OVERVIEW company has two propylene manufacturing plants and recently completed two major investments aimed at improving flows and expanding production. This was done in two phases from 2012. Propylene is an input for polypropylene which is used in packaging, automotive components and textiles. The market is growing in South Africa at 4% per annum, roughly the same rate as the global market.

of pure electrolytic manganese metal in the world. Delta EMD, in the same town, is one of the biggest producers of electrolytic manganese dioxide, a material used in the manufacture of alkaline batteries.

Plans Agri-processing The provincial government has declared that it is determined “to turn Mpumalanga into a manufacturing hub for South Africa and the rest of the continent”. To that end, partnerships with Russia, China and Italy have been established to improve local knowledge of technology and to become globally competitive. This strategy could be said to have paid off when it was announced that Minsk Tractor Works is to establish an assembly plant in the province. Belarus and Oman are two of the other countries that Mpumalanga is engaged with. A key objective of the provincial government’s Mpumalanga Economic Growth and Development Path (MEGDP) is to expand the industrial base of the provincial economy. To do this, policy-makers are focusing on beneficiation, agri-processing and value chain development. Samancor Chrome (which runs Ferrometals) is the second-largest ferrochrome producer in the world with three plants, two of which are in Mpumalanga: eMalahleni (Witbank) and Middelburg. Most manufacturing in the province takes place in the Highveld where there is access to chrome, steel and coal. In Middelburg, Thos Begbie makes a variety of products at its heavy engineering works. Graphite Freezeline Solutions opened a new graphite facility within the Begbie property in 2018. Middelburg-based Columbus Stainless is a major supplier of stainless-steel products to the domestic and international market. About 25% of the company’s production is sold domestically. The Manganese Metal Company in Nelspruit is the largest producer

ONLINE RESOURCES Highveld Industrial Park: www.highveldindustrialpark.co.za Middelburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry: www.middelburg info.com Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency: www.mega.gov.za National Department of Trade and Industry: www.thedti.gov.za South African Iron and Steel Institute: www.saisi.co.za Southern Africa Stainless Steel Development Association: www.sassda.co.za

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The Lowveld area supports food and beverage enterprises and timber processing. Approximately 70% of jobs in the manufacturing sector are in food and forestry. A large agri-processing fruit hub is planned for the province. Located in the Nkomazi Special Economic Zone, the proposed hub, with an estimated value of R10-billion, would deal with the whole value chain from growing fruit through to processing, marketing and logistics. Having manufacturing facilities at the core of the hub will enable a variety of businesses to be established, both upstream (to supply the plant) and downstream (to deal with the products of the plant). Stander ton has textilemanufacturing capacity in the form of Standerton Mills. It is also home to several plants that use local raw materials: Nestlé has an infant-cereal manufacturing plant, RCL runs farms in the Carolina district and Early Bird is prominent. McCain and PepsiCo (Simba) have plants that use the province’s plentiful potato crop. TSB Sugar runs two large mills and produces fruit juices through a subsidiary company. Nelspruit is the centre of the province’s foodprocessing cluster. MPUMALANGA BUSINESS 2018/19