Sasol shares rise despite Louisiana plant outage in 02 update

SASOL'S Louisiana Integrated Polyethylene joint venture cracker experienced an extended outage in the three months to December 31.

- EDWARD WEST

SASOL said its operations in Southern Africa were stable in the three months to December 31, 2025, although its joint venture plant in Louisiana experienced an extended outage.

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"The plant was successfully restarted at the end of December 2025. Our self-help measures continued to deliver benefits, which led to lower costs and capital expenditure," directors said on Thursday in a business update. An online search showed that LyondellBasell, as co-owner of the plant, had to balance the Louisiana outage first reported in November, against its global cracker network, mitigating supply disruptions through other facilities.

The outage, however, did not appear to dampen investor sentiment following the release of Sasol's business update, as the share was a top mover on the JSE in the morning, rising 6.1% to R106.33. The price has risen steadily since a new strategy to optimise operations and meet decarbonisation targets was announced at a Capital Markets Day, in May 2025.

The oil-from-coal and chemicals group, which is also one of the biggest harmful emissions emitters on the continent, said Thursday it maintained stable operations through the second quarter of its 2024 financial year to December 31, 2025, in an uncertain trading environment.