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Johannesburg, 2 May 2018 – The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) is worried about the impact the US’s decision to permanently impose large tariffs on the importation of steel and aluminium products would have on the broader South African steel industry

Despite South African exports of steel and aluminium to the US accounting for only 1.4 percent and 1.6 percent of U.S global imports respectively, these were still deemed as significant enough to threaten or impair US national security. The import tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum products initiated under section 232 of the action plan on the basis of safeguarding US national security are effective from June 1 2018.

“The decision by the US to reject SA’s application for exemption is a travesty. It is clear that efforts by the South African government representatives, including the formal submission by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, to the US requesting the exclusion of South Africa from the imposition of the duties on the basis that steel and aluminium exports to the US are a source of strategic primary and secondary products used for further value-added manufacturing in the US, thereby contributing to jobs  in both countries, did not prevail,” SEIFSA Chief Economist Michael Ade said this morning.

He added that it now seems the only option available for South African exporters is to individually convince their buyers in the US to lobby for exclusions for individual companies from SA on a case-by-case basis, rather than all South African exporters benefitting from a blanket exemption.

The decision by the US government still favours the original list of countries and regions that were initially temporarily excluded, including the European Union, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South Korea.

“The proclamation by the US will directly cost South frican exporters roughly R3 billion worth of steel products and R474 million worth of aluminium products respectively. This will not only starve the local industry of foreign currency, but it will also have a negative impact on the country’s foreign reserves. A further disruption on trade will include possible reductions in the quantity of steel and aluminium products exported to the US as local companies seek alternative export  markets, thus negatively affecting exports competitiveness,” Dr Ade said.

He added that the second-round effects will invariably be felt by South African companies largely dependent on the US market for exports. He warned that local companies facing the stiff duties may effectively seek ways of reducing costs, including cutting jobs, given their increasing input costs baskets.

In conclusion, Dr Ade said that given the reduction in demand from the US and a possible oversupply from China, there is a possibility of a fall in global commodity prices and eventual dumping of steel and aluminium products into the SA markets.

“In this regard, SA needs to establish a steel import monitoring system that will verify any significant change in imported volumes, given the implementation of the US Section 232 tariffs, should exports to SA rise due to the US restrictions,” said Dr Ade.

Issued by:

Ollie Madlala

Communications Consultant

Tel: (011) 298 9411 / 082 602 1725

Email: ollie@seifsa.co.za

Web: www.seifsa.co.za

SEIFSA is a National Federation representing 23 independent employers. Associations in the metals and engineering industries, with a combined membership of 1600 companies employing around 200 000 employees. The Federation was formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to micro-enterprises employing few than 50 people.

DECREASING PPI TREND GOOD FOR FUTURE CPI EASING, BUT WORRISOME TO PRODUCERS –  SEIFSA

Johannesburg, 26 April 2018 – Although the declining Producer Price Index (PPI) will help cushion the impact of a future increase in the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI), it is worrisome to producers, Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa said today.

The annual producer price inflation data released by Statistics South Africa today indicate the continued easing of inflationary pressure on goods produced by manufacturing firms. The PPI for final manufactured goods dropped to 3,7% year on year in March 2018, down from 4,2% in February 2018; while the year-on-year PPI for intermediate manufactured goods fell to -1,3% in March 2018, from 0,4% in February.

SEIFSA Chief Economist Michael Ade said the improvement in producer inflationary pressure was due to a stronger rand, which reduced the cost of inputs, and the subdued prices of both intermediary and retail products caused by lower demand.

“Considering that the PPI acts as a preview of changes in the future rate of inflation, the lower trending figure for March may help in reducing an expected increase in the headline CPI for April, notwithstanding the VAT increase and higher domestic fuel prices,” Dr Ade said.

He said that although there was an improvement in inflationary pressure on consumers in March, the declining trend in PPI for intermediate manufactured goods, which specifically measures factory gate prices for the M&E cluster, does not augur well for domestic producers. This is because consistent decline in selling price inflation further squeezes producers’ margins, making it harder for producers to pass input price increases for intermediate manufactured goods on to consumers.

“Generally, given that the demand for both intermediate and retail or finished goods tends to be more price elastic, the decreasing trend in PPI for intermediate manufactured goods is perturbing since it makes it difficult for producers to pass on cost increases in the market. Producers are, therefore, compelled to absorb some of the volatility in input prices in order to keep prices more stable, given the psychological benefits of keeping prices stable,” Dr Ade said.

