Ceramic and Alloy Specialists has entered into a sales and distribution agreement with GfE-MIR Alloys and Minerals SA to serve the South African ferrous foundry industry. The agreement, which came into effect on the 1st October 2013, will in future see Ceramic and Alloy Specialists sell and supply the product range that GfE- MIR Alloys and Minerals were previously responsible for.
“The Board, Management and Staff of GfE-MIR Alloys and Minerals SA (Pty) Ltd have the pleasure in announcing the successful conclusion of an agreement with Ceramic and Alloy Specialists (Pty) Ltd that will see us transferring our well established ferrous foundry business to Ceramic and Alloy Specialists,” said Russel Symons, Managing Director of GfE-MIR Alloys and Minerals in South Africa.
“GfE-MIR has decided to exit this market due to the fact it cannot continue to offer the high degree of service required for this market sector. Ceramic and Alloy Specialists are extremely well positioned to manage and grow this market, together with GfE-MIR supporting Ceramic and Alloy Specialists with our range of bulk alloys, magnesium cored wires and other speciality products that we have been supplying to the ferrous foundry industry,” continued Symons.
“GfE-MIR have diversified from a trading and distribution company over the last years. Our focus today is on mining, mineral processing, ferro-alloy and metal production activities. GfE-MIR is active in these fields throughout South Africa and Southern Africa. It is for this reason that we would like to continue growing our business in this area of the manufacturing sector, adding value, exporting and exploring other opportunities currently being presented.”
“We thank our partners in the foundry industry for the support over the last number of years and confirm that Mike Retief and his team at Ceramic and Alloy Specialists will continue with the supply and support of our products that we have been supplying directly.”
“This partnership with GfE-MIR will strengthen our product portfolio, distribution and customer support for the foundries in South Africa. In addition we will be able to learn more about our customers and to better understand their needs,” said Mike Retief, MD of Ceramic and Alloy Specialists.
“We are excited about the future for the company. We now have access to products that will in effect virtually make us a one-stop shop as a foundry supplier. Most of the products that GfE-MIR have been supplying into the industry are complimentary to our range,” explained Retief.
“We now regard ourselves as a specialist supplier to the molten metal industry rather than a bulk supplier,” continued Retief.
About Ceramic and Alloy Specialists
Ceramic and Alloy Specialists was established in October 1998 representing both international and local manufacturers and supplying the foundry, aluminium smelter and steel manufacturing industries in South Africa.
The company supplies filtration technology and products, ceramic shapes, hollowware, alloys (the noble materials), grain refiners, hardeners, inoculants, nodulisers, insulation type materials, cored wires, ferro-alloys, cored wire, refractory materials, aluminium alloying additions, ceramic castings and filters, minor and special metals, minerals, foundry consumables and other niche market products for the primary and secondary markets, including the foundries (ferrous and non ferrous) and steel manufacturers.
In 2009 the company expanded its product portfolio into capital equipment when it began sales and marketing of all equipment, spares and consumables for a number of international manufacturers and developers of foundry related equipment, consumables and software.
This range includes furnace installations and solutions for foundries with a range of melting, holding and casting furnaces, cold box, hot box and shell core machines and green sand moulding lines, high pressure die casting machines, loading systems, metallurgic treatment stations, metering systems, cast iron transport trolleys, automatic pouring systems, inoculators and other automatic systems, sand reclamation machinery and plant and crucibles on the consumable side.
Ceramic and Alloy Specialists is an Alloys, Metals & Ceramics Holdings PLC (AMC) company, which has 12 international operations. Some of the principals represented locally include Selee Corporation, Hoesch Metallurgie, Elkem, CEDIE, Rath, ICP, Schaeffer, Striko, Foundry Automation, IMF, Kennecott and Mammut.
About GfE-MIR Alloys and Minerals SA
The company began trading as Varomet South Africa (Pty) Ltd in February 2005 as a reliable supplier, marketer and off-taker for a wide variety of commodities distributed across every major metal market. The company underwent a name change to GfE-MIR Alloys and Minerals (Pty) Ltd in 2008.
The company is today primarily active in the metallurgical industry, specialising in ferro-alloys, base metals, carbon products and refractories. The company has four production plants, three in South Africa and one in Zambia. Products are exported globally and the company currently employs 115 people.
GfE-MIR Alloys and Minerals SA is a subsidiary of the GfE-MIR Group. The GfE-MIR Group recently celebrated 100 years of business in Europe.
For further details contact Ceramic & Alloy Specialists on TEL: 011 894 3039 or visit www.ceramicalloy.co.za or GfE-MIR Alloys and Minerals on TEL: 011 740 1034 or visit www.gfe-mir.com