|
|
South Africa: Afrox Tackles Problems Meeting Demand
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Business Day (Johannesburg)
13 May 2008
Posted to the web 13 May 2008
Siseko Njobeni
Johannesburg
GASES and welding products company Afrox had been struggling with capacity constraints, resulting in inability to meet demand and poor service, MD Tjaart Kruger told shareholders last week.
Kruger's admission comes at a time when Afrox is at the centre of the carbon dioxide shortage that has gripped the soft-drinks industry.
Afrox said it was commissioning a new 250-ton-a-day carbon dioxide purification plant at Sasolburg.
In its annual report last year Afrox cited "underinvestment" as one factor stunting its ability to capitalise fully on strong markets. In 2006 the company -- SA's main supplier of liquefied petroleum gas -- could not meet product demand because it ran short of gas cylinders.
The commissioning of an air- separation unit and upgrades at plants around the country have, however, prompted Afrox to pledge customers "reliable and on-time" service.
Kruger told shareholders on Friday that the company had commissioned a 100-ton separation unit at Lydenburg in Mpumalanga and had upgraded plants in Wadeville, Gauteng, and Richards Bay, KwaZulu- Natal, totalling 215 tons a day.
Afrox has also upgraded its Pietermaritzburg plant to produce 95 tons of liquid nitrogen daily, for the merchant market.
|
"Our R1bn capital spending last year has been invested in facilities that will restore Afrox's core strengths," he said. This year would see the last of its major projects commissioned.
In addition to the facilities at Lydenburg, Wadeville, Richards Bay and Pietermaritzburg, Afrox would commission a 150-ton-a-day liquid nitrogen unit in Kuilsriver in Western Cape.
Kruger ascribed tough trading conditions for Afrox in the first quarter this year to "a worsening economic climate" and Eskom load-shedding, which had affected clients.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 Business Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