However, given the possibility of an improvement in the current business cycle, against the backdrop of improving commodity prices as well as business and consumer confidence, Dr Ade said he expected a rebound in producer inflation over the coming months, which will help producers recoup some of the losses incurred from volatility in input prices.

Ends

Issued by:

Ollie Madlala

Communications Consultant

Tel: (011) 298 9411 / 082 602 1725

Email: ollie@seifsa.co.za

Web: www.seifsa.co.za

SEIFSA is a National Federation representing 23 independent employers.

Associations in the metals and engineering industries, with a combined membership of 1600 companies employing around 200 000 employees. The Federation was formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to micro-enterprises employing few than 50 people.

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merSETA stakeholders

APPLICATION FOR EXTENSION ON THE SUBMISSION OF THE YEAR 19 – MANDATORY AND DISCRETIONARY GRANT

Stakeholders are advised that should they be unable to submit their grant applications on or before Monday, 30 April 2018 that they must apply for an extension via the NSDMS system or via e-mail before the 30 April 2018 deadline.

Stakeholders who have not applied for the extension prior to the 30 April 2018 deadline will not be able to continue with the application process.

Should you be sending an email to admin@merseta.org.za, please make reference to the entity levy number, name of the company and reason for the extension request.

Employer, Employee and Labour SDF registrations and grant applications must be submitted on-line via the following website address:  http://nsdms.merseta.org.za

For assistance, please contact the merSETA regional offices or the call centre on 086 163 7738

JOHANNESBURG, 15 APRIL 2018 – Great companies make for good corporate citizens, positively impacting on their stakeholders, the lives of communities in which they operate as well as the environments in which they operate.

To celebrate the outstanding corporate social responsibility programme by a company in the metals and engineering sector and to encourage others to follow suit, the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) announced its search for an exemplary business with a corporate social investment project that makes the biggest impact on the lives of its beneficiaries.

“The company to walk away with the Best Social Responsibility Programme of the Year Award will be honoured at a gala dinner to be held at the IDC Conference Centre  in Sandton on 24 May,” SEIFSA Chief Executive Officer Kaizer Nyatsumba said.

Last year, ABB South Africa walked away with the Award in this category.

Mr Nyatsumba said that the criteria for the corporate social responsibility category include:

• Highlighting the role of the private sector in addressing social challenges and improving the communities in which they operate;
• Recognising those achieving social impact through partnership, investment, pro-bono work or employee-led initiatives;
• Judges will look for evidence of where these organisations have embedded their principles, aligned them with commercial objectives and achieved a positive and lasting impact on the community;
• Staff Engagement and Development;
• The Community or a Social Cause; and
• Effective Leadership and management involvement.

Entrants will be assessed on their performance in the period 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017.

Established in 2015 out of the need to celebrate excellence in the sector, the SEIFSA Awards for Excellence has seven different categories, with the Best Social Responsibility of the Year Award being one of them.

The other categories are:

• The Most Innovative Company of the Year Award is awarded to a company that has shown the best level of innovation in Research and Development or Production in 2016, in the process of either gaining market advantage or reducing production costs;
• The Health and Safety Award of the Year will be offered to a company with the best legal compliance record in Health and Safety or the lowest Lost-Time Injury Frequency Rate in 2016;
• Companies rated the highest in customer service performance in 2016 will receive the Customer Service Award of the Year;
• The Most Transformed Company of the Year Award will go to a company that showed the highest transformation level in the composition of its Board of Directors, Executive Management and Managerial Team in 2016 (this award category pits companies employing fewer than 100 people against those of similar size, and companies employing more than 100 companies against others of similar size);
• This is the Decade of the Artisan, and an award will be made to the company that trained the highest number of artisans in 2016; and
• The Environment Stewardship Award will go to a company that has made the biggest or best strides towards conserving the environment or mitigating the impact of its operations on the environment in 2016.

Mr Nyatsumba has encouraged manufacturers operating in the metals and engineering sector to submit their entries for the seven categories before the deadline date of 20 April 2018. The Awards are open to all companies in the sector, both SEIFSA members and non-members.

Issued by:

Ollie Madlala

Communications Consultant

Tel: (011) 298 9411 / 082 602 1725

Email: ollie@seifsa.co.za

Web: www.seifsa.co.za

SEIFSA is a National Federation representing 23 independent employers. Associations in the metals and engineering industries, with a combined membership of 1600 companies employing around 200 000 employees. The Federation was formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to micro-enterprises employing few than 50 people.

