The Manufacture and Wholesale of Metal Fasteners: This report focuses on the South African metal fasteners sector, a sub-sector of the ailing basic iron and steel industry. One of the biggest challenges facing the industry, worth an estimated R2.3bn in 2013, is the decline in the domestic mining sector which is the biggest end-user of metal fasteners. Coupled with weak economic growth and growing quantities of cheaper imports from China, local manufacturers are facing increasingly difficult times. This is reflected in the decrease in the number of people employed in the sector, from 1,260 in 2013 to 1,003 in November 2015, as well as the decline in membership of the South African Fasteners Manufacturers’ Association (SAFMA).;
(…)
