Seifsa welcomes Naamsa’s renewed commitment to local industry

The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) has welcomed the announcement by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) that original-equipment manufacturers will increase their sourcing of locally-produced goods as part of the industry’s 2035 Transformation Plan.

Seifsa senior economist Tafadzwa Chibanguza said it boded well for the metals and engineering sector, as the automotive sector made up 31% of its total demand profile.

“It is, in fact, the largest domestic demand source for metals and engineering products, followed by construction and then mining. Prospects to increase local sourcing of inputs translates favourably to the metals and engineering sector since it indicates a potential growing share of activity for local companies.

“This is a classic case of a dynamic and pragmatic approach to a difficult economic environment,” Chibanguza highlighted.

He added that Seifsa hoped the current impasse in the mining sector, occasioned by the new Mining Charter, would be resolved speedily in order to improve demand levels from that sector to the metals and engineering sector.