LOCAL MANUFACTURER 25
Plumbing Africa | Rory Macnamara
Plastinternational
Outside of factory two .
By
Rory Macnamara
This issue Plumbing Africa spoke with Luca Ambrosi of Plastinternational , a plastic injection moulding and plastic ball valve and fittings manufacturer .
Plastinternational
1 . Briefly describe the business track record leading up to current company . Plastinternational was started in 1986 servicing the domestic pool , garden , and appliance industries . Due to the impact of cheaper Chinese imports , the business was forced to diversify and start to focus on sustainable , proprietary markets and products . Although custom moulding remains a sturdy foundation , the business is proud to have a large market share of industrial ball valves , fittings and water related products .
Mr Giovanni Ambrosi .
2 . What is it that attracted the founders / owners to this type of business ? The original owner , Mr . Giovanni Ambrosi emigrated to South Africa in the late 60 ’ s and although a geologist by trade he had been exposed to plastic conversion in his father ’ s factory in Italy . In the early 2000 ’ s his son , Luca re-joined him and in 2008 Little Lions Investments took the opportunity to expand their rotational and extrusion moulding interests and they also purchased shares in Plastinternational .
3 . There is a view that imports are cheaper than local manufactured products . How do you respond to this view ? There are certainly cheaper imports available however one needs to always compare apples with apples – not all “ cheaper ” imports are comparable to the quality products offered locally . Should one request European standards from China ( for example ), these products are the same price , there are no longer the massive differences we saw 10 years ago . Once logistical costs and stock overheads are added to these prices , you will be surprised that we have high quality , locally manufactured products at the same price , if not cheaper .
4 . Has / is the lack of materials ( covid and current supply situation ) benefitted local manufacture ? In contrast , the global shortages of material as well as the weakened rand have driven up raw material costs , many by over 100 %.
“.. the export possibilities far outweigh the benefits of importing …”
November 2022 Volume 28 I Number 9 www . plumbingafrica . co . za