September 2011

Our September issue represents the completion of the third quarter of 2011 and I find myself with an opportunity to reflect before the last push begins. The world markets are yo-yoing based on infinitesimally small pieces of alternating good or bad news. My impression is that the mood in industry is ‘tense' to say the least, people are simultaneously hoping that things don't get worse and fearing that they might. Jim Guild, in his comment this month, tells of a two-speed welding industry, those with work because of their involvement with Eskom's new-build projects and those without. There is not much good news outside of the ongoing Medupi, Kusile and Ingula work.

ESAB, in the cover story this month, is optimistic about wind work off the back of the launch of South Africa's recently published renewables procurement programme, but others I talked to fear that that work will be a long way off and uncertainty abounds about how much of the work will emerge and how much will be locally awarded.

As JP Landman pointed out during the keynote address at the SAIW's Annual Dinner, our economy is dependent on events in the USA and Europe, events over which we have no control. On the other hand, though, should we successfully navigate the current turbulence without ‘double-dipping', Landman believes that ongoing long-term growth of 3-3,5% remains likely, and that this growth level for a sustained amount of time is high enough to continue to reduce poverty levels in our country.

The company profile in the September issue features Group Five Oil and Gas, which now has three ISO 3834 certifications under its belt, for its site-work and its manufacturing workshops. With one eye on the long-term future, the company is already starting to prepare for possible nuclear work, a build programme that is perhaps even further away than the wind tower work. Also, though, with significant percentages of its work coming from north of our borders, the company sees significant pump station, pipeline, fuel tank and refinery opportunities across Africa. The resources are identified, but, due to a lack of infrastructure, these remain largely untapped - and Group Five is ideally placed to deliver the full MIEP requirements.
The issue features two papers from this years 64th IIW Annual Assembly and Conference. JC Lippold, in one of the keynote addresses, describes a combination of techniques for assessing the weldability of materials during the alloy development process and gives examples of how these can be used to improve alloy design. New materials developed using such processes are sure to be a key feature of power, oil and gas and other infrastructure over the next 20 years. Also, Pallav Chattopadhyay of Larsen & Toubro, talks about the Indian heavy engineering industry and his company's experience in successfully executing the worId's largest reactor manufacturing order, an export order for 22 heavy-walled reactors for the Kuwait National Petroleum Corporation.

We visit truck component manufacturers, Fibre Panels, who, together with Robotic Systems SA, are currently installing a robot-controlled laser cutting system, a first-of-a-kind in South Africa. Vernon Sheahan, the company's and the project's prime-mover, believes that a successful future is available for people who do more manufacturing locally by investing in flexibility. Sheahon will be offering 3D laser cutting services across South African industry in the very near future.

Also featured is an overview of the Welding Alloys Group and the advantages of using the company's flux-cored wires for surfacing and cladding and an overview and history of Argon Arc Welding Supplies, a company with a 25-year history in the supply of consumables, equipment, automation solutions and accessories.

Also highlighted is the SAIW's Annual Dinner and Awards, and from all of us on the African Fusion team, we congratulate those who have been honoured in 2011.

And we look forward to publishing more of our industry's survival and success stories in our November issue.

Peter Middleton

Regular Features