South African petrochemical company Sasol plans to export sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to the European Union (EU) after obtaining certification from a German agency, paving the way for exports to begin, a senior company official revealed on Thursday (23).
Sasol’s SAF, produced from used cooking oil and vegetable oil at the Natref refinery, which has a capacity of 108,500 barrels per day, received ISCC Plus sustainability certification from the German agency TÜV SÜD. The same entity also certified sustainable chemicals produced at the Secunda complex, the company said.
“South Africa has large quantities of used cooking oil, which is collected, transported to Durban, and exported to Rotterdam in the European Union, where it is converted into SAF,” said Sarushen Pillay, Sasol’s executive vice president of strategy and technology. “Now, we will be able to produce it in South Africa,” he added.
He did not specify when Sasol plans to begin exports to the European Union, which mandates a 6% blend of SAF for aircraft using European airports by 2030, rising to 70% by 2050.
The conflict between the United States (U.S.), Israel, and Iran has significantly reduced the global supply of jet fuel, with the EU being one of the hardest-hit regions, as sharp price increases and dwindling stockpiles put pressure on airlines ahead of a potentially critical summer peak season.
Depending on customer demand, Natref, which is being converted into a hybrid biorefinery, aims to produce between one and two million liters this year, around 16 million in 2027, and up to 100 million liters in 2030, as part of Sasol’s strategy to reduce its carbon footprint and adapt to new specifications for cleaner fuels.
“Including the Secunda complex, we could reach around 200 million liters of SAF by 2030,” Pillay said.
Sasol, one of Africa’s largest industrial polluters, has also established partnerships with Anglo American and De Beers to utilize plants such as the high-oil-yield Solaris crop, aiming to develop biolipid feedstock for its SAF production.
Challenging European Market
According to a study by the World Wide Fund for Nature—a non-governmental organization dedicated to environmental conservation—South Africa has the potential to produce between 3.2 and 4.5 billion liters of SAF per year, primarily from invasive vegetation.
“This is a first step,” said James Reeler, a climate expert at WWF. “Essentially, Sasol is testing the market to see what price premium it can command for this product, which is crucial at this point.”
However, the expert cautioned that the European market remains challenging for Sasol’s synthetic aviation fuel (eSAF) due to the difficulty in tracking and certifying the molecules as renewable at the highly integrated Secunda complex.
According to a May 2025 study by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), eight of the world’s ten largest SAF users, including the IAG group (owner of British Airways) and Air France-KLM, have a presence in South Africa.
“Opportunities exist for these companies to diversify their SAF supply with product from South Africa, provided it is cost-competitive compared to other options available on the global market,” the study notes.
Source: Reuters
