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Hurricane Dorian passes slowly over the island of Grand Bahama on September 2, 2019 (Getty Images).
Sasol, which is battling several headwinds that have hit its financial position, is now being hit by the impact of a natural disaster in the form of Hurricane Laura, which has forced the closure of its Lake Charles Chemicals plant in the US. USA
The company is under pressure to finish work on the $ 12.9 billion facility in Louisiana, which has been hit by cost overruns and delays, contributing to its tight financial position. Last week, Sasol announced that it had temporarily closed Lake Charles due to a severe hurricane that made landfall earlier in the US Gulf Coal, which affected operations.
“The storm caused widespread power blackouts and other damage, preventing Sasol from operating most utility systems,” the company said Monday in an update.
It indicated that the corridors of the high-voltage transmission line to the area where the plant is located were damaged and that the evaluation of the extent of the destruction was in process. Strong winds caused by inclement weather left damage to the plant’s cooling tower, but there was no flood damage as a result of the storm surge, it said.
“Sasol’s manufacturing facility in Lake Charles remains closed,” he said.
The alcohol unit of the complex, which has six chemical manufacturing plants, is already operational, but the current financial situation faced by the company has forced it to sell part of the project to an investor. No decision has been made about the potential buyer.
It is not the first time that Lake Charles has been affected by disasters. In 2017, heavy rains from Tropical Storm Harvey delayed construction, while an explosion at the low-density polyethylene unit in January caused the closure.
Sasol’s shares were down nearly 1% to R142.59, following the news after peaking at around R150 in midday trading.
