Urgent Action Needed to Tackle Surging Imports & Market Distortions

SAISI welcomes and supports the current review process initiated by ITAC,
considering the extraordinary and persistent challenges confronting South
Africa’s primary steel industry.

In 2024 alone, primary steel imports escalated to 1.6 million tonnes –
representing 36% of domestic demand. This surge underscores the mounting
structural pressures driven by global excess capacity and market
distortions, particularly from Far East economies and other jurisdictions
where industrial policies artificially support domestic producers through
subsidies and export-driven strategies.

These dynamics have significantly undermined the competitiveness of South
African steel producers, further exacerbated by illicit trade that continues
to bypass and erode existing protective frameworks.

SAISI believes that extraordinary and targeted protective measures are now
imperative. Specific focus must be placed on product categories under the
greatest import pressure, especially where the combination of rising import
volumes and declining local demand has resulted in operations running at
sub-optimal capacity – placing jobs, industrial output, and value chain
sustainability at risk.

Furthermore, it is critical that South Africa revisits its approach to
value-added steel products. High-value downstream products remain
insufficiently protected due to low WTO-bound tariff rates. This places
local manufacturers at a distinct disadvantage, stifling industrial
development and undermining the competitiveness of South African producers
in both the domestic and export markets.

SAISI strongly advocates for a comprehensive and forward-looking policy
response – one that not only addresses immediate market distortions but also
supports industrial upgrading, protects local capabilities, and enables
long-term growth in value-added manufacturing.