Valve and steel supplier Stewarts & Lloyds has systematically expanded its scope of valves supply and currently markets its products under the Stewarts & Lloyds Valves (Salvalve) brand of valves.

“Products in the range include butterfly, gate, ball and resilient seal valves, which are manufactured and engineered to strict local and international standards, ensuring hassle-free operation and significant longevity,” says Stewarts & Lloyds Valves product manager Danie Groenewald.

While the company has been servicing the mining and water industries since its inception in 1898, Groenewald notes, the customer base and demand for Salvalve products have diversified to such an extent that there are very few industries in which the Salvalve range does not feature.

Stewarts & Lloyds Valves supplies steam, water, oil and gas valves ranges for use in the agriculture, mining, chemical process, construction, power generation, water, light and general engineering and gas industries.

Meanwhile, the company registered an increase in Salvalve product sales over the past two years, owing to a significant drive in the group to establish the range as a household name for domestic and industrial valves.

Further, Groenewald adds that the valves industry has changed significantly in recent years, with imports featuring more strongly than ever before.

“This enables companies to identify a reliable manufacturer and control the quality of imp- orted products, as substandard products impact negatively on all levels of supply,” he says, stressing that companies have to guard against these lower-quality products.

While a large quantity of the Salvalve products are imported, Groenewald says the company has access to an excellent local supplier network and that the local valves designation for State-owned enterprises places Stewarts & Lloyds in “a favourable position to have a dedicated group of personnel focused on the niche product in which it procures from local suppliers, which, in turn, will enable the com- pany to supply a more specialised and streamlined service to customers and branches”.