Petrochemicals group Sasol would invest R8,4-billion to double its hard wax production in South Africa by 2014.

Sasol Wax would increase its wax production capacity at its Sasolburg site by about 40% by 2012, before further increasing capacity in a second phase, which was currently expected to come into production by 2014.

“This large investment shows Sasol’s commitment to the wax business and enables us to grow with our customers in this market,” Sasol Wax MD Johan du Preez commented in a statement on Tuesday.

Sasol has already completed the basic engineering for the project and has ordered some of the long-lead items for the project’s first phase, which would also include preinvestment activities for the second phase of the project.

Hard wax is used in a number of applications, one of which is hot melt adhesives production, a rapidly growing market, especially in the developing world.

Further, an environmentally friendly application for hard wax is as an additive in the bitumen used in road construction. This additive is patented by Sasol and sold as Sasobit™. It reduces the temperature at which the bitumen can be laid, thereby reducing emissions and greenhouse gases. The wax additive improves the resistance to deformation and cracking of the road surface.

The product is also used in printing ink, as well as an additive in the forming of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) objects such as pipes or window frames. Lead-based stabilisers in PVC are being phased out and hard wax is a critical component in the additives that are replacing the lead-based product.

Sasol Wax is a major producer and marketer of synthetic and petroleum derived waxes, with production facilities in South Africa, North America, and Europe.

The synthetic waxes are manufactured by using Sasol’s advanced proprietary technology in South Africa. The project will also result in increased production of medium waxes, mostly used by the candle industry in Southern Africa, as well as liquid paraffins used in a variety of industrial applications.

The total production of all the wax products from the Sasolburg site near Johannesburg will increase by two-thirds.

“This is a significant investment for the Sasolburg site and demonstrates our commitment to our South African asset base. It is in line with Sasol’s strategy to leverage our advanced proprietary technology and is also aligned with our longer-term plans to significantly grow the chemicals businesses of the Sasol group,” Sasol group Chemical Cluster GM Reiner Groh said.