PHOTO: Safripol has been manufacturing HDPE at Sasolburg since 1972 and PP since 1996. Today it has a capacity of 180 000 tons p/a of HD and 130 000 tpa of PP. The plant and the site has been well maintained and many of the approximate 250-strong workforce have been with the company since 1999 and before. That year the business was bought by Dow Chemical Company from the Hoechst group, which established the plant originally. It was bought from Dow in 2007 by a consortium including members of Safripol’s management team, ABSA and Thebe Investments. KAP has purchased the shares of all the previous joint owners

IT WAS a virtual who’s who in the convertors zoo at the official launch of the ‘new’ Safripol recently, following the Sasolburg material manufacturer’s purchase by KAP Holdings.

The R4,1-billion transaction was completed late last year and KAP took over as the new owner on 3 January. Violins were playing (electric ones actually) at the cocktail function at Monte Casino in February to mark what, for the industry, was an auspicious occasion. Gone are the venture capital funds and KAP group, which also owns PET manufacturer Hosaf, is out-and-out a manufacturing business and looks to be fully committed to the success of Safripol and obviously, with the scale of its investment in the industry, of the plastics converting sector in the region.

But the speeches were kept short and Leigh Pollard, CEO of KAP Chemicals, and hence in charge of both Hosaf and Safripol, appears to not seek the spotlight unduly. This statement needs to be judged with caution as just one pressman and one photographer were present at the pleasant event at a patio lounge amidst the impressive gardens at Monte.

However, Pollard did add that: “We don’t buy businesses, we buy people,” which is no doubt correct as Safripol possesses a long-serving and committed staff compliment. The thing that did, however, possibly encourage KAP to make up its mind was the state of the Safripol plant at Sasolburg, which although relatively old, has been well maintained.

The plant (as well as those of Sasol and Hosaf) is effectively a national asset and the likelihood of another plant of similar scale being constructed in South Africa is extremely unlikely, at this stage or in the foreseeable future.

“We don’t buy anything where there aren’t barriers to entry,” added Pollard, which quite clearly is the case here.

Safripol head of sales Bernhard Mahl also got through his speech in record time.

“We are happy to be part of KAP group and look forward to playing a bigger role as part of the KAP industrial complex,” said Mahl.

Rather than lofty statements and promises, the ‘new’ Safripol seems to be leaning the way of letting the quality of its material and reliability of supply do the talking.