South Africa’s growing reliance on imported refined fuel has increased its exposure to global supply-chain disruption, shipping volatility, exchange-rate pressure and geopolitical risk.
Local bio-ethanol production could help reduce this exposure by creating a domestic fuel-blending stream, Blueprint Holdings CEO Josie Rowe-Setz said during the Localisation Support Fund’s (LSF’s) roundtable discussion in Sandton last week.
The roundtable focused on findings from the South African Sorghum-to-Bioethanol Study, which identifies domestic bio-ethanol production as a potential hedge against fuel price volatility and broader supply-chain risk.
South Africa’s fuel security position had deteriorated as domestic refining capacity declined, and the country became more dependent on imported refined fuel products, said Rowe-Setz.
“South Africa’s fuel economy is built on imported energy because we don’t have our own crude. We are importing refined fuel at significantly higher prices.”
South Africa historically imported crude oil for local refining, with some refined products also exported. However, refinery closures and declining refining capacity have reshaped the country’s fuel supply chain.
South Africa’s crude refining capacity has fallen following refinery closures and flood damage, and the country now imports about 75% of its liquid fuel needs, according to the study.
“Basically, every litre of petrol and diesel we import now exposes us to global volatility.”
Reducing that exposure through local bio-ethanol production would depend on more than feedstock availability. A sorghum-to-bioethanol industry would require cultivation zones to be linked to aggregation points, storage sites, processing plants and fuel-blending infrastructure, the study found.
Low-tannin grain sorghum was identified as the most practical near-term feedstock because it can be processed through established first-generation starch-to-ethanol technology, avoiding the higher technical risk associated with second-generation biomass routes.
The study identified the Bothaville-Kroonstad-Sasolburg corridor as an indicative priority zone for grain sorghum cultivation and associated logistics, including road freight routes between the proposed Mabele Fuels plant and Natref in Sasolburg.
South Africa has national fuel distribution and blending infrastructure that could support ethanol integration into the fuel market, but commercial scale-up would depend on mandate certainty, financing mechanisms, long-term offtake agreements and coordinated investment across feedstock supply, production and distribution, the study found.
© Now Media. This content, including images, is protected by copyright and may not be copied, reused, adapted or republished without permission. If you would like to discuss content-sharing or cooperation opportunities, please contact: editor@freightnews.co.za.