JOHANNESBURG, 8 APRIL 2018 – The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) calls on companies that have embraced transformation in the metals and engineering sector to submit entries for the Most Transformed Company of the Year category of the SEIFSA Awards for Excellence.

The accolade is awarded to the most transformed company in terms of the composition of its Board of Directors, Executive Management and Management Team in the year 2017.

“Transformation is of paramount importance to South Africa’s future and sustainability. Companies in the metals and engineering sector have begun to embrace transformation, albeit at a painfully slow pace. We seek to celebrate exemplary companies that reflect the diversity of our democratic country,” said SEIFSA Chief Executive Officer Kaizer Nyatsumba.

The winning company will be celebrated during an annual gala dinner to be held on 24 May 2018 at the IDC Conference Centre in Sandton, Johannesburg. The prestigious award will be among others to be bestowed on metals and engineering sector companies as part of the annual SEIFSA Awards for Excellence.

Entries for the awards close on 20 April 2018 for all categories.

The Most Transformed Company of the Year is split into two by company size: the first one covers companies employing few than 100 people and the second one looks at companies employing more than 100 people. This ensures that companies are judged against their peers to encourage fairness.

JOHANNESBURG, 8 APRIL 2018 – The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) calls on companies that have embraced transformation in the metals and engineering sector to submit entries for the Most Transformed Company of the Year category of the SEIFSA Awards for Excellence.

The accolade is awarded to the most transformed company in terms of the composition of its Board of Directors, Executive Management and Management Team in the year 2017.

“Transformation is of paramount importance to South Africa’s future and sustainability. Companies in the metals and engineering sector have begun to embrace transformation, albeit at a painfully slow pace. We seek to celebrate exemplary companies that reflect the diversity of our democratic country,” said SEIFSA Chief Executive Officer Kaizer Nyatsumba.

The winning company will be celebrated during an annual gala dinner to be held on 24 May 2018 at the IDC Conference Centre in Sandton, Johannesburg. The prestigious award will be among others to be bestowed on metals and engineering sector companies as part of the annual SEIFSA Awards for Excellence.

Entries for the awards close on 20 April 2018 for all categories.

The Most Transformed Company of the Year is split into two by company size: the first one covers companies employing few than 100 people and the second one looks at companies employing more than 100 people. This ensures that companies are judged against their peers to encourage fairness.

The general criteria for the category include companies that:

• Highlight how empowerment has been successfully implemented in their skills and development programmes;
• Show in statistics how they have adopted development and use of third-party suppliers from black-owned businesses;
• List how the corporate culture of diversity has been communicated throughout the workforce;
• Statistical information on the company’s Board, Executive Management and Senior Leadership against total the workforce to that of the country’s national population demographics.

Last year’s winner for the category was Weir Minerals, which had embraced the challenges of the amended Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Code and for whose agenda skills development had become the cornerstone.

The Federation, which launched the SEIFSA Awards for Excellence in 2015, has invited manufacturers operating in the metals and engineering sector within the Southern African region to submit their entries for the 2017 Awards. Entrants will be assessed on their performance in the period 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017.

Mr Nyatsumba said although the metals and engineering sector was faced with many challenges and uncertainty in 2017, there were, nevertheless, companies that still managed to excel under difficult economic conditions.

Along with the Most Transformed Company of the Year Award, the SEIFSA Awards for Excellence have six other categories.

The other categories are:

• The Most Innovative Company of the Year Award, which is awarded to a company that has shown the best level of innovation in Research and Development or Production in 2017, in the process either gaining market advantage or reducing production costs;
• The Health and Safety Award of the Year, which will be offered to a company with the best legal compliance record in Health and Safety or the lowest Lost-Time Injury Frequency Rate in 2017;
• Companies rated the highest in customer service performance in 2017 will receive the Customer Service Award of the Year;
• Entries are also invited from companies whose Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programme/s in 2017 had a major impact on the lives of their beneficiaries;
• This is the Decade of the Artisan, and an award will be made to the company that trained the highest number of artisans in 2017; and
• The Environment Stewardship Award will go to a company that has made the best strides towards conserving the environment or mitigating the impact of its operations on the environment in 2017.

Mr Nyatsumba has encouraged manufacturers operating in the metals and engineering sector to submit their entries for the seven categories as soon as possible. The Awards are open to all companies in the sector, both SEIFSA members and non-members.

Issued by:

Ollie Madlala

Communications Consultant

Tel: (011) 298 9411 / 082 602 1725

Email: ollie@seifsa.co.za

Web: www.seifsa.co.za

SEIFSA is a National Federation representing 23 independent employers. Associations in the metals and engineering industries, with a combined membership of 1600 companies employing around 200 000 employees. The Federation was formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to micro-enterprises employing few than 50 people.

