| The Steel Tube Export Association of South Africa’s drive to open export markets for its members will receive a major boost when it participates in an Outward Selling Mission (OSM) to Australia from 1-7 September 2019. The Chief Executive of the Association, Mr Keitumetse Moumakoe, will be one of the 25 businesspeople who will be travelling to Perth for the mission.
The mission, which is organised and funded by the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), will coincide with the popular annual Africa Down Under international conference and trade exhibition where the South African companies will also showcase their manufactured products, and services.
“Our participation in the mission to Australia is part of our concerted efforts to seek competitive export markets for the manufacturers of the country’s steel tubes and pipes. Our main objective is to gather information on which projects are in the pipeline in Australia that financiers are willing or planning to put their money in. This will assist us to determine how the South African companies can explore opportunities to participate in various stages of the projects by exporting their products and expertise to Australia,” says Moumakoe.
He adds that his association is determined to resuscitate the Australian market which used to be one of the traditional markets for the South African steel and tube industry,
“There are a lot of mining activities in Australia and it used to be traditional market for our exports. But we gradually lost that market to countries like China and Taiwan over the years due to our products not being competitive enough in the export market. The high cost of the input material reduced our competitiveness. However, we have now embarked on a strong drive to resuscitate this market because of the United States of America’s Section 232 regulation which has impacted us negatively. We have to diversify our markets and redirect our products to Europe and Asia,” says Moumakoe.
Moumakoe says his association is also working closely with the dti to facilitate market access for steel tube manufacturers in various African countries for their products and services.
“The Trade Invest Africa unit of the dti is assisting us considerably in tapping into the African markets and unlocking opportunities by dealing with challenges related to non-tariff barriers. We are also working together with the department on various trade missions and national pavilions. The South African foreign economic representatives located in various countries across the continent are also collaborating with us in our efforts to penetrate the African markets,” adds Moumake.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe-Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: (012) 394 1650
Mobile: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
Issued by: The Department of Trade and Industry
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