MechChem Africa July 2017

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36 ¦ MechChem Africa • July 2017
⎪ Products and industry news ⎪
UpanddownAfrica’scoasts,majorseaports
withbunkeringfacilitiesplayakeystrategic
roleinkeepingseatrafficflowingandindus-
triesgrowing.Itisbigbusinessandincludes
the storage of bunker (ship) fuels and the
provision of fuel to vessels. Bunkering in-
cludestheshipboardlogisticsofloadingfuel
and distributing it among bunkers.
In 2014, the Mauritian authority that
sources fuel for the country’s require-
ments, liberalised the importation of
Environmentally friendly cleaning of urban spaces
The cleaning industry is one of themost per-
vasive in the world. In spite of its scale, local
industry leaders believe there is nowhere
near enough understanding in South Africa
of the significant role the cleaning industry
should play in sustainability, pointing to a
weight of environmental legislationdirected
at land and wildlife but not enough aimed at
the environmentally friendly maintenance
of urban spaces.
There are three commonly accepted pil-
lars to sustainability in cleaning:
• Genuinelyeco-friendlycleaningproducts.
• Reducing wastage of water, electricity
and disposables.
• Longer lasting and recyclablemachinery.
Industry watchdogs caution about wide-
spread green product claims. According
to Stephen Ashkin of The Green Cleaning
Network, particular scepticismshould be re-
servedfor ‘chemical-free’labelsashebelieves
fewproducts trulywarrant that description.”
However, there are now many options
available in South Africa that meet the
standard US Occupation Health & Safety
Administration (OHSA) definition of green
cleaning products as ‘safe to use and less
harmful to your health and environment
than conventional alternatives such as
bleach and ammonia’.
Gavin Herold, general manager of Africa
and the Middle East for Nilfisk, one of the
world’s leading suppliers of cleaning equip-
ment, believes that recent supply crises in
South Africa in both electricity and water
have helped to focus managers on sustain-
able cleaning issues, especially the urgent
need to reduce wastage in cleaning.
heavy fuel for bunkering in order to sup-
port Port Louis as a bunkering hub for the
region. Heavy fuel contributes 62%of the
bunkering sales in Mauritius and is used
by many industries, including fishing and
cargo ships.
The invitation to players (including
Engen) specified a 380 CST grade fuel,
which for Engen proved to be non-com-
petitive in terms of price, due to the avail-
ability of dedicated storage facilities and
barges to target big customers.
Convinced that Engen’s 180
CSTwould do a better job than
the380CSTGrade,ajointteam
was assembled fromEngenand
tasked with formulating and
executing a strategy to get the
company into play. The first
phase involved a number of
high-level stakeholder engage-
ments, which saw the business
get approval for 180 CST.
Major seaports play key role in traffic flow
A barge in St Louis, Mauritius, bunkering Engen’s 180 CST Grade fuel.
The team then managed to secure the
optimal storage and logistics solutions by
partnering with third parties for storage
and barge facilities. In doing so, the busi-
ness secured healthy shore storage tank
capacity, barges and a dedicated pipeline
for receipt and loading of barges.
Engen tightly manages inbound logis-
tics into Port Louis, daily price volatility
andfinancingof theproduct toensure that
it is always competitive. Engen Petroleum
Mauritiusmanages the in-country storage
andoutbound logistics throughmarketing
and delivery to customers.
Christian Li, Engen commercial busi-
ness development manager; Christian
Musindi, trading manager; Anmarie
Kleinhans, marine sales and operations
manager; andRicardoAimee, commercial
executive teamed up to create awareness
to local and international customers on
product quality and availability.
Engen has thus succeeded in growing
its market share of fuel oil by more than
tenfold.
Taking the lead to provide a secure supply
ofindustrialgastotheindustriesinEastern
Cape, Air Products launched the first air
separation unit (ASU) in the EasternCape
in theCoega IndustrialDevelopment Zone
(IDZ) back inNovember 2014. The impact
of this investment and its contribution to
Air Products a top 50 company in the Eastern Cape
Air Products built the first air
separation unit (ASU) in the Eastern
Cape in back in November 2014.
economic growth was highlighted with
Air Products being selected as one of the
top 50Companies inNelsonMandela Bay
(NMB) for 2017.
According to managing director Rob
Richardson, the facility in the Coega IDZ
formed part of a long-term capital invest-
ment pipeline of R2-billion andwas aimed
at establishing gas supply to serve the lo-
cal industries. “Air Products was the 29th
operational investor in the IDZ and we
truly appreciate this award, which recog-
nises our contribution to thegrowthof the
EasternCape’s regional economy,” he says.
Air Products hadbeen serving custom-
ers in NelsonMandela Bay and surround-
ing areas from the cylinder fill facility in
Deal Party since 1984 until the strategic
decision was taken to enhance the re-
gion’s supply chain network. With the
establishment of the ASU in the Coega
IDZ, Air Products has strengthened its
infrastructure in the Eastern Cape as it
was no longer necessary to truck in the
industrial gas over long distances from
other provinces. Establishinga secure sup-
ply further supported the competitiveness
and sustainability of the business.
Richardson concludes: “We believe
that the quality of our technology and
our strong emphasis on safety, quality and
customer servicewill enable us to add fur-
ther value tomanufacturing and industrial
processes in the region for years to come.”