South African petrochemicals producer Sasol (Johannesburg; www.sasol.com) has dismissed its two CEOs Stephen Cornell and Bongani Nqwababa over fall-out concerning the staggering costs for the construction of an ethane cracker on the US Gulf Coast – see Plasteurope.com of 06.08.2019. Cornell and Nqwababa left at the end of October 2019. As of November, Fleetwood Grobler, executive VP of the chemicals division, takes over as president and CEO. Sasol said that Cornell and Nqwababa “have agreed to an amicable separation with the company,” with Grobler adding that “the board has neither identified misconduct nor incompetence on the part of the joint CEOs.”

An independent review in May 2019 set the final cost for the cracker and downstream polymerisation at USD 12.6 bn to USD 12.9 bn (EUR 11.4 bn to EUR 11.6 bn). This is double the amount originally intended in 2012, when the cost was estimated at around USD 5 bn to USD 7 bn – see Plasteurope.com of 07.12.2012.

Sasol’s board largely holds the former leadership of the project management team responsible and has already dismissed three senior vice presidents who had a hand in the US project. The company’s board said the conduct of the project management “was inappropriate, demonstrated a lack of competence and was not transparent.” There is, however, insufficient evidence to support claims of an intent to defraud.