SASSDA celebrates 60 years of sustainability and growth

This year will be a special one in the history of the South African stainless steel industry. Our industry celebrates the 60th anniversary of its official establishment in July 1964. Since the beginning of the stainless steel industry in Southern Africa, Sassda has been recognised as the official voice of the industry - a role the association still plays.

In 1912, the Krupp company patented the first austenitic stainless steel. This was not publicised broadly and in England, Harry Brearly was trying to improve the durability of gun barrels by adding chrome to alloys. He did not succeed, but his work paid off when he became the first person to produce stainless steel products.

These took the form of cutlery made from martensitic stainless steel. This material was subsequently developed in America and led to the ferritic grades being produced in the 1930s. The last major development was the duplex grades produced in Scandinavia during the 1940s. South Africa and its neighbours have major reserves of the minerals that are instrumental in the production of stainless steel and the first stainless steel was produced in Middelburg in 1966. At that stage, local production capacity was 36 000 tonnes per year.