state of the stainless steel nation

Sassda had no choice but to adapt. As the official voice of the industry, Sassda is sensitive to the environment that faces its members as well as that of the general industry. As mentioned, the local stainless steel has proven itself to be resilient to many challenges. It has adapted through spiking nickel prices, previous periods of loadshedding and many financial crises.

Part of this adaption process was to become more diverse in capacity and products, be more resource efficient and to be innovative. All the lessons learnt are now paying dividends. Our members remain world class organisations and it is Sassda’s responsibility to ease the road ahead as far as possible.

We are doing this by ensuring our industry is well trained through our educational products; by continuing lobbying and cooperation with government to the advantage of the industry (for example, Sassda influenced the dtic so that stainless steel is now excluded from the recently announced scrap export regulations); as well as to identify potential markets and assist members to access them.

6 What are some of the key projects/initiatives/ programmes that Sassda will be championing in 2023?

Sassda believes that continuing our current strategy of educating, promoting and lobbying will remain key to growing the local stainless steel industry. By growing the volumes of the apparent consumption statistics and focussing on localisation, Sassda will contribute to value addition and job creation – both of which are of critical importance for growing the national economy and alleviating the socio-economic reality of our people.