Engineering and mining companies, as well as State-owned entities and local municipalities, need to buy more locally manufactured valves if the industry is to continue surviving, says manufacturing body Valve and Actuator Manufacturing Cluster of South Africa (Vamcosa) champion Greg Walker.

This will ensure that companies currently operating in South Africa comply with the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI’s) new designation law, which came into effect on March 3. This law requires 70% of the manufactured products bought by State-owned entities to be manufactured locally.

Vamcosa, which represents 19 local valves manufacturers and 20 supporting manufacturers of castings and forgings, is tasked with growing the South African valves and actuators industry and promoting local procurement.

Walker maintains that if companies buy more locally manufactured valves, it will help with job creation, as valves manufacturers will need to hire more people to help with the increase in demand.

This will also help develop industry-related skills, as more people will need to be trained in the different processes involved in the manufacture of valves.

Saceec
Vamcosa is managed under the auspices of capital equipment sector facilitator the South African Capital Equipment Export Council (Saceec).

Saceec assists capital equipment companies in growing their businesses by providing members with early leads, enabling them to be among the first to exploit opportunities in the market.

Saceec also organises outward selling and inward buying missions, assists companies with setting up and attending exhibitions, provides members with networking opportunities through monthly member meetings and liaises with government departments on behalf of its members.

“We have set up a number of working groups with State-owned entities to develop business relationships that will promote the buying of locally manufactured valves. These include working groups with State-owned electricity producer Eskom, for both coal-fired and nuclear power stations, national oil company PetroSA, freight logistics group Transnet, and the KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng water boards,” explains Walker.

Further, Vamcosa monitors issues relating to tenders that do not include the requirement of 70% local procurement. The organisation is also concerned with monitoring the incidence of lost business as a result of imports that come into the South African valves industry in defiance of the DTI’s designation policy.

As part of its effort to promote the valves industry in the country, Vamcosa says it plans to expand its working groups to include more customers, both in the private and the public sectors, with the mining sector forming a big part of that expansion.