ONE TEAM - ONE GOAL !

LADUMA

JV in Ghana – page 5

ALCO2 created – page 2

GRAND GOLD award – page 5

DISTILLERY upgrade – page 4

June 2013

Stay alert, don’t get hurt

MESSAGE FROM THE MD

Peter Starling

service delivery at optimum cost; this will require some bedding down as it involves change, but should now begin to translate into lower distribution costs. Sales volumes for the first half of the year are similar to last year, but profitability has improved significantly although it is still behind budget due to the delay of some bulk shipments. These will take place during July and a strong second-half performance, supported by the weakened rand, is expected. The local sugar industry is experiencing an excellent season relative to the previous five years, and the resulting improvement in molasses availability will further support our performance.

The first concrete step in the development of an African distribution strategy was taken with the formation of MidlandNCP in Ghana in April. Trading activities will be starting in July and the storage and drumming infrastructure is currently being installed, with the first bulk shipment expected to arrive in October.

During the first six months of 2013 NCP has been undergoing some change. The implementation of the new supply-chain structure has impacted on many of NCP’s staff and while change can be unsettling it is necessary for the business to keep pace with the demand for continuous improvement and optimisation as required by the ever-changing business environment.

In this dynamic environment, change has become an ongoing process which does not have a finite end. It is important to keep focused on getting the job done while adjusting to change. This requires commitment and leadership by all involved, and I would like to commend the staff of NCP for doing this.

The ongoing use of the new supply-chain planning, forecasting and scheduling tools is starting to become routine and this is allowing for better analysis of our future stock and transport requirements. With this information we can adjust “the way things are done” in order to improve

Front cover: Seen with the upgraded Bottom Distillery are, from left, Lumeshni Govender, Mervin Kullen, Stephen Kitching, Shon Roopnarain and Judica Somers.2

ALCO2 called to life The Alcogroup has created a new trading company, ALCO2, which will trade carbon dioxide (CO2) allowances in Europe. This company will be located in our Brussels offices and will be operated by Mr Gauthier Bily, CEO. Gauthier has developed CO2 trading activities since 2005 while at Calyon, Fortis Bank, Axis Alternatives and more recently while he was Head Trader CO2 at Global Commodities.

He will team up with Olivier Barriot who has worked for banks in London and Paris such as Credit Agricole, Société Générale, CIBC World Markets, and Ixis. Since 2008 he was Senior Manager at Axis Alternatives for selected assignments in commodity and environmental markets.

The European Trading Scheme (ETS) for CO2 has led to the development of CO2 trading allowances. To give an idea of the size of the market, over 70 million allowances are now traded per day, while in 2011 some six billion allowances with a total value of 77 billion Euros were traded.

The CO2 market is presently in an over surplus of allowances situation, and the price has reduced to about 3 Euros/Mt.

Certain banks and other operators are exiting these markets, their fixed costs being too high to generate profits at these low price levels. Having the opportunity to attract a very well- known and experienced CO2 trading team and with our lean cost-effective organisation, we are convinced that it was the right time to enter this market; we believe ALCO2 has the potential to become an important actor in this CO2 ETS market.

CO2 trading is linked to energy and environmental services, which could in the future be an important new development for Alcogroup. ALCO2 will also develop synergies with other Alco customers by offering them environmental trading services. Gauthier is facilitating the registration of Alco2 which will be fully operational in July.

Gauthier Bily

Olivier Barriot

We are looking at this initiative to increase the Alcogroup presence in Africa. Further distribution investment in Africa is planned for this year.

Do the do’s, not the don’ts 3

Meet the leadership team at NCP Alcohols, a phenomenal group of talented, performance-driven individuals who share one goal; to be part of a team that produces and supplies world-class-quality natural ethanol products focusing with passion on building strong partnerships to grow with their customers and suppliers.

Driving continuousimprovement

Peter StarlingManaging Director

André van der WesthuizenSupply Chain Executive

Mark Norton-AmorFinancial Executive

Gary BregovitsOperations Executive

Ashraf MoosaFinancial Accountant

Elaine WilsonMarketing Manager

Rodgers NiranjanProcurement Manager

Louie PillayUtilities Manager

Lorraine MudalySafety, Health, Environment andQuality Systems Manager

Stephen KitchingChemical Engineer

Zinhle MdadaneProduction Manager

Franck MaubertExports Manager

Patrick MadlalaSupply Manager (Int.)

