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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
MARCH
2016
Trinchero says the most important issue facing
the steel construction industry today is the lack of
meaningful projects. “This has been our ‘war cry’
for some time and we continue to emphasise the
critical importance of releasing projects in terms of
the National Development Plan (NDP) and, from a
macro political perspective creating confidence to
encourage investment in South Africa.”
Unified front
He adds that as a collective, the steel construction
industry must, and will, continue to lobby the rele-
vant institutions to ensure that more projects come
on stream and that there is a more level playing
field in terms of import pricing, which is obviously a
crucial element to the success of the local industry.
Trinchero says the International Trade Admin-
istration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) is
currently processing import tariff amendments to
various steel products which are aimed at reducing
the flood of imports into South Africa and levelling
the playing fields to some extent. “We are currently
embarking on an exercise to provide a full view of
our industry to ensure that we have some balance.
For example on fabricated structural steel we may
have an import tariff on input material of 10%which
is balanced by an import tariff on finished goods of
15%. A survey has been sent out in collaboration
with the South African Iron and Steel Institute
(SAISI), Manufacturing Circle and the Steel and
Engineering Industry’s Federation of Southern
Africa (SEIFSA), which will give us an excellent idea
of how the industry relates to an initiative of this
order,” Trinchero says.
He adds that the SAISC is encouraged by the
excellent work of POLASA (see separate article
in this feature) as we now have a much broader
range of products designated in the transmission
line industry. In the same vein ‘Fabricated Structural
Steel’ is due for sign-off in a few weeks from date
of publication of this article, which will give our
industry a much improved opportunity to partici-
pate in government projects,” Trinchero says.
He warns however that while designation and
localisation are very important concepts they
must not create a sense of apathy in our industry.
“We must ensure that each and every one of us is
competitive in the global sense as putting structures
in place that will help in localisation will never take
the place of our being able to compete in the global
context,” says Trinchero. “We are of the opinion
that our newly structured SAISC will be in the
position to help our industry to become more
competitive and we invite all those who are keen
to making a go of it as the world opens up to us, to
make sure that they use the quite unique resources
offered by this re-engineered and expanded Insti-
tute,” he concluded.
AN EXPANDING SAISC UP
FOR THE CHALLENGE
“On the contrary,” Trinchero says. “Our view is that
when the ‘going gets tough the tough get going’
and, to this end, in order to consolidate the efforts
of industry associations and to optimise their effec-
tiveness, we have both created new associations
and absorbed others. The result is that the SAISC
group now includes 10 associations which will
work together to help their members grow their
businesses and to continue lobbying for them on
the plethora of important issues in the relevant
government forums and others,” Trinchero says.
Part of SAISC
The institutions which are now part of the SAISC
are: Southern African Light Steel Building Associa-
tion (SASFA), Southern African Metal Cladding and
Roofing Association (SAMCRA), Powerline Associ-
ation of Southern Africa (POLASA), Association of
Steel Tube and Pipe Manufacturers (ASTPM), Steel
Window and Door Association of South Africa
(SWADASA), and Southern African Racking and
Shelving Association – which is currently being set
up – (SARASA), S.A. International Steel Fabricators
(ISF), Steel Tube Export Association of South Africa
(STEASA), and the Association of Structural Steel
Draughtsmen (ASSD).
Trinchero says that there is no doubt that the
‘economies of scale’ principle is most apt in these
circumstances. “Instead of each of these associ-
ations working on its own in an industry where
there are many significant challenges, we will all be
able to pull together our resources and make sure
that we accomplish what has to be done in order
to help our industry reach its full potential over the
years. There is certainly an economic advantage by
working under one roof but the main advantage will
be the pooling of the brain power of experienced
and dedicated people who have the industry at
heart and the knowledge to ensure that we are the
best that we can be in terms of beefing up the skills
of the steel construction industry in Southern Africa”.
STEEL CONSTRUCTION
Southern African Institute of Steel Construction (SAISC) CEO, Paolo
Trinchero, says that even though the steel construction industry
is currently under significant pressure, the SAISC is certainly not
pessimistic about the future.
Southern African Institute of Steel Construction
CEO, Paolo Trinchero.
enjoyable and fulfilling projects that
his team has undertaken. “We enjoyed
working with owners Dana and Etti-
enne Buys and in order to implement
the Cape Dutch design we were lucky
enough to work with top profes-
sionals in the design and construction
arenas. It is most pleasing to see that
the advantages of light steel frame
building are applicable to all buildings
whatever their shape and design and
I believe that this building puts to
rest any doubt that light steel frame
building will soon become the building
method of choice for developers and
architects alike,” he concluded.