New PE refinery boosts catalytic industry

Ed Richardson A PLATINUM Group Metals (PGM) refinery has opened in Port Elizabeth, giving a boost to the local automotive components sector. Heraeus, which has invested in the facility, explains that the plant is located in the heart of the South African catalytic converter industry, which is the main user of PGMs. But the future of the catalytic converter industry rests on the outcome of the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP). “In general terms this industry has grown enormously in SA since the MIDP which was introduced in 1995 and now supplies about 14% of total world demand,” says Joe Armstrong of the Catalytic Converter Interest Group. “However growth in the industry has slowed significantly since the MIDP review was launched in 2005 and must be favourable to revive further growth of the industry.”