Carl FreyerEngineering Manager

Mark ImmelmanNational Sales Manager

Biddy HarmerSupply Manager (SA)

Ace GovenderQuality Manager

Say ‘no’ to carelessness4

World class, we’re doing it again ...With the ‘Bottom Distillery Upgrade Project’ in its final phase, all eyes are on the target dates of 24-26 June when the final switch over will take place. That’s when the old Bottom Distillery will be switched off, and the reconfiguration and tying-in of new lines will happen. After that, it should take two to three days to start up the distillery and produce on-spec potable ethanol at capacity.

Said, Stephen Kitching, the Project Manager, “Not only will we then have an additional 11 000 kl of product per year, but the quality will be improved with a less than 10 ppm potable product. This will bring the Bottom Distillery into line with the Top Distillery – world class.”

Said Stephen, “Special thanks should go out to the project team, especially for those members who have had to deal with the some of the smaller detail which is less fun to do but the project doesn’t happen without it. In particular Lumeshni Govender has played a crucial role in making things happen and then following through.”

Although NCP engineers started five years ago looking at various options for renewing and upgrading the Bottom Distillery, a commitment to start the project with the current design and scope was made in January 2012. The design allowed for upgrading the potable section of the Bottom Distillery as well as

a capacity increase of 57% on Bottom Distillery production.

The potable column turned out to be complicated to build as it contained portions of re-engineered old column sections, and only once complete could the total length of the column be appreciated.

One of the bigger challenges during the project, interestingly, was getting the potable column out of the workshop of the manufacturer (LHL) in New Germany. Eventually, the riggers had to lift the entire

back of the truck with the column on it over a small retaining wall using two crane trucks, to get it out the gate. Then came 19 December 2012, when two new columns were to be installed. The topping column was installed

first. The plan was then to lower the steel structure down over the top of the column, but some platform clashes prevented this. The wind then picked up, preventing the potable column from being lifted. The crane returned at 6am the following morning and after a few complications had been sorted out (eg the potable column was heavier than anticipated), both the potable column and the steel structure were lowered into position.

By the end of May, the project had not suffered any safety incidents and was within budget.

Getting the two new

columns to site was a challenge – one was

28 metres long, and the other 29 metres long.

One of

the two

columns is

lowered into

position at the ‘Bottom Distillery’.

BOTTOM

DISTILLERY

WILL PRODUCE

TOP QUALITY

ETHANOL

It’s COOL to work safely 5

NCP Alcohols were awarded Grand Gold for our Ethanol 96% and Light Spirits 43% by the Organising Committee of the Monde Selection International Quality Institute for the 2013 World Quality Selections.

The Alcogroup has concluded a distribution joint venture in Ghana with Midland International Ghana Ltd. The venture, known as MidlandNCP, has been set up in line with the Alcogroup’s strategic development which focuses on Africa.

The continent has, due to its demography and rising standards of living, an average 7% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate – which offers an important development in terms of ethanol sales. The Alcogroup, including NCP Alcohols, Alcotra and Alcodis, has to date the largest market share in ethanol sales in Africa and the development of such a distribution network is a priority in the group’s strategy.

MidlandNCP will be 55% owned by Midland International Ghana and 45% by the Alcogroup. The Midland International Ghana shareholder is a subsidiary of the Pinnacle group, which also owns Kasapreko, the largest bottling company in Ghana.

Following the shareholders agreement, both Midland International and the Alcogroup will have an equal number of board members and the general manager will be nominated by the Alcogroup.

The MidlandNCP board members are:

Peter Starling (Managing Director of NCP Alcohols and in charge of the Alcogroup’s activities in Africa),

Benoit Verbruggen (Director and Executive Committee Member of the Alcogroup),

Dr Kwabena Adjei (Owner of Pinnacle), Obed-Owusu-Kissi (CEO of Pinnacle), and Samuel L Adetola (CEO of the Capital Group) as the independent

chairman of the MidlandNCP board.

Patrick Madlala is congratulated by MD Peter Starling.

Only theBEST is goodenough forourcustomers

Patrick Madlala, who has been appointed by the Alcogroup as the first general manager of MidlandNCP, says, “My new position comes with great responsibility as this is an important development in terms of ethanol sales for us as a group. I am up for the challenge and look forward to expanding our African market share.”

Alcogroupin distributionjoint venturein Ghana

Safety is MY responsibility

Who ‘nose’ best?

6

A new, quieter and more spacious Training Academy is now in use. The room is wired for computer training, and computers can easily be installed when required. The venue also has wi-fi.

Says Gary Bregovits, Operations Executive, “In addition, we have outsourced the management of our training to MLG, which will ensure that the standard of training is high and training credits acknowledged.”

