Sasol’s Louisiana Integrated Polyethylene joint venture cracker experienced an extended outage in the three months to December 31.
“The plant was successfully restarted at the end of December 2025. Our self-help measures continued to deliver benefits, which led to lower costs and capital expenditure,” directors said on Thursday in a business update. An online search showed that LyondellBasell, as co-owner of the plant, had to balance the Louisiana outage first reported in November, against its global cracker network, mitigating supply disruptions through other facilities.
The outage, however, did not appear to dampen investor sentiment following the release of Sasol’s business update, as the share was a top mover on the JSE in the morning, rising 6.1% to R106.33. The price has risen steadily since a new strategy to optimise operations and meet decarbonisation targets was announced at a Capital Markets Day, in May 2025.
The oil-from-coal and chemicals group, which is also one of the biggest harmful emissions emitters on the continent, said Thursday it maintained stable operations through the second quarter of its 2024 financial year to December 31, 2025, in an uncertain trading environment.
“Progress was made on our Capital Markets Day priorities,” the directors said. One aspect of the strategy was to commission a destoning plant to improve coal quality for its Secunda gasifiers, reduce inefficiencies, and cut emissions.
During the quarter, in the group’s Southern Africa business, the destoning plant reached beneficial operation (BO) in December, marking a milestone in improving coal quality, Sasol’s directors said.
“Ramp-up is progressing, with average sinks now tracking the lower end of the 12%-14% guidance range. Given the progress on destoning, all previously closed low-quality mining sections are now fully operational,” they said.
This, together with improved gasifier and equipment availability at Secunda Operations (SO), had supported higher SO production during the quarter.
Gas supply from Mozambique was lower compared to the previous quarter, mainly due to the expected natural decline from the Petroleum Production Agreement (PPA) asset. Improvements were expected in the second half of the 2024 financial year however as the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) ramped up.
“Gas and coal supply continue to be managed on an integrated basis to support reliable SO operations and value optimisation,” the directors said.
Natref, the petroleum oil refinery, reported an improved production performance in the quarter, supported by additional volumes from Sasol’s utilisation of the Prax South Africa (Prax SA) shareholding capacity.
Sasol said in October 2023 that Prax SA filed for business rescue. As agreed with the business rescue practitioners, Sasol continues to operate the Natref refinery, utilising available Prax SA capacity, with product supply remaining uninterrupted.
“Stronger SO and Natref operations supported higher fuels sales volumes and the continued placement of products in higher-margin channels in line with our strategy,” the directors said.
However, chemicals market conditions remained soft across all regions, resulting in lower revenue. In Chemicals Africa, sales volumes increased compared to the previous quarter, supported by operational improvements with a continued ramp up in sales volumes in the next half.
In the International Chemicals business, lower US ethylene and palm kernel oil (PKO) pricing and lower volumes, weighed on revenue for the quarter.
Given the market conditions, a broader range of hedging instruments were being utilised to maintain downside protection. The mothballing and closure programme in the International Chemicals business was progressing to plan.
The third and final new low-carbon boiler at Natref was successfully commissioned in the second quarter, improving steam and operational reliability, while supporting decarbonisation objectives.
In November 2023, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa approved Sasol’s electricity trading license application (trading as Nomusize, supporting the integrated power business objectives.
Fuel sales volumes for the full 2026 financial year had been revised upward from 0% – 3% higher than the 2025 year, to 5% – 10% higher, supported by the improved Natref performance.
Gas production volumes had been revised down from 0% – 10% above 2023 to 0% – 5% below, due to PSA and Central Térmica de Temane (CTT) delays in Mozambique, as well as lower internal and external demand.
Performance across the rest of the portfolio was in line with market guidance.
“The operating environment is expected to remain challenging, given heightened geopolitical tensions, evolving global trade dynamics and continued softness in certain end markets impacting financial performance,” the directors said.
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