Local valves company employs competitive strategy

Over the past two years, the African valves market has experienced trying conditions when dealing with the mining industry; however, the business environment is now slowly recovering as a result of improved commodity prices, South African valves industry manufacturer AR Controls director Julien van Niekerk tells Mining Weekly. The commodity price slump and the consequential shelving of projects and slashed maintenance budgets during this period has affected many players in the valves industry. Despite a slight reduction in the number of industry players, a sharp increase in competitiveness has ensued as a result of companies like AR Controls paying close attention to total cost of ownership and ongoing technical innovation in its product line-up. This aggressive operating climate effectively led to the success of AR Controls in the valves industry, says Van Niekerk.