Producer
Sasol
South African integrated energy and chemicals company (JSE/NYSE-listed); unique in the LAB market for using Fischer-Tropsch (FT) wax cracking to produce its own normal paraffins (NP) — the LAB feedstock — rather than sourcing from oil refineries. Sasol operated LAB plants in Lake Charles, Louisiana (USA) and Augusta, Sicily (Italy); both were mothballed in Q2-Q3 2025 due to 'decline in competitiveness due to energy costs in Europe and market oversupply.' Also produces synthetic fuels, commodity chemicals, and specialty chemicals from coal- and gas-based FT processes in South Africa.
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1 input Sasol supplies
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Synthetic Fuels (CTL/GTL)
35%LAB & Surfactant Intermediates
22%Base Chemicals & Polymers
28%Performance Chemicals
15%
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Did you know2024
Sasol is tracked in the detergent supply chain for its LAB (linear alkylbenzene) production, but the same Fischer-Tropsch wax-cracking platform that produces normal paraffins for LAB also produces higher-chain waxes used in food packaging coatings, cosmetics, candles, and pharmaceutical tablet coatings. More strategically: Sasol's FT synthesis technology is the primary commercial blueprint for power-to-liquids (PtL) sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) — a carbon-neutral fuel made from green hydrogen and CO2. Airlines and aviation regulators who track SAF development are watching Sasol's technology closely, unaware they are examining the same process chemistry that was built by an apartheid government to burn South African coal.
Sasol Limited ↗Origin2023
Sasol was founded in 1950 by the South African government as Suid-Afrikaanse Steenkool en Olie (South African Coal, Oil and Gas Corporation), explicitly to provide fuel independence for an apartheid state that faced international oil embargo risks. Sasol commercialized the Fischer-Tropsch coal-to-liquids (CTL) process at its Secunda complex in Mpumalanga — the world's largest CTL operation — running for over 40 years on South African coal. The same sanctions-era technology Sasol developed to make apartheid South Africa energy-self-sufficient is now considered a key technology platform for power-to-liquids green hydrogen conversion.
Sasol Limited ↗Incident2025
Sasol mothballed its LAB production units at Lake Charles, Louisiana and Augusta, Sicily in Q2-Q3 2025, citing 'decline in competitiveness due to energy costs in Europe and market oversupply.' Sasol had already closed LAB plants in Baltimore, MD and Porto Torres, Italy in 2007. The Sasol pattern — geographic retreat from Western markets due to cost pressures from Asian competitors — mirrors what happened to US and European tinplate, aluminum foil, and other commodity chemicals. The mothballing removes significant Western LAB capacity, increasing the Atlantic basin's dependence on Spanish (CEPSA) and Indian (IOCL, Reliance) supply.
Chemical Week ↗