| PHOTO by Business Day | Rod Humphris |
Shannon Sherry
Nitric acid is also used to manufacture
explosives for the mining industry, and the new plant will greatly alleviate
the need to import the substance.
It is Omnia’s second nitric acid production
facility in Sasolburg and will produce 1000t/day, or 40% more than the older
plant, which was commissioned in 1983, and will also produce ammonium nitrate.
Omnia group MD Rod Humphris says the first
plant was opened mainly to supply the fertiliser market. But growth in the
explosives market has taken much of its production over the years and is
expected to continue doing so.
He says: “It is a much- needed investment in
the future of SA’s mining and agriculture sectors. Omnia’s existing plant is
operating at full capacity, but the growth in the company’s markets has led to
an increasing shortage of nitric acid, which has in particular restricted its
use in its fertiliser business.”
Corné Louw, Grain SA’s senior economist:
inputs, says the “constant supply” of nitric acid from the plant will make it
easier for local users to obtain and “might make price structures better”.
“The other plant is very old. The new one
will have greater efficiency and will hopefully bring lower prices.”
Louw says nitric acid can be a substitute for
urea, a major fertiliser industry import. Fertiliser is often cited as an
expensive farming input and a factor in high food prices.
Fertiliser Society of SA president Marius
Brand says SA imports more than 50% of its nitrogen-based fertiliser, mainly in
the form of urea.
“Investments from local industry players such
as Omnia ... are widely welcomed. They not only create employment opportunities
for local communities but the potential movement of products from this plant
into the nitrogen-based fertiliser pool should increase competition and benefit
the consumer,” Brand says.
Humphris says the cost of the plant is
expected to come in below the initial capital budget of R1,4bn.
It is Omnia’s biggest single investment to
date and Humphris says it “will have a positive impact on the group’s
performance . “Updated guidance in this regard will be provided when the
group’s results for the year ended March 31 are released on June 26.”
A feature of the new plant is that it will
generate about 50% of the electricity needed for the entire Sasolburg site from
excess steam.
German company ThyssenKrupp Uhde, a world
leader in the design and construction of chemical, refining and industrial
plants, supplied the technology, licences and engineering design for the new
plant.
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