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Aluminium ProductionThe aluminium industry in KwaZulu-Natal was established
in the industrial area of Richards Bay in the 1970s to
take advantage of the deep water port development and the
availability of electrical power.
The Bayside Aluminium plant was completed in 1971. The
plant produces aluminium in extruded and rolled forms such
as bars, ingots, billets, rods and flat coils, plain or
anodised.
Approximately 1.6 million tons per annum of
imported
alumina that is unloaded in bulk at the port and conveyed
to the plant. In addition, 40, 000 tons of liquid pitch is
transported by road from Sasolburg, and a range of other
inputs such as refractory blocks are imported through
Richards Bay or received by road.
Approximately 300,000 tons of petroleum coke is imported
through Richards Bay as input to the process at the
smelters.
Bayside Aluminium Smelter
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Annual production at Bayside is approximately 200,000 tons
of aluminium per year.
The Hillside Alluminium plant opened in 1996, and has a
yearly output of approximately 700,000 tons.
The entire output is transported to the Bayside Plant
in specialised rail and road molten pot tankers. The combined output of the two plants is nearly 1.0
million tons per year.
Exports total 560, 000 tons of which 100, 000 tons are
railed
to the port of Durban and 460, 000 tons are exported
through
Richards Bay.
The South African market of 165 000 tons includes 150 000
tons consigned to the aluminium extrusion plant in
Pietermaritzburg.
Aluminium Plant – PietermaritzburgThe aluminium plant in Pietermaritzburg produces a large
range of extrusions in the form of sheet, plate,
film, angles, rods, etc., for construction, packaging,
fabrication and building applications.
Inputs to the process arrive by road from Bayside
Aluminium
in Richards Bay. In addition, to the 28,000 tons
of aluminium by road, there are approximately 25, 000 tons
per
annum of production supplies such as laquers, gas, paint,
packaging and rolling oil, all of which are transported by
road.
The output of the plant is 28,000 tons of mixed products
that
are distributed by road throughout South Africa, and a
further 95,000 tons are exported through the port of
Durban.
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