CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS
MAY 2014
39
J
UBILATION was palpable on site at
Agni Steels SA as the company fired
up its furnaces to start production at
its R400-million, state-of-the-art steel mill
in the Coega Industrial Development Zone
(IDZ).
Agni Steels’ venture is the first ever black-
owned steel mill in the country and is a
testament to the value of the Minerals
Beneficiation Bill, passed in 2011.
In celebration of the milestone, the Agni
Steels India directors were in South Africa
to oversee the momentous “switching on”
moment. Shenbagavalli Ramji, Chinasammi
Sakthi and Kugalur Ilangovan, the sons of
the original Agni Steels India founders and
directors, R. Krishnamurthy, M. Chinnasami
and K. Thangavelu, were in South Africa
to mark the occasion – and to ensure that
everything ran according to plan.
The firing-up of the plant is the fruition of
over eight years of hard work that started
as “a dream,” Ramji said.
The trio from India are young entrepreneurs
following in their fathers’ footsteps in Africa.
Their fathers were the first to set up a steel
mill in the Erode, Tamil Nadu, India in 1992.
The Agni Steels South Africa venture is the
AGNI FIRES UP FURNACES
to start production at first ever black-owned steel mill
first on their own as directors, in partnership
with the three South African directors
Sharaz Khan, Hassan Khan and Dhiroshan
Moodley.
“To be frank we are very proud at this
moment and we are enjoying it for the joyous
celebration it should be. We are of course
thankful to the South African directors for
giving us the opportunity, to Coega for their
help and association, and to the Industrial
Development Corporation for their support
and belief in us,” said Ilangovan.
“This is not a small thing we have achieved.
Our SA partners have persisted following a
dream spanning over eight years – a dream
where the financial forecasts fluctuate, the
export market changes owing to currency
variation and the whole business plan takes
on a new shape almost a decade later, but
we are here now, as a team, to witness
realisation of this dream.”
Despite the changing context, there have
been rewards, and the directors said they
were excited to witness the positive shift in
the South African policy environment as the
Minerals Beneficial Bill prioritises the type
of activities Agni is involved in.
The beneficiation strategy aims to provide a
strategic focus for South Africa’s minerals
industry in terms of developing mineral
value chains and facilitating the expansion
of beneficiation initiatives in the country.
“The revised South African approach to
scrap metal beneficiation and the DTI’s
policy on supply whereby local consumption
requirements must be fulfilled prior to
exportation of locally available raw materials
are developments that make us very happy.
“These are exactly the methods or schemes
that international IDZs present as a key value
proposition and incentive for investment.
With these policies in place South Africa
will experience growth,” said South African
director Hassan Khan.
The Agni project will benefit from the
Minerals Beneficiation Bill of 2011, which
incentivises local beneficiation of scrap
metal in particular. Trade and Industry
Minister Dr Rob Davies said, when he
was in Coega in March, that there was a
“shortage of specialised steel products
produced in South Africa” and as a result
the country now imports steel. “Agni Steels
will contribute to reversing this trend,” he
said.
The new Agni plant is also geared for
expansion to meet any future demand,
with partial infrastructure already in place
to ramp up production to 20 000 tons per
month when a new set of furnaces is added
in the next phase. The directors also said
the initial phase – located in Zone 6 of the
Coega IDZ – was the “first stepping stone in
an entire growth strategy”.
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