Sasol had started commercial production at a new 60 000 ton-a-year alcohols plant in China, Africa's top chemicals group said yesterday.
"We are positioning this plant to become a key supplier to the fast-growing Chinese alcohols market," said Hannes Botha, the managing director of Sasol's chemical unit, Olefins & Surfactants.
The plant is located in Lianyangang, China.
The world's biggest maker of motor oil from coal said it would idle 50 percent, or about 65 000 tons a year of oxo-alcohol capacity at its Augusta plant in Italy for an indefinite period, as part of an ongoing restructuring effort.
Botha said part of the reduced capacity in Augusta would be replaced by alcohols produced at other plants in Sasol's network, cutting both fixed and variable costs at Augusta. - Reuters