefins &
Surfactants (O&S), a main chemical business of Sasol Limited.
Sasol O&S manufactures and markets a broad range of organic
and inorganic products used in detergents, cleaners, paint and
coatings, personal care products as well as in catalysts, high
performance abrasives and polymer additives. Production sites are
located in the United States, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Dubai,
South Africa and China.
Sasol is an energy and chemicals business. Based in South Africa
and operating worldwide, Sasol is listed on the NYSE and JSE
stock exchanges. Sasol is a leading provider of liquid fuels in
South Africa and a major international producer of chemicals.
Using proprietary Fischer-Tropsch technologies Sasol produces
synthetic fuels and chemicals from low-grade coal and natural
gas. The company also manufactures more than 200 fuel and
chemical products that are sold worldwide. In South Africa, Sasol
also operates coal mines to provide feedstock for the synthetic
fuels plants. Sasol operates the only inland crude oil refinery
in South Africa. The group produces crude oil in offshore Gabon,
supplies Mozambican natural gas to end-user customers and
petrochemical plants in South Africa, and with partners involved
in gas-to-liquids fuel joint ventures in Qatar and Nigeria.
Internet address: http://www.sasol.com
Sasol Disposes Of Its Investment in The
Iranian Joint Venture Arya Sasol Polymer Company
On 16 August 2013, Sasol Investment Company (Pty) Limited, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Sasol, entered into a definitive sale and share purchase agreement
pursuant to which Main Street 1095 (Pty) Limited, a South African subsidiary of
an Iranian investor, completed and effected the acquisition of 100% of the
shares of SPI International (Pty) Limited (“SPII”). SPII is the
indirect owner of a 50% interest in
Arya.
As described in our most recent trading statement of 1 August 2013, the fair
value of Sasol’s investment in Arya was written down to R2,3 billion. This was
based on our assessment of the fair value of Arya as well as the accounting
requirement to recognise operating profits of approximately R1,6 billion for the
second half of the 2013 financial year.
As a result of this Transaction, Sasol has no on-going investment in Iran.
Olefin No.9
Product 能 力
千トンEthylene
1,400
MD/HDPE
300
LDPE
300
C3+
90
所有：NPC 50% ,Sasol Polymers of South Africa 50%
運営：Arya Sasol Polymer Co.(Private Joint Stock)
立地：Pars Special economic / Energy Zone
生産開始：2005
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19 August 2013 moneyweb.co.za
Sasol exits Iran
It took eighteen months, but petrochemical company Sasol has sold its stake in
an Iranian polymer company and now has no business dealings in Iran at all.
Sasol sold its 50% stake in Arya Sasol Polymer to Main Street 1095, the South
African subsidiary of an Iranian investor. The director of the company is
Hamidreza Eskandani. The other 50% is owned by Iran’s state-owned National
Petrochemical Company.
Sasol exited just in time.
In July 2012 the US government extended its sanctions on Iran to prevent non-US
companies from conducting any business in oil or oil related products in or with
Iran.
The United States continues to impose new layers of sanctions on Iran and last
month the laws were extended to target other areas of the Iranian economy for
sanctions, including exchange transactions involving Iranian Rials and Iran's
automotive industry.
The laws also extended the existing sanctions affecting
the petrochemical industry.
The new order will cut Iran's oil exports by another 1 million barrels per day
over a year to near zero, in an attempt to reduce the flow of funds to the
nuclear programme.
This is the first sanctions bill to put a number on exactly how much Iran's oil
exports would be cut, according to global law firm Holland & Knight.
The legislation provides for heavy penalties for buyers who do not find
alternative supplies, limits Iran's access to funds in overseas accounts and
penalises countries trading with Iran in other industrial sectors.
In addition non-US companies that intend to continue trade with Iran after July
2013 face other commercial risks such as denial of coverage by insurers
unwilling to risk sanction and refusal by banks to process transactions related
to Iran.
For non-U.S. companies, particularly those in shipping, insurance and financial
services, there are only a few weeks left to implement changes in policy or
enhance compliance procedures to comply with these new sanctions, Holland &
Knight says.
The value of the sale was not disclosed. However Sasol noted in a trading
statement earlier this month that the fair value of the investment in Arya had
been written down to R2,3bn. It expects the polymer producer, which has been
making losses, to report an operating profit of about R1.6bn for the second half
of the 2013 financial year.
Last year Sasol stopped buying Iranian crude oil.
It used to procure about 20% of its crude requirement from Iran which was then
processed at its refinery in Sasolburg.