omnia holdings annual report 2010 omnia holdings annu

36 OMNIA ANNUAL REPORT 2010 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT continued
generation electronic delay detonator has been successfully
tested and is being introduced to the market. Both in terms of
safety and operational efficiency, we expect these technologies
to bring about significant cost savings for our clients.
We continue to invest in and implement best-of-class
technologies which conform to the highest standards of
sustainable environmental development. Our R1,4 billion
investment in a second nitric acid complex – one of our biggest
investments in South Africa to date – to provide raw materials
which have been in short supply for a number of years,
particularly in the mining and agriculture sectors where
Omnia already has well-developed markets, is testament
to this objective.
The plant, whose emissions will be significantly below legislation
requirements, will be run in parallel to our existing plant, with
demand growth projections showing that the full output will be
absorbed by Omnia’s downstream explosives and fertilizer units
within the near term, and would position Omnia in a production
league similar to that of its main competitors.
Importantly, the project will be entirely energy self-sufficient and
will produce enough electricity to service about one-half of the
needs for the adjacent Omnia plant – a significant energy saving
that is of vital importance in the context of South Africa’s
power stresses.
During the period under review, the Group’s total energy
consumption decreased from 8,69 million gigajoules in 2009
to 8,1 million gigajoules in 2010, while our total energy
consumption per ton of product manufactured dropped by
almost 17% over the period.
This reduction in energy use can mainly be attributed to
optimisation efforts and the implementation of a new generator
at our fertilizer plant in Sasolburg.
Predictions show that more than 1,5 million people in South
Africa would be affected by severe water shortages in the
next 15 years. Omnia’s joint venture during the year with water
treatment company Nalco will assist industrial services clients in
Africa, a market which is expected to grow significantly over the
next 10 years, to reduce their environmental impact.
Using Nalco’s water and process treatment technologies,
which since 2004 has saved more than 596 million cubic metres
of water worldwide, will introduce savings both in energy
and in industrial water use, and reduce total operating costs,
particularly in the energy, mining, food and beverage, and paper
and pulp sectors.
The associate with Nalco Africa complements Omnia’s existing
chemicals business and demonstrates our continued
commitment to growing our business through proactive
management of South Africa’s scarce water resources.
During the first five years, 50% of research and development
of the company’s investment in South Africa would be taken up
by training spend for Nalco Africa, to assist in skills development
through establishing world-class training facilities and the
transfer of knowledge and expertise.
Against a backdrop of increasing mobility in an era of uneven
globalisation and South Africa’s acute technical skills shortages,
we achieved, during the year, Level 5 status in our BBBEE
formal verification in terms of the Department of Trade and
Industry’s BBBEE Codes of Good Practice. Our performance
in this regard in terms of skills, enterprise and socio-economic
development underpins our focus on developing employees
and communities, and addressing the skills challenge faced
by the Group.
Due to the financial crisis, the World Bank in early 2010
predicted that an estimated 64 million more people worldwide
will fall into extreme poverty, defined as living on less than
US$1,25 per day. Individuals and communities in developing
countries such as those in Africa will be especially affected,
and together with food insecurity, pose great challenges for
sustainable development and improved livelihoods.
We believe that with appropriate assistance, Africa has the
potential to become a significant contributor in addressing these
growing concerns over a looming global food crisis. Fertilizer use
in Africa, at around eight kilograms per hectare, is less than 10%
of the world average. Clearly, increased use of fertilizer, together
with Omnia’s applied agronomic expertise, could help to
promote food security and alleviate hunger and rural poverty.
With growing urbanisation throughout Africa, the amount of
available arable land per capita by 2050 is predicted to be
reduced to half of what is available today, and as fewer,