South Africa is the first major force in the economic development of Africa. The economy and industrial base are good, and the “steel demand” is strong. It is understood that South Africa has experienced strong economic growth in recent years, especially in the mining, construction and communications industries. According to relevant statistics, as of 2016, South Africa's per capita steel consumption was only 97.1 kg, far below the world average. Although according to the World Steel Industry Association data, South Africa's steel demand is affected by the economy in 2017, South Africa's total steel consumption is still low, which also means a broad space.

Among the downstream demand industries of steel in South Africa, the demand for steel is larger in the manufacturing industries of automobiles, home appliances and electric wires, accounting for 54.8%. The automobile industry accounts for 6.4% of South Africa's total GDP and 11.8% of total exports.

The overall capacity of local steel companies in South Africa is low. It is understood that after years of development, South Africa has formed a relatively complete steel industry system, but the local steel enterprises' overall production capacity is low. Among them, the largest production capacity is ArcelorMittal South Africa. The current crude steel production capacity is only 7.1 million tons. Other steel companies such as CISCO and Davsteel have a capacity of less than 1 million tons.

The South African Employers’ Federation has more than 10,000 corporate members, more than 2,000 of which are in the steel industry. As the chairman of the South African Employers’ Federation, Herat Paphos, of course, has a strong say in the local situation.

“South Africa’s current steel demand is about 10 million tons. Except for Mittal South Africa’s annual supply of 5 million tons, there is still a demand gap of 5 million tons that needs to be compensated through imports.” I came to China for the first time to participate in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei international investment. Herrad Paphos, of the trade fair, confirmed the predictions of the South African National Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) four years ago. “South Africa has demand for some steel and sheet steel for construction. This participation in the CIFIT is to hope to seek cooperation opportunities with Chinese steel companies.”