Sasol Climate Change Report 2023 - Book - Page 51
INTRODUCTION
TRANSFORMING FOR RESILIENCE
GOVERNANCE
CLIMATE ADVOCACY AND POLICY
DATA AND ASSURANCE
ADAPTATION CONTINUED
FEATURE STORY
Supply-chain resilience
ADAPTING TO A CLIMATE DISASTER
Sasol9s extensive supply chains are exposed to extreme
weather events, the frequency of which is increasing
due to climate change. Supply-chain disruptions from
climate-related events can have severe implications for
our organisation's day-to-day operations. We are in the
nascent stages of understanding this full risk profile
and as a start we aim to extract lessons learned from
prior events including the KwaZulu-Natal flooding event.
In April 2022, the KwaZulu-Natal coastal region of South Africa experienced exceptionally
heavy rainfall, leading to severe flooding that significantly impacted the province’s
communities, infrastructure and businesses – an estimated US$2 billion in infrastructure
and economic losses. Our supply chain network, responsible for transporting products
from facilities in Secunda, Sasolburg and Durban for export, was severely impacted.
FEATURE STORY
Secunda Operations experienced unprecedented
heavy rainfall in November 2022, which resulted
in a factory outage for several days.
For three weeks, many vessels were unable to sail, resulting in a backlog of orders.
The affected cargo included polymers, wax, paraffins, phenolics and solvents – 25 000
tons across 31 vessels. Sasol had difficulties determining the exact location of vessels
and even engaging with shipping lines to address the situation.
In addition to the immediate production loss, the
flooding caused unplanned outages on the reforming
units during the subsequent restart of the plant. Two
out of 17 reformers experienced prolonged downtime,
impacting overall production efficiency. The incident
resulted in lost production equating to ~R250 million.
Excessive rainfall also put significant pressure on the
plant's effluent-storage balances, requiring approval
from authorities to allow for limited controlled releases to
protect storage infrastructure. Extreme weather events
are projected to continue, necessitating a heightened
focus on building resilience and adaptation responses
throughout our operations.
All contracted port facilities responsible for
loading Sasol9s products were non-operational
during the flooding period. Power and water cuts,
as well as debris and accessibility restrictions,
hampered port operations. Additionally, two
critical service providers declared force majeure,
further exacerbating the challenges we faced.
" Daily adjustments and coordination: We
adopted a case-by-case approach, making
daily adjustments to our rail and road
movements based on the recovery of various
facilities. Road movements into Durban were
carefully coordinated to ensure safety and
avoid excessive congestion at offloading sites.
Rail infrastructure connecting Gauteng and
Secunda to Durban suffered significant damage,
rendering regular rail access to the Port of
Durban inaccessible for three months. As a
result, we had to rely entirely on road transport,
which caused production cutbacks due to certain
products being unsuitable for road transportation.
" Alternative rail route: Two weeks after the
flooding, Sasol secured an alternative rail
route via Empangeni to Durban. Although
this route was subject to speed restrictions,
it provided a means to transport products
by rail once a week, alleviating some of the
reliance on road transport.
In response to the significant disruptions caused
by the flooding, Sasol Chemicals itself was
compelled to declare force majeure for several
product ranges. This declaration provided legal
protection and acknowledged that circumstances
beyond our control had impacted our ability to
fulfil contractual obligations.
" Safety management: Recognising the safety
risks associated with the high volume of
tankers at offloading sites, we staggered
road movements inland. This aimed to prevent
additional risks and maintain operational
continuity.
Despite the immense challenges caused by the
flooding, we implemented several adaptation
strategies:
Monomers plant, Secunda, South Africa
Synthetic alcohol plant, Secunda, South Africa
SASOL CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT 2023
50
By adjusting transportation plans on a daily
basis, securing alternative transportation routes
and prioritising safety, we minimised disruptions
and maintained our supply chain operations.