Robor, a steel tube and pipe manufacturer has been placed into voluntary liquidation. The voluntary winding-up of the Germiston-based company is attributed to the poor quality, cheaper products manufactured by Chinese institutions.

In response, the JSE-listed media group Tiso Blackstar which holds 47.61% of Robor said it was writing off its R137m investment it had invested in Robor. The closure of Robor is widely regarded as a serious hall largely caused by the government’s policy of Chinese support at the expense of domestic companies. “Delays in the signing of Independent Power Producer agreements with the South African Government and the well-publicised financial demise of Eskom have caused systemic harm to both production and revenue generation in South Africa’s steel tube and pipe manufacturing sector,” Tiso said. It also said that new US import duties on imported steel, hurt Robor’s sales of specialised steel pipe into the US oil and gas industry, previously a lucrative export market.

There are also fears of a similar outcome in the Vaal. ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA), currently Africa’s largest steelmaker, announced last week that some of its loss-making plants may be closed.

This sent shockwaves through the Vaal Triangle once again because the Vanderbijlpark works, which is currently AMSA’s largest in South Africa and also houses the company’s head office, are likely to be hit hardest by such a downsizing.

Currently, outside of Vanderbijlpark, AMSA also has operations in Vereeniging, Newcastle and Saldanha. AMSA announced on Wednesday, September 25, at SENS, the news service of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, that all its operations at its various works will be reviewed. The objective of the review is to strengthen the long-term sustainability of the company and to dispose of plants that have so far negatively impacted the company’s financial results.