South Africa: Aluminium foundry sector on the decline -- energy limitations

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Eskom is considering restrictions on industry, allowing them to buy 90% of the average energy used in the previous financial year, which ended in September last year. The utility also plans to limit growth in electrical supply by 4%, to service a 6% growth in demand.

Krieg says these restrictions will result in an entirely different cash flow analysis. While the aluminium industry is generally on the increase, the challenge of the energy limitations, coupled with the envisaged limit of the growth of electrical supply to 4% a year, implies a move away from primary beneficiation in the aluminium industry towards less energy intensive downstream value addition,” says Krieg.

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article.php?a_id=142719