OVERVIEW Manufacturing
OVERVIEW Manufacturing Cellphones are now made in KwaZulu-Natal. The Mara Group has invested more than R1-billion in a factory to manufacture cellphones at the Dube Trade- Port which is linked to the King Shaka International Airport. More than 300 permanent jobs will be created. Dube TradePort attracted R7-billion in private and public sector investment between 2012 and 2019 and, with its ideal position for logistics operations, is expected to attract much more. The province’s other Special Economic Zone (SEZ), the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ), has attracted a further R7-billion through four recent investments: Ubuhle Towels is a towel manufacturer; Elegant Afro Line makes chemicals and Wilmar SA is a manufacturer of edible oils. Nyanza Light Metal is investing R4.5-billion in the production of titanium dioxide pigments. A new plant to make washing machines has created 75 jobs at the Durban plant of white-goods manufacturer Defy. The R121-million investment is part of a R1.2-billion investment programme which Arçelik Global, the Turkish company, has been following since it acquired Defy. The company has another plant in KwaZulu-Natal at Ezakheni (near Ladysmith) and at East London in the Eastern Cape. Cipla, the Indian manufacturer of generic drugs, is building a new facility at Dube TradePort to complement its existing factory in Durban. LG Electronics South Africa has opened a R21-million factory and distribution centre in Cornubia, north of Durban. Expansion of production normally heralds an uptick in the economy. Unfortunately, the fact that more aluminium products are going to be made by Hulamin’s extrusion facility in Pietermaritzburg reflects the fact that the company has closed one of its factories in another province. The company believes that its restructuring is working well, and its beverage business is thriving. Hulamin also makes rolled products at Edendale, Pietermaritzburg and Camps Drift. The manufacturing sector contributes 17.7% to the provincial Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of KwaZulu-Natal. The strongest export sectors are base-metals (32% including aluminium), mineral products such as ores, vehicles and chemical products. ONLINE RESOURCES Aluminium Federation of South Africa: www.afsa.org.za Chemical and Allied Industries’ Association: www.caia.co.za Enterprise iLembe: www.enterpriseilembe.org.za Plastics SA: www.plasticsinfo.co.za SECTOR INSIGHT Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone is set to receive R7-billion in investments. Credit: Hulamin Rolled Products New opportunities in the Blue Economy (ship-building and maintenance, oil-rig repair and servicing) and the Green Economy (solar panel manufacture, solar, biogas and wind energy plant construction, management and maintenance, heating and cooling devices) are set to grow in KwaZulu-Natal with the allocation of geographical hubs to support these sectors, and the introduction of policies to make them competitive. Two large oil refineries and a sophisticated sugar milling and refining industry underpin provincial chemical manufacturing. The chemicals and petrochemicals subsector makes up 17% of the manufacturing output of KwaZulu-Natal, with industrial chemicals accounting for nearly a third. Steel and aluminium are other heavy manufacturing products. Newcastle is a chemical manufacturing hub. ■ KWAZULU-NATAL BUSINESS 2021/22 38
Automotive Stanger will host a new battery factory. OVERVIEW SECTOR INSIGHT Toyota is to start producing a sports-utility vehicle in 2021. Credit: Toyota More than 3 000 jobs will be created by battery manufacturer Metair as it responds to the winning of a big contract from Ford Motor Company South Africa. Stanger in northern KwaZulu-Natal will be the site of a new factory and a further investment in logistics will take place in Gauteng. KwaZulu-Natal has a substantial automotive components sector which includes large manufacturers such as GUD Filters. Thirtynine companies are currently members of the Durban Automotive Cluster which is funded by the municipality. Together, these firms have about 17 000 employees. In line with the policy of developing Industrial Economic Hubs, the Durban Automotive Supplier Park is being built at Illovo, south of Durban and near to the Toyota manufacturing plant. The Dube TradePort Corporation will manage the project, which covers 1 013ha. Other partners are the eThekwini Municipality, Toyota and the provincial government. Toyota’s plant, just a few kilometres south of the harbour at Prospecton, has received a R2.4-billion investment to produce a new passenger vehicle. The Corolla Cross (pictured) will start production in the final quarter of 2021. A sports-utility vehicle, the Cross will also be available as a hybrid. Toyota sells about a quarter of the vehicles sold in South Africa, and accounts for the same proportion of export volumes. The company’s total investment of R4.2-billion between 2019 and 2021 includes other manufacturing projects and a huge increase in warehousing capabilities. The other large-scale original equipment manufacturer in the province is Bell Equipment. Between the Toyota plant and the ONLINE RESOURCES Automotive Industry Development Centre: www.aidc.co.za Durban Automotive Cluster: www.dbnautocluster.org.za National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (NAACAM): www.naacam.co.za Richards Bay facility of heavyequipment manufacturer Bell Equipment, upwards of 11 000 people are employed. Another manufacturer of earthmoving equipment can be found at Port Shepstone on the south coast. Dezzi is part of the Desmond Group of companies that was founded in 1973 and now has 18 offices and branches. The Dezzi CMI backhoe loader is a popular part of the company’s range. In 2018 AIH Logistics started assembling Mahindra and Bolero bakkies from kits imported from India on a site at the Dube TradePort. The 5 000m² plant is owned by Automotive Investment Holdings (AIH), which formed AIH Logistics specifically to deal with the Mahindra contract. The intention is to make 2 500 bakkies per year, with an option to expand production to 4 000 and to increase sales of bakkies in the South African market. The Mathe Group’s tyre recycling plant at Hammarsdale has quickly increased capacity to 150 000 used truck tyres per year and intends going past 200 000 soon. Other applications include modified bitumen and as a component of artificial grass. ■ 39 KWAZULU-NATAL BUSINESS 2021/22