New and better Training Academy set up

Mark Immelman and Nomvula Dlamini see who has the best nose for impurities.

Get Organised Filing Project was called into life by the NCP Alcohols executive team to find a logical way to keep the company’s electronic and paper filing organised. This drive will also include a tidy desk and drawer drive. Filing is not the greatest pastime but it is crucial for the proper functioning of a company’s administration.

The class of 2013 in the new Training Academy.

One of the more esoteric aspects of alcohol production is nosing, which is the sniffing out of imperfections in the product. While NCP’s current champ is Ace Govender, a nose-off challenge is to be held between Mark Immelman representing the Commercial team and Nomvula Dlamini representing Operations. The result will show who “nose” best when it comes to smelling out the best of the best for our clients.

Both Mark and Nomvula feel that they have the upper “nose” when it comes to sniffing out quality. To view the pair in action, make sure you are in the foyer between 08:30 and 09:00 on 13, 14, 18 and 19 June to see the nose-off of all nose-offs taking place right under our noses!

Efficiency beginswith proper filing ...

Don’t be a fool, use the proper tool 7

We’ll be raisingthe bar on safety

The April shutdown has come and gone. Giving praise where it is due, Carl Freyer, Engineering Manager, said, “NCP staff delivered a safe and effective performance this year – a very big thank you to all. Due to additional pre- and post-shutdown activities, some maintenance staff worked long hours for 16 consecutive days and without a single safety incident and special thanks must go to them. “However, a contractor was injured when he lent sideways while up a ladder, and fell. We have had a safety talk on the safe use of ladders and scaffolds, now we need to keep an eye on contractors in future to have incident-free shutdowns.”

Wilson Madlala, Assistant Storeman, shows his ‘can do’ attitude ...

Sue Stewart is scared of needles but realizes that donating blood is a free gift and can save a life.She donated her 67th ‘pint’ of blood when SANBS Staff Nurse Aletta Knipe and the Blood Bank came to NCP recently.

The staff at NCP Alcohols have traditionally supported the Blood Bank, so it was no surprise in early June when they visited our site again and 12 people donated a ‘pint’ of blood each.

Said Sue Stewart, focal point between the SA National Blood Service and NCP, “This was particularly pleasing because June is National Blood Donor month, and stocks of blood need to be built up before the July holidays.”

Since September 2010, NCP people have donated 123 ‘pints’ of blood, including the above. (A ‘pint’ of blood is 500 ml.)

Recycleand saveWe all know recycling makes sense, so here’s a request that we ALL try just a little harder to put our cans, plastic and glass in the bins which are marked, well, cans, plastic and glass.

There are three recycling stations on site, one at CMS Loading, one outside the Boiler area, and one outside the Canteen.

Take paper for example. Every ton of paper recycled saves 17 trees and uses 40% less energy. And remember, a modern glass bottle in a landfill will take more than 4000 years to decompose. Think about that!

Donate - and make a difference

Carl Freyer

Don’t learn safety by accident

Teams getting things done

8

The 2013 in-service students

have once again dazzled us

with their creativity and have

come up with a ‘magic wizard’

theme to collect warm clothing

for iCare in Stamford Hill Road.

iCare is a non-profit organ-

isation that aims to relieve

the plight of street children

in Durban by taking them in

and providing them with food,

clothes, and the opportunity to

rehabilitate from addictions and

to reunite with family members

where possible.

Our students’ Winter Warmers

Magic theme will definitely

create a sparkle for those few

children that we are able to

reach with our donations.

This fun team was involved in the electronic notice board

project, from left, Osborne Magaqa, Siyabonga Mazibuko,

Judica Somers, Lucky Ntuli, Ricardo Peters and Andreas

Mazibuko.

Electronic communication

boards have been installed

in various areas around

the plant to increase the

corporate communication

footprint at NCP Alcohols.

Electronic communication

screens are a very

effective medium to use

as it is highly visual and

animated. Screens have

been installed in the office

block reception area, the

engineering workshop,

and the main control room

in the plant. Other screens

can be found in the canteen

and on the first floor with

the supply chain team.

Those clever students have formed One Team, and their One Goal is to create some warmth this winter. They are, from left,

Nobuhle Ngema, Zamancwane Zungu, Saneliso Mazibuko, Julian Arran, Syabonga Mazibuko, Jivenika Sewpersadh, Raylin

Lallupersad and Trishen Reddy. Not in the photograph: Reshmika Bachoo.

REACHING OUT WITH MAGIC

IT’S ALL DONE

WITH SCREENS