Johannesburg, 6 April 2018 – An increase in the price of electricity will deal South Africa’s metals and engineering (M&E) sector – which is just beginning to come out of the doldrums – a serious blow and potentially lead to job losses, Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) Chief Economist Michael Ade cautioned this morning.

“SEIFSA agrees that it is entirely within ESKOM’s right to apply for the third Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD) Regulatory Clearing Account (RCA) Year 2 (2014/15), Year 3 (2015/16) and year 4 (2016/17) and contends that, if accepted, the proposed applications total of R66.6 billion will result in roughly a 35 percent hike in tariffs by ESKOM. Against this backdrop, SEIFSA has today made a submission to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), opposing the granting of a hike,” Dr Ade said.

He said constrained electricity supply and increasing electricity costs will invariably have a negative knock-on effect on the country’s ability to export, reduce competitiveness and foreign earnings and also adversely affect GDP growth over time. He said thisespecially so given the fact that the electricity-intensive sub-industries in the M&E sector are also the most robust exporters and earners of foreign exchange.

Dr Ade said the Federation believed  that the contributory impact of increasing electricity costs on the sector would include a slowdown in production and growth, an increase in product prices, a decline in exports and poor export competitiveness, under-utilisation of production capacity, low import substitution industrialisation due to reduced domestic production, substitution of locally manufactured inputs with cheap imported components, and disruption in fixed investment.

“The proposed hike in tariffs will no doubt impact negatively on production volumes. Most energy-intensive users in the economy are still consuming below their 2008 levels where production was relatively higher, when compared to the current period. The latest production index in the M&E cluster at the end of 2017 is currently below its 18-year average (spanning 2000 to 2017) of 101.8 index points and the performance at the end of 2017 was roughly 20% below the peak before the crises gained momentum,” said Dr Ade.

He said SEIFSA understands the current challenging situation faced by Eskom, particularly the need to ensure the utility’s financial sustainability. However, he warned that Eskom’s financial sustainability is inextricably linked to the financial sustainability of its customers, which need an affordable tariff to maintain sustainability and, thus, remain Eskom’s customers. He said there was  no doubt that the proposed increase in tariff would have a negative impact on both the individual companies in the M&E cluster and the economy in general.

“Electricity is an absolutely essential input for the metals and engineering sector. If the tariff applications go through, it will be a critical setback for the sector’s efficiency and competitiveness and act as a constraint to the possibility of the sector maximising its long-run production function.

“The tariff hike can increase production costs in some sectors and further dampen productivity and competitiveness. In fact, high energy costs have regularly been cited as a crucial variable in the basket of causal factors towards high costs of production in both the basic non-ferrous metals products and basic iron and steel products sub-industries,” he said.

In conclusion, Dr Ade said although SEIFSA is not in favour of any increases at all to the current electricity price, if such an increase should be found to be absolutely necessary, then the Federation believes that a much lower percentage increase than requested should be considered.

“It is essential that any tariff increase should be based on reasonableness, with directives for Eskom to improve on efficiencies, as a further inevitable consequence will be more loss of jobs in the M&E cluster,” Dr Ade said.

Issued by:

Ollie Madlala

Communications Consultant

Tel: (011) 298 9411 / 082 602 1725

Email: ollie@seifsa.co.za

Web: www.seifsa.co.za

SEIFSA is a National Federation representing 23 independent employers. Associations in the metals and engineering industries, with a combined membership of 1600 companies employing around 200 000 employees. The Federation was formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to micro-enterprises employing few than 50 people.

Johannesburg, 2 April 2018 – South Africa has identified re-industrialisation as one of the key initiatives with the potential to unlock the country’s economic growth potential. When it takes off, South Africa’s re-industrialisation will demand technical skills, such as those offered by artisans, among others, Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) Chief Executive Officer Kaizer Nyatsumba said today.

South Africa, however, does not produce a sufficient number of artisan skills on an annual basis, compared to the skills produced by universities, universities of technology and private colleges. Chief among the reasons for this is that South Africans, generally, associate “good jobs” with university qualifications, with skills produced by Technical and Vacational Education and Training (TVET) colleges often regarded as inferior.

