In a recent financial performance and position summary, Sasol provided an update on its Lake Charles Chemical Project (LCCP). At the LCCP, Sasol is maintaining its focus on safely improving productivity in the field and bringing the plants into beneficial operation. The project has continued its exceptional safety record with a recordable case rate of 0.1.
At the end of December 2019, engineering and procurement activities were substantially complete and construction progress was at 98 percent, with overall project completion at 99 percent. The overall LCCP cost estimate is tracking at $12.8 billion, within Sasol's previous guidance of $12.6 billion to $12.9 billion, and its EBITDA estimate of $50 million to $100 million for fiscal year 2020 remains.
The ethoxylates (ETO) unit, the fourth of seven units, achieved beneficial operation at the end of January. The unit has a nameplate capacity of 100 kilotons per year, forms part of Sasol's ethylene oxide value chain and adds to the capacity of the company's performance chemicals product volumes already produced and sold on both a regional and global scale. The ETO unit follows the linear low-density polyethylene, world-scale ethane cracker and ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol facilities, which all reached beneficial operation last year and are operating as planned. This provides additional flexibility to Sasol's ethylene oxide value chain and will enable the company to divert some volume away from the mono-ethylene glycol product line and support increased margins. Sasol still expects the Ziegler and Guerbet plants to achieve beneficial operation in the last quarter of fiscal year 2020.
The ethane cracker is also ramping up, following the successful replacement of the acetylene reactor catalyst in December 2019. The plant is expected to operate according to plan for the remainder of the year.
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