The Sasol Limited board has recently approved the construction of a R1.9 billion ethylene purification unit at its Sasol Polymers plant in Sasolburg. The plant is expected to go on stream in the second half of 2013 and will be ramped up to full capacity by 2015.

 
The unit will enable the Sasol Group to add further value to its monomers feed streams originating from the Secunda complex and will boost ethylene production by approximately 48 000 tons per year. The ethylene will be used in the manufacturing of polyethylene and will greatly benefit the plastics conversion industry in South Africa that currently imports large quantities of this raw material.
 
This investment confirms Sasol's commitment to the South African chemical industry and will enable significant downstream value addition in terms of locally manufactured consumer products such as plastic bags, packaging materials and containers.