Despite an unsettled global economic climate, local company Vital Engineering believes market turmoil bodes well for a resurgence of faith in precious metals, which, in turn, should have positive spin-offs for suppliers.

The Johannesburg-based company supplies a range of nonslip walkways, stair treads and safety handrails to mines across Africa.

However, Vital Engineering MD Dodds Pringle warns that the South African economy continues to face “severe” stumbling blocks, most notably political uncertainty, which is hurting investment.

“Continuous demands on industry are also severely hampering our growth, confidence, further investment and job creation.”

Pringle believes that South Africa lacks clear trading directives, as the country is undecided about which trading rules it should follow; that of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or of the Brazil, Russia, India and China (Brics) trade bloc.

“This state of flux is untenable as it is extremely difficult to operate successfully in a market without clear trading or economic directives, or to be able to trade fairly in the global village.

“Globally, we are seeing many European countries overturning the Brics type of trading model to combat below-cost imports, loss of manufacturing bases and increasing poverty as a result of rising unemployment and increasing capital outflows with lower taxable income,” Pringle highlights.

To deal with the difficult economic environment, Vital Engineering is improving its manufacturing efficiencies, ensuring that it remains competitive and offering clients an improved product portfolio to suit a wider variety of applications and budgets.

The company will be returning to Electra Mining Africa to ensure that it remains visible to its clients. “It is important for Vital Engineering to encourage new business to seek out competitive, cost-saving and quality-conscientious suppliers, like ourselves, who make concerted efforts to showcase their new offerings in these environments,” Pringle adds.

Vital Engineering manufactures Vitagrid nonslip floor gratings, stair treads, expanded metals and handrailings in galvanised steel, fibreglass, stainless steel and aluminium. In addition to the petrochemicals, power generation and structural engineering industries, the company supplies a number of Australian and Canadian mining companies, that operate in Africa.

Its products are supplied to gold mines in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Namibia and Tanzania; copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Namibia and Uganda; nickel mines in Madagascar and Tanzania; and coal mines in Mozambique.

Hall 6 Stand F17