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MODERN MINING
May 2015
COMPANIES
H
eadquartered in Germiston,
Scaw Metals – which has
around 6 500 employees –
produces steel products for
a range of industries, includ-
ing mining, construction, the rail and power
sectors, and the offshore oil and gas in-
dustry. In the mining field it is partic-
ularly well-known for its forged and
high-chromium casting grinding me-
dia and for the steel wire ropes used
in shaft systems and many other min-
ing applications. It also manufactures
wear parts for cone, gyratory and jaw
crushers and mining equipment such
as draglines, as well as mill liners,
rock anchors and ground engaging
tools. Scrap metal provides 85 %
of the feedstock it uses in its manu-
facturing operations and its annual
steel production is in the region of
750 000 tonnes.
Scaw’s origins date back to the
1920s when it was founded as a
manufacturer of steel ceilings and
aluminium castings under the name
Steel Ceilings Aluminium Works
(SCAW). It soon evolved into a mining
industry supplier by producing cast steel grind-
ing balls for use in mills. In 1942 it moved to its
Union Junction premises in Germiston – which
remains its main operational base to this day
– and in 1949 commissioned a foundry at the
site, which now ranks as one of the largest in
the southern hemisphere.
Major corporate developments over the years
have included the acquisition of the group by
Anglo American in 1964 and the absorption of
steel rope manufacturer Haggie Ltd in 1998 (a
process which started when Anglo American
acquired an initial 36 % stake in Haggie in
1980). In 2009 Anglo American announced its
intention to dispose of Scaw as part of its strat-
egy of divesting itself of non-core assets. Scaw
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
(essentially the
Moly-Cop and
AltaSteel oper-
a t i ons ) wa s
sold off first
i n 2011 t o
OneSteel of
Australia in
a transaction
worth US$1
billion while
the balance of
the group (all
the operations
in Africa plus
certain overseas
assets) followed in
2012, when the IDC
purchased 74 % of
Scaw for R3,4 billion.
Markus Hannemann
was appointed as CEO in August the follow-
ing year. A qualified Mechanical Engineer with
an MBA in strategy and transformation man-
agement, he has been with Scaw for his entire
career and, prior to assuming the CEO role,
was the Head of Manufacturing Operations. He
works closely with Executive Chairman Ufikile
Khumalo in providing strategic leadership to
the entire Scaw Metals Group.
He has clearly taken over at a difficult time
as he himself acknowledges. “Obviously, times
are tight and the market is ultra-competitive,”
he says. “Currently, we’re in a stabilisation
phase – we’re taking a long hard look at our-
selves and asking the question, ‘what do we
need to do to improve our position in the mar-
ket?’ So there’s a great deal of effort going in
to investing in our capabilities and technology.
We have, for example, a big capex programme
underway. Since 2007 we’ve invested around
a billion rand in South Africa and we would
like to invest a further R4 billion over the next
Scaw Metals
holds its own in a
Markus Hannemann
Steve van Wyk
A company that is taking the current challenging business environment in South Africa
in its stride is integrated steel maker ScawMetals. Although Scaw derives much of
its turnover from the subdued mining sector and is also – being an energy-intensive
business – impacted by Eskom’s generating constraints, it is nevertheless performing
strongly and is upbeat about future prospects. This was the message to emerge when
Modern Mining
recently spoke to CEO Markus Hannemann and Steve van Wyk,
Executive Head of Operations.