South African phosphate producer Foskor said on Thursday that a fire on Wednesday at its acid plant in the coastal city of Richards Bay will not impact production and supply, even though conveyors were damaged.
The fire, the cause of which is still being investigated, broke out on Wednesday at a rock phosphate transfer tower where phosphate rock and sulphur are conveyed into stores, Foskor said in a statement.
It was extinguished before any severe damage could occur to the conveyor structure, and no employees or contractors were hurt, said Musa Xulu, general manager of logistics, shipping and materials handling at Foskor.
"The fire outbreak will have no impact on our production nor on the ability of Foskor to supply our products to the customers," Xulu said. "The damaged conveyors are expected to be operational by end of June, 2020."
Foskor mines phosphate rock in Phalaborwa, in the northern Limpopo province, and produces phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, and phosphate-based granular fertilisers in Richards Bay in the southeastern KwaZulu-Natal province.