The South African Capital Equipment Export Council (Saceec) on November 25 hosted the 2021 Exporter of the Year Awards, announcing pumps manufacturer RNE Pumps as the exporter member of the year.

Other finalists in this category were joining solutions manufacturer Swagefast, minerals processing equipment manufacturer Consulmet, mixing and pumping company Afromix and conveyor specialist Brelko Conveyor Products.

The awards recognised the achievements of exceptional manufacturers in the capital equipment sector across nine award categories this year.

The main criteria were growth in terms of the value of exports, the volume of products exported and the number of countries products were exported to.

Saceec has about 203 members, of which 164 are actively exporting.

The winner for the small business generating less than R25-million turnover a year was Swagefast, with explosive alternatives maker Nxco, engineering company Azmet Technology & Projects and warning device maker Kama Industries having been named finalists.

The medium-sized business generating between R25-million and R100-million turnover a year finalists were RNE Pumps, strata control products manufacturer Fabchem Mining, polyurethane specialist UMP Performance Engineers Solutions and hydraulic systems manufacturer Power Works, with UMP having won the award in this category.

In the medium-sized businesses generating between R100-million and R200-million in yearly turnover category, the finalists were Afromix, industrial supplies maker Pamodzi Unique Engineering, bulk materials transfer company Weba Chute Systems and Brelko. This category saw both Weba and Brelko crowned winners.

The finalists for the large businesses generating between R200-million and R500-million yearly turnover category were valves manufacturer Dynamic Fluid Control, Consulmet, vibration equipment specialist Kwatani and capital equipment manufacturer Aard Mining Equipment. The winner of this category was Consulmet.

Moreover, the service provider of the year award went to Azmet, and the emerging and best improved exporter of the year accolade was achieved by T-Legacy.

The finalists for the exports into Africa category were Weba, Fabchem, Afromix, Consulmet, Kwatani and Swagefast, with Afromix chosen as the winner.

The best large businesses (generating more than R1-billion in turnover yearly) performers were Multotec and capital equipment expert Bell. 

Saceec CEO Eric Bruggeman said this year’s awards saw a record number of applications, which enabled the award categories to expand to nine, instead of eight.

The finalists of all the categories exported R5.5-billion worth of goods during 2020, which he deems impressive considering it was a pandemic-stricken year.

The value of exports for capital equipment out of South Africa averages about R178-billion a year.