South32’s Chief Operating Officer, Southern Africa, Noel Pillay, shared his industry outlook at the Aluminium Federation of South Africa’s International Aluminium Conference.
The conference took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, over the 25 and 26 February.
This year marks 30 years since Hillside Aluminium began and after three decades it remains the largest aluminium smelter in the southern hemisphere, and one of South Africa’s most significant industrial operations.
Mr Pillay shared that the smelter’s next chapter is just as important as its first and outlined the joint work underway with Eskom to support Hillside’s transition to lower-carbon energy.
“Getting Hillside’s energy transition right matters, not just for South32, but for South Africa. Decarbonising aluminium smelters is a challenging job, we’re working with partners like Eskom to identify projects that can deliver affordable, renewable energy to the grid, from which Hillside and other customers can benefit,” he stated.
Mr Pillay also spoke on Hillside’s expanding role in South Africa’s downstream aluminium economy, from growing liquid metal deliveries to Hulamin and Bingelela alloys from 110 to 240 kilotonnes annually, to a R200 million ($12.4M) commitment to support local aluminium rod manufacturing at the Bayside facility in Richards Bay.
Hillside partners with around 1,000 South African suppliers, has spent R23 billion ($1.4bn) on local procurement over the past decade and invested R415 million ($25.7M) in social programmes reaching 5.1 million people.
“It is important for all in the aluminium value chain to continue shaping the future of our industry, strengthening collaboration, advancing sustainability, creating new jobs and unlocking new opportunities for South Africa,” Mr Pillay concluded.
