REAL-LIFE SCENARIO 6: Steel Industry: The ANC, AMSA, ITAC and Duties: The Four Horsemen of the downstream apocalypse.

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A REAL-LIFE SCENARIO OF AN EMPLOYER IN THE STEEL DOWNSTREAM

• Company 123 (Pty) Ltd, a business in the steel frame construction industry, employed 40 staff members at its peak.

• By 2015, however, the company’s performance began to decline rapidly.

• By 2018, the company had shrunk drastically to just 11 workers, largely due to the escalating costs of steel components.

• The rising costs were driven by alleged price-fixing and market allocation. These allegations, which resulted in AMSA paying a penalty of R1.5 billion, confirmed the long-standing complaints of anti-competitive behaviour within the sector.

• At the same time, locally produced steel was often of sub-standard quality, requiring rework which increased the company’s operational expenses.

• Market conditions were worsened even further by the importation of duty-free finished products, which placed domestic producers at a severe competitive disadvantage.

• As a result, Company 123 (Pty) Ltd was forced to purchase expensive, often inferior local steel, while competing against less expensive imported finished products flooding the market.

• By 2025, Company 123 (Pty) Ltd effectively ceased operations, retaining only 2 casual employees to perform temporary duties until its final closure.  

Yet another business has been driven to extinction, along with the livelihoods it once sustained – all thanks to AMSA and flawed trade policies.

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