Safal Steel forms part of the Safal Group, a major manufacturer and supplier of coated steel and roofing products in Eastern Africa. The combined outputs of its operations in 11 African countries make the Safal Group the continent’s largest producer of steel roof sheeting, with the coil used in its roofing operations produced through world leading metal coating technology and colour coating processes.
Safal Steel forms part of the Safal Group, a majormanufacturer and supplier of coated steel and roofing products in Eastern Africa. The combined outputs of its operations in 11 African countries make the Safal Group the continent’s largest producer of steel roof sheeting, with the coil used in its roofing operations produced through world leading metal coating technology and colour coating processes.
The Safal Group is not only Africa’s largest producer of steel roofing, but also its sole producer of Aluminium Zinc coated steel, building its reputation over 50 years as Africa’s market leader in the core aspects of its operations. The beginnings of the company lay in its trading of corrugated roof sheeting in the 1940s, while its first manufacturing facility was opened in Mombasa, in Kenya, in 1962. Today, the Safal Group has manufacturing capabilities in 11 African countries, and sells its products across 3 continents. This is achieved by its staffing compliment of over 3,800 people, which provides the leadership, resources and training to engineer a company with such a depth of experience and skills, requisite to compete in both pan-African and global markets.
The inception of Safal Steel came about initially through the Group’s construction of a pioneering metal coating facility in Cato Ridge, South Africa, which represented just one aspect of the Group’s growth strategy at the time. From this plant the company manufactures aluminium zinc coated steel coils, which are then transported to be sold on both the local and global markets. It began its tradings as Safal Steel in 2011. The manufacturing plant, with its 30,000 square metres spread over a 14.4 hectare site, comprises such key facilities as a pickling and oiling line, a cold rolling mill, an alumnium zinc coating line alongside a colour coating line. It was officially opened in March 2012 by the country’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, who spoke of the vast potential the plant offered across country’s steel industry. “We understand the whole facility has a capacity of 150,000 metric tons a year on both un-painted and painted coated coil, sold onto the roofing and general engineering sectors,” the minister stated, adding that, “there are plans to double the volumes to 300,000 tons in the near future.”
Also installed at the manufacturing facility were various support lines and services all geared toward helping Safal Steel succeed in the challenge of maintaining environmental friendliness. These include an acid regeneration plant, a rewind and trim line, Nitrogen and Hydrogen generation plants as well as effluent and sewerage treatment plants. On the whole the plant is able to produce 150 000 tonnes of Metal Coated Coils, which trade under the name ZincAl, and 100 000 tonnes of Colour Coated Coils, or ColorPLUS. The plant has managed to create jobs for 350 permanent employees as well as 1800 indirect work opportunities, all within the confines of its base in KwaZulu Natal.
Safal Steel has, as its central vision, the desire to be both the leading manufacturer and supplier of unpainted and pre-painted aluminium zinc coated coil. As a material steel is among the most widely used the world over, only hampered by one marked weakness in its susceptibility to corrosion when used unprotected. In order to combat this, the two most widely used coatings are aluminium-zinc and galvanised steel. Safal Steel was the first manufacturer in Africa to set up the aluminium–zinc coating technology, an operation carried out under license to Bethlehem International Engineering Corporation (BIEC), the worldwide licensor and market leader in AZ coated steel technologies, an association which has brought about the birth of Safal Steels ZincAL and ColorPLUS. In order for Safal Steel to achieve its vision of domination, the company has put in place an assured and pioneering set of processes, in order to extend the service life of steel.
The first stage sees Safal Steel purchase Hot Roll Coils (HRC) from a variety of the Safal Group’s current global suppliers. These coils are then cleaned through Safal’s fully automated Pickling and Oiling Line, to remove any remaining mill scale. The cleaned coils are then Cold Rolled to a variety of gauges, which range from 0.2mm through to 1.2mm. The next stage of the operation sees the coils once again cleaned, and then comes the metal coating process, where the coils are covered with an alloy of aluminium zinc made up of 55% aluminium, 43.5% zinc and 1.5% Silicon. These are then ready for sale to customers as ZincAL®, while a final process can add the painting of the coils if required, whereby the product is sold to market as ColorPLUS®. The paint line has been manufactured to the leading ‘white goods’ standard, and performs its role primarily using the modified polyester system.
Safal Steel’s innovative methods and production techniques are seeing steel being taken to new heights of strength, formability and versatility. ZincAL works to extend the service life of modern coated steel even further, produced by a unique process whereby rolled steel is hot dipped into an Alloy made up of Aluminium, Zinc and Silicon. This serves to protect the steel twofold, with the aluminium component of the coating providing a resolute physical barrier between the atmospheric conditions and the steel at the core, while the zinc contained in the coating also protects the steel at its cut edges. The thermal mass of ZincAL is much lower than traditional galvanised steel and clay roof tiles thanks to its aluminium content, and as such provides an increased reflection of the sun’s rays. This acts to provide ideal results in differing seasons, creating a cooler building in summer and a much warmer environment when necessitated by lower temperatures.
Increasingly too, architects and builders are seeking ways to lend their projects individuality, character and a centrally defining style. ColorPLUS helps professionals everywhere to achieve exactly this, offering modern innovation to pre-painted steel roofing, alongside a range of durable and aesthetically appealing colours. The premium product has been developed to withstand even South Africa’s harshest conditions, with many years of research having led to this paint process capable of resisting everything thrown at steel roofing in these times. Innovative pigments used in the paint have been carefully selected to avoid any rapid colour change and to keep a fresh appearance for many years, while the coating’s technology also limits chalking.
It is a fairly prevalent misconception that steel and galvanised steel are essentially the same proposition, and thus that no metal roof could reasonably be expected to provide the longevity of its tiled peer. This is patently not the case, however, as AZ-coated steel has been regularly proven to offer up to four times the lifespan of galvanised steel. This technology also offers two unique environmental benefits, with the products being not only 100% recyclable but also ‘green’ to manufacture too. Not having to import product from Australia, as was the case for local suppliers prior to Safal Steel’s construction of its Cato Ridge plant in 2011, also brings with it great savings in terms of both cost and time. Steel’s own most valuable property is its ability to recycle itself over hundreds of years without any reduction of its inherent qualities. Through its endless reincarnations from washing machines and oil cans to cars and ocean liners, precious raw materials are continually saved and energy consumption minimised. Global recovery rates now stand at more than 83%, making steel one of the most sustainable and environmentally crucial products available.