Manufacturing

Innovation and expansion are happening in textiles.

Special jeans for a special occasion. Designer Tshepo Mohlala, who created bespoke Tshepo Jeans for the inauguration of Sappi’s expansion project made from imported denim containing Sappi’s Verve Lyocell blend pulp, shakes hands with Ebrahim Patel, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition. Looking on are Alex Thiel, CEO of Sappi Southern Africa, the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, and President Cyril Ramaphosa. Credit: Sappi

Sappi has spent R7.7-billion on expanding its dissolving pulp plant in KwaZulu-Natal. The project aims to boost the annual production capacity of dissolving pulp (DP) at Saiccor Mill by an additional 110 000 tons annually, taking production to 890 000 tons a year and reinforcing the company’s position as the world leader in the manufacture of Lyocell, a cutting-edge material of the future.

Lyocell is a form of rayon consisting of cellulose fibres made from dissolving pulp that is reconstituted by dry jet-wet spinning. The fully biodegradable and compostable fibre is used to make textiles.

TFG is ramping up production of clothing and expects to increase staff from just over 3 000 to more than 5 000 going in to 2023. TFG, which counts Foschini, TotalSports and Markhams among its brands, has been buying up clothing factories for nearly a decade and is now in a position to respond more quickly to fashion trends than when it was more dependent on imports.

Among TFG’s acquisitions were Prestige Clothing Maitland and Prestige Clothing Caledon. The group then spent R75million on expanding the factory in Caledon.

TFG plans to significantly increase the percentage of locally-made clothing items from the current level of 35% to 55%. In 2020, the group made 12-million garments and is aiming for 30-million by 2025/26.

The Manufacturing and Competitiveness Enhancement Programme (MCEP) of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) has disbursed grants which have resulted in 230 000 jobs being “sustained”. Because of the Clothing and Textile Competitiveness Programme, that sector currently now employs around 95 000 workers, contributing 8% to manufacturing GDP and 2.9% to overall GDP. In the leather sector 22 new factories have been opened, supporting 2 200 jobs. In the Western Cape, this revival is reflected in member companies of the Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster hiring 35% more staff in four years. About 23 600 people are employed in the province and exports from the Cape are on the increase.

SECTOR INSIGHT Government master plans aim to bolster local production.

The Aspen Pharmacare facility in Gqeberha readied itself to make hundreds of millions of doses of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine for South Africa and Africa but the orders didn’t come. As of April 2022, no orders had been received and there was a danger that the facility would close down that section. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention was concerned about that possibility, and urged African states to order vaccines, partly to keep the capacity to make large volumes of vaccines in a state of readiness. It was anticipated that as many as 500-million doses would be made annually.

A consortium of development finance organisations, including the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, made €600-million in financing available to the South African company to assist it in ramping up production of the vaccines.

In Johannesburg, global pharmaceutical company Mylan has purchased a manufacturing site, previously used by Ascendis Health, to make antiretrovirals to cater to the seven-million South Africans living with HIV. The Isando factory will produce effervescent tablets, semi-solid and hard capsules and pills.

A new tender for a national supplementary HIV/Aids drug tender, which was previously awarded to foreign companies, is to be issued, opening up opportunities for local manufacturers such as Cipla Medpro. The three-year tender is worth R18.3-billion.

Pirates off the west coast of Africa are driving an increase in boatbuilding in South Africa. Companies like Paramount Marine which specialise in security boats are receiving many orders. In 2021, the company announced that its Cape Town facility was making 26 boats for a contract price of more than R850-million.

PG Bison, a subsidiary of KAP Industrial Holdings, is investing more than R2-billion at its plant in Mkhondo in Mpumalanga. With operations in four provinces ranging from forestry to the manufacture of medium-density fibreboard (MDP), particleboard and valueadded products, PG Bison is also building a new MDP plant in Mpumalanga to complement its existing Gauteng facility.

Sectoral master plans

The South African government believes that the existing Proudly South African campaign – which encourages the purchase of locallymade goods – is something to be supported and expanded.

Government has identified 27 sectors in which government departments will aim to procure from local suppliers. Speaking at the Proudly South African Summit and Expo 2021, President Ramaphosa said: “There is an express undertaking to increase local procurement over the next five years. Apart from its own commitments, government will also work to lower the barriers to entry, thereby making it easier to establish and grow a business in South Africa.”

Government is in the process of rolling out master plans for various sectors. Some (including furniture and plastics) are still in the works but others have been delivered.

Goals include:

Automotive: to double the number of jobs by increasing local content percentages

Clothing, textile, footwear and leather: R500-million from the state for expansion of manufacturing sites

Poultry: more than a million extra chickens every week for retail

Sugar: soft drink manufacturers to procure 80% from local growers. ■

ONLINE RESOURCES

Chemical and Allied Industries’ Association: www.caia.co.za Manufacturing Circle: www.manufacturingcircle.co.za South African Textile Federation: www.texfed.co.za