Chemical leak a 'wake-up call' for Orica

Orica says leaks from its Kooragang Island plant in Newcastle have been an enormous wake up call to the company.

Orica closed several plants at Kooragang Island after a leak of hexavalent chromium in August and a separate release of ammonium in November.

The closures cost the company about $4 million per week, meaning a total cost in the range of $40 million to $50 million this financial year so far, managing director Graeme Liebelt said.

Ammonium production at Kooragang Island resumed this week, and permission to resume all operations was granted yesterday.

Mr Liebelt told Orica's annual general meeting in Melbourne that the leaks were completely unacceptable, and he offered sincere apologies to everyone who has been affected.

"In short, it has been an enormous wake up call for our company and we will apply that learning to all of our major plants," he said.

Chairman Peter Duncan said there were eight incidents at Kooragang Island that were reported to the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage in the 2010/11 financial year. "Over the course of the year we undertook over 6000 tests at the site and this represents a compliance rate of over 99 per cent," he said.

"Going forward we will strive for 100 per cent."

Mr Liebelt said the outlook for the chemicals market was positive, with demand from the resource sector to remain strong.

"The outlook for chemicals is for continued strong conditions in the mining chemicals markets, and modest growth in the other sectors," he said.

"So we head into 2012 with momentum and with a strong and proven business strategy."