Construction World March 2016

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.