Macsteel (Malawi) Limited
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Macsteel Malawi Ltd supplies quality steel, wire and roofing products to the construction industry. Our company, owned 50-50 by Press Corporation Ltd and Macsteel Group, is the largest and leading manufacturer and distributor of steel, wire, and roofing products in Malawi.

OPERATIONS

Macsteel has its headquarters in Limbe on Raynor Avenue where it has its main factory and another factory and a regional office for the centre and north in Kanengo Lilongwe. It also has retail outlets in Karonga, Mzuzu , Kasungu , Lilongwe, Mangochi, Zomba and Luchenza.

PRODUCTS

All our materials are imported and conform to the standards set by the standards bureaux in the countries of origin. For items like reinforcement steel, copies of test certificates are available on request. Our products are therefore of the highest quality on the local market.

Macsteel Malawi’s business is divided into six sections:

1. Reinforcement steel division

In this section, we keep all ranges of steel diameters from 6mm to 32mm ( both high tensile deformed and round mild steel ). Part of this steel is sold without any processing and some of it is cut and bent according to engineering schedules. This section has steel fixers who are able to go on site and fix steel as required. The Reserve Bank of Malawi’s Blantyre branch is an example of work carried out by our steel fixing team.

2. Roll forming division

This is where all our roofing sheet profiling is done. We have machines which create IBR and CORRUGATED profiles. We work with all gauges from as thin as ,20 (32 gauge ) to as thick as ,60 (24 gauge). We produce both galvanised and chromadek (colour coated) sheets. Our capacity is about 20 tonnes per machine per day. There are two roll formers in Blantyre and two more in Lilongwe.

Part of this section is the plate-bending area where all ridges, closures, and flashings are made. In addition we do bullnosing of IBR sheets as required.

3. Fencing division

We do all kinds of fencing jobs including the normal diamond mesh, weldmesh , razor mesh, razor wire, and palisade. An example of razor mesh fencing is the 2km length at Mzuzu Airport.

In this same department we handle all sorts of other fabrications such as gates and grills.

4. Steel division

This is where all steel other than reinforcement steel is kept. Steel in this section includes steel sections ( angle iron, channels, window sections etc), flat rolled products ( hot and cold rolled sheets, mild steel plates etc ), and profiled sections ( lipped channel, square and round tubes etc ).

5. Wire division

This is the section that makes all the wire products including weldmesh (both galvanised and plain ), diamond mesh, barbed wire and brick force.

6. Engineering products division

This is the section that sells “MACSTEEL TRADING RSA’s” products in Malawi. These products are galvanised pipes & fittings, steam pipe & fittings, flanges & valves, pumps, polythene water tanks, fluid sealings products such as gland packings & flange gasketing. Engineering products for the Agriculture Industry are also supplied.

Annual Report - 2004
The Company operated in a hostile macroeconomic environment characterized by high interest rates, inflation and currency instability. The absence of construction projects and civil engineering contracts resulted in the reinforcing steel section of the company suffering whereas the other steel products, fencing and the roof sheeting sector of the business performed well.

Although overall volumes increased, upward price adjustments dampened demand. The profit over after tax is marginally below budget but substantially above the achievement of the previous year.

The proposed installation of a cut to length machine and an inverted box ridge roll former will enhance the company's ability to service its customers better than before.

Annual Report - 2005
The Company performed unsatisfactorily during the year under review. Most of the budgeted targets were not achieved. Lack if significant construction jobs, the high price of stocks which were stuck in Nacala for a long time, shortages of forex, stock losses and exchange losses largely account for the poor performance of the Company.

The company is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and finished products mainly from the Republic of South Africa. The strengthening of the South African Rand against the Malawi Kwacha will continue to pose challenges to the Company.



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