Angolan firm confident of return after fire

Angola's national lubes provider is recovering from a major fire at its Mulemba factory.

The blaze, at Sonangol's site in the Cacuaco district of Luanda, took around 10 hours to extinguish and destroyed two warehouses containing raw and finished materials and damaged other parts of the lubes and fuel plant.  Fortunately, the manufacturing area of the site was relatively untouched by the fire.

Although a full investigation is underway, early suggestions indicate the fire may have started in a house or building adjacent to the site and spread into the factory compound.

A statement from the company in the days after the fire stated that steps were being taken to return the 30,000m² site to full production as quickly as possible.  The statement also praised and thanked the emergency services and other lubes production companies in the area for their assistance.

Sonangol, or Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola, produces around 20,000 tonnes of NGOL branded lubricants annually at the factory.

Tags: Africa, Corporate News, Lubricants