Oxygen supply crunch due to Covid-19 bites industrial users

A month of disrupted bulk industrial oxygen supply has left local companies scrambling to find alternatives, a development that has adversely affected production and spurred input costs.

The oxygen shortage has affected production at its Ngodwana wood pulp mill in Mpumalanga, resulting in a loss of 25,000 tonnes of saleable product, Sappi, the world’s largest maker of biodegradable wood pulp used as an alternative in the textile industry, said this week...