Stampings and welding components manufacturer Malben Engineering won industry organisation the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa's (Seifsa's) environmental award for being the first local automotive component manufacturer to trial ‘green’, low-carbon steel.

Malben Engineering supplies local vehicle original-equipment manufacturers, as well as the mining and construction sectors.

Malben Engineering operational director Luca Smargiasso highlights that there is an increasing demand for green steel and the ultimate decarbonisation of the local steel supply chain, which will be game changers for South Africa’s steel and automotive sectors.

The company's partners in the green steel venture were German steel and technology group Salzgitter and its local representative United Steel Services, which supplied the green steel, and local steel processor and merchant Allied Steelrode, which facilitated the sourcing and importation of the green steel, he said.

He dedicated the award to Malben Engineering's founder Amerigo Smargiasso and the partners in the trial.

“We thank our management and staff for their enthusiastic hard work and dedication in establishing, maintaining and continually improving our quality and environmental management systems.

“The focus on productivity and efficiency, minimising waste and pollution, optimising natural resources and ensuring that we have the flexibility to adapt to the changing needs of our sector and our customers enabled this,” said Luca Smargiasso.

Malben Engineering views the award as another demonstration of its passion for supplying world-class products, he said.

The company recently scored 98% in an international Responsible Supply Chain Initiative supply chain audit initiated by automotive manufacturer Ford, which is the highest score ever achieved by a local supplier in South Africa.

“We are passionate about innovation and new technologies and, as such, environmental and sustainability imperatives remain at the core of the company’s operations,” Luca Smargiasso said.