“Generally, as South Africans, we tend to place too great an emphasis on sending children to universities to improve their chances of getting employed, notwithstanding the fact that every year thousands of university graduates struggle to find employment. We need to start taking TVET colleges more seriously. Artisan skills produced by TVET colleges are often in demand but, as a country, we aren’t producing enough of them. Therefore, we need to start seeing TVET colleges as significant contributors of skills required by the economy,” Mr Nyatsumba said.

He said that it was for this reason, among others, that SEIFSA introduced the SEIFSA Awards for Excellence in 2015to celebrate companies that have embarked on the continuous journey of developing a pool of artisans that South Africa can count on.

Mr Nyatsumba said that SEIFSA will present the Decade of the Artisan Award to a company that trained the highest number of artisans in 2017.

Other awards that form the seven categories of the SEIFSA Awards for Excellence are:

• The Environment Stewardship Award of the Year will be awarded to an organization that has successfully implemented greening initiatives in its day-to-day business operations in 2017.
• The Most Innovative Company of the Year, which will be awarded to a company that showed the best level of innovation in research and development or production in 2017.
• The Most Transformed Company of the Year Award will be received by a company that showed the highest transformation level in the composition of its Board of Directors, Executive Management and Managerial Team in 2017. This award category pits companies employing fewer than 100 people against those of similar size, and companies employing more than 100 companies against others of similar size.
• The Best CSI Award will be presented to a company whose corporate social investment programme/s in 2017 had a major impact on the lives of its beneficiaries.
• The Customer Service Award will be presented to a company rated the highest in customer service performance in 2017.
• The Health and Safety Award of the Year will be awarded to a company with the best legal compliance record in Health and Safety or the lowest Lost-Time Injury Frequency rate in 2017.

Mr Nyatsumba encouraged manufacturers operating in the metals and engineering sector to submit their entries for the seven categories before the deadline on Friday, 20 April March 2018. SEIFSA awards entrants will be assessed on their performance in the period 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017. Participants can enter by visiting the SEIFSA Awards website (www.seifsaawards.co.za).

The Awards are open to all companies in the metals and engineering sector, and not only those that are members of Associations affiliated to SEIFSA.

Awards winners will be honoured at a ceremony that will take place at the IDC Conference Centre in Sandton on 24 May 2018.

Issued by:

Ollie Madlala

Communications Consultant

Tel: (011) 298 9411 / 082 602 1725

Email: ollie@seifsa.co.za

Web: www.seifsa.co.za

SEIFSA is a National Federation representing 23 independent employers. Associations in the metals and engineering industries, with a combined membership of 1600 companies employing around 200 000 employees. The Federation was formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to micro-enterprises employing few than 50 people.

Johannesburg, 4 April 2018 – The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) notes with concern that the Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released today indicates  that the data is still unresponsive to a slowly improving business and investor confidence.

SEIFSA Economist Marique Kruger said the Federation is disappointed with the data as the expectation was for a continuous improvement in the composite PMI index in the forthcoming periods, thereby replicating last year’s encouraging performance from July 2017 to November 2017, before rebounding in December 2017.

“The latest seasonally-adjusted preliminary PMI data shows that the composite PMI dropped back to below 50. The data shows the lead indicator reducing from the 50.8 recorded in February 2018 to 46.9 in March 2018, highlighting its variability to businesses. The volatility is a cause for concern, especially given the poor performance of both the business activity and new sales orders sub-indices, which decreased significantly,” Ms Kruger said.

She said the performance of the lead indicators highlighted the inability of businesses to secure more new deals against the backdrop of an improving domestic demand and easing political tensions, complemented by the latest pronouncements by Moody Investors Services. She said Moody’s unexpected upgrade of the outlook on South Africa’s rating to stable from negative, and its decision to keep its investment-grade rating on SA augurs well for the economy.

However, Ms Kruger said it appeared that  businesses were still playing catch up, judging by  the performance of the lead indicator, which acts as a gauge for the month ahead.

Ms Kruger said SEIFSA expects the data to climb back above the 50-neutral level in April 2018, as the lag effect of businesses taking advantage of an improving socio-political and economic climate starts trickling in.

“Also, given the current economic environment, business can plan production processes ahead with some degree of certainty, without having to worry much about rising domestic costs of doing business,” she said.

Issued by:

Ollie Madlala

Communications Consultant

Tel: (011) 298 9411 / 082 602 1725

Email: ollie@seifsa.co.za

Web: www.seifsa.co.za

SEIFSA is a National Federation representing 23 independent employers. Associations in the metals and engineering industries, with a combined membership of 1600 companies employing around 200 000 employees. The Federation was formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to micro-enterprises employing few than 50 people.