African Oxygen : News 2016-10-21 Afrox unveils R60m KZN investment

Riverhorse opening Press Release Final 10.10.2016

Leading gases company Afrox today unveiled its flagship facility in the Riverhorse Valley, Durban North. The filling and engineering services hub represents an investment of more than R60 million and is a sign of confidence in the KwaZulu-Natal economy, said Afrox GM Operations Jan Ntuli.

"This modern 18 000 square metre site is designed to international standards, best practice and expertise to guarantee our gases and services are of the highest quality," said Ntuli. "Operations are backed by the best in technologies and expertise of the global gases, engineering and technology giant, The Linde Group.

"Afrox now has the ability to meet the growing demands of large and small industry across KZN with a filling capacity of 22 000 cylinders a month which is an improvement of 15% from the Old Plant which was in Mayden Wharf . A fully-stocked warehouse, Customer Engineering Services, Service Engineering Department and a fleet of 10 distribution vehicles, all under one roof and this ensures that we maximise the synergies between various departments to deliver excellent customer service."

Afrox Riverhorse Valleyoffers a convenient one-stop-shop for Argoshield, CO2, Nitrogen, Helium, medical and food grade gases as well as Portable Cryogenic Containers.

The facility is hi-tech in design with the "heart of the hub" run by PLC controlled automated cylinder filling technology. In keeping with the high standards of good manufacturing practice, the new state- of-the-art medical filing plant is independent of the industrial filling hub.

Afrox Riverhorse Valley is also supported by a fully equipped onsite cylinder test shop, ensuring the high pressure gas cylinders are maintained and hydrostatically tested to legal requirements, adding a further safety feature to Afrox products.

Afrox MD Schalk Venter said: "Our R60m Riverhorse Valley facility is geared specifically for efficiency and cost-effectiveness, aimed at benefiting customers in the medical, hospitality and industrial sectors, and sets a new standard by which modern industrial gases hubs will be measured.

"In support of this new investment in KZN, our supplies of Handigas LPG via our Pinetown operations are guaranteed with added support of imported product into the Bidvest Tank Terminal in Richards Bay, where upgraded road and rail links ensures Afrox can deliver its LPG in bulk, on time, all the time." said Venter.