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South Africa: Afrox Stocks Up On Gas Cylinders for Winter Rush
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Business Day (Johannesburg)
9 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008
Siseko Njobeni
Johannesburg
AFROX, SA's biggest supplier of liquefied petroleum (LP) gas, has bought extra gas cylinders in anticipation of a surge in demand this winter and to avert another shortage .
SA has experienced shortages of gas cylinders before when suppliers could not meet demand as domestic and industrial users switched to gas in winter.
In the event of a shortage due to "unforeseen circumstances", Afrox said it would import cylinders through its storage facility in Richards Bay .
"We have also invested heavily in extra LP gas cylinders to cater for increasing demand in the market," the company said.
"Afrox is, however, advising consumers to be prepared and to fill their cylinders now. This will ensure they have sufficient LP gas and mitigate any bottle-neck situations at gas suppliers when the cold sets in."
Afrox said the Richards Bay facility could accommodate 3600 tons on site . The company also imports through Port Elizabeth but said it was looking at more importation facilities.
Planned maintenance shutdowns at the country's refineries have in the past exacerbated the LP gas shortage.
Sapref refinery spokeswoman Prudence Mbatha said the facility recently underwent a planned shutdown for maintenance, which was finished last month. Another planned maintenance shutdown would be conducted next year, she said.
Meanwhile, the South African soft drink market is still battling a countrywide shortage of carbon dioxide. One of the badly hit companies, Coca-Cola SA, said yesterday it was working on a plan to reduce its dependence on external carbon dioxide suppliers such as Afrox. "Considerable progress has been made since then, but much still remains to be done, pending permission from the relevant authorities," company spokesman Kaizer Nyatsumba said .
Afrox said it was in the middle of commissioning a new 25-ton-a-day carbon dioxide purification plant at Sasolburg. The company has recently been experiencing supply shortages of carbon dioxide and had warned customers that the situation would arise, it said.
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Afrox said it had also carried out maintenance on some of its carbon dioxide purification facilities. "As a result, Afrox did engage in the intensive transportation of CO2 from plants still in operation to far-flung customer sites, covering thousands of kilometres."
Afrox processes and sells carbon dioxide that is captured as a by-product of chemical processes of companies such as Sasol.
South African Breweries (SAB) spokeswoman Janine van Stolk said the impact on ABI, SAB's soft drink division, had been small and sporadic.
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