New US law augurs well for SA steel exporters

Leonard Neill MOVES IN the United States to enforce strict environmental regulations on leakage emissions from car fuel tanks may have a strong impact on the South African stainless steel manufacturing sector. "We have our eyes on it and it may well be the first opportunity for South Africa to be involved in the very early stages of a new product," says Oliver Damm, president of the SA Stainless Steel Development Association (Sassda). The existing plastic fuel tanks will not meet the targets demanded in a Californian move to clean up the environment, he says. A new market is therefore developing for more robust fuel tanks and stainless steel can provide the solution. Sassda is currently in discussion with the Automotive Industry Development Centre to become involved in the development of new stainless steel fuel tanks, says Damm, and if SA is plugged in at the research stage it will make it easier to benefit from the manufacture of the next generation of stainless steel fuel tanks, with enormous potential in the export market. "The stainless steel industry is constantly searching for new value-added applications, and the automotive industry has proved rewarding in this, especially in the enormous growth of catalytic converter production. Future growth can come from the manufacture of exhaust systems while there is also a bright future in the production of items such as car bumpers," he said.