Murray & Roberts’ Engineering Africa platform continues to make notable progress with its market penetration into Africa during 2013. The companies that comprise the platform are Engineering Procurement and Construction (“EPC”) projects implementer, Murray & Roberts Projects - with a focus on power ,  oil & gas  and industrial  projects and asset support services , Wade Walker – electrical and instrumentation engineers and constructors, Concor Engineering – mechanical engineers and construction contractor with a focus on minerals and metals processing projects, Genrec - a steel engineering and fabrication company and the newly established Murray & Roberts Water – focusing on providing water and wastewater treatment solutions to the industrial and municipal sectors.

Frank Saieva, Engineering Africa Operating Platform Executive comments “As we enter the new year, I’m confident that the focus of the platform’s operations has orientated us towards potentially more profitable markets and projects where we may have a competitive advantage. We’ll also be looking to establish strategic partnerships that will enhance our ability to deliver to specific market needs.”

Murray & Roberts Projects is seeking to grow its order book outside of the Medupi and Kusile power programme. The company is specifically poised to move strongly into the concentrated solar power (“CSP”) arena this year, well equipped to add value to independent power producers and developers by offering full lump sum turnkey project delivery solutions, specifically parabolic trough projects. CSP plants produce electricity by concentrating the sun’s thermal energy and converting it through heat transfer media to produce the high temperature and pressure steam necessary to drive conventional steam turbines and generators.

A detailed strategic plan is in place to take advantage of opportunities in complex multi-disciplinary EPC projects in a variety of markets. In particular, the business has cemented partnership agreements with more than a dozen suppliers of leading-edge engineering technology and services in Power and oil & gas market segments. Opening of a facility in Secunda to support Sasol is set for implementation in the New Year. Murray & Roberts Projects has also focused its efforts on an Asset Support Services business line.

Concor Engineering has managed to diversify its geographical presence and services offering over the last two years. In addition to South Africa, projects are being executed in Namibia and Zambia with further focus for expansion to Ghana, as the hub for West Africa and Mozambique. From the original expertise in construction of platinum concentrators, Concor Engineering expanded its capabilities to selected engineering and O&M services in addition to fabrication and construction of piping, tanks, platework and structural steel.

Wade Walker is actively involved in Medupi and Kusile projects and has the largest footprint and experience of African projects in Murray & Roberts. Some of the countries where Wade Walker successfully executed projects include DRC, Zambia, Botswana, Ghana, Mauritania and Zimbabwe to mention a few. Similarly to Concor Engineering, a new management team is tasked with the further growth both in South Africa and selected sub-Saharan countries and addition of services to include selected engineering and operations & maintenance activities. One of the key objectives is to enter the oil & gas market.

During 2013, Genrec, whose previous project experience boasts, among others, the iconic Burj al Arab Hotel in Dubai, focussed its efforts on evolving into a lean, competitive facility. The most significant impact of the restructuring has been to reduce the cost of fabricated output by almost a third over two years, two-thirds of which reduction was achieved in the year under review.

The company has automated some areas of its operation with the introduction of a Peddinghaus PeddiWriter, which performs steel layout mark-ups for assembly, achieving significant time savings. Genrec has also commissioned an automated beam assembly machine which is eight to nine times more efficient than previous work models. The addition of this equipment has had a knock-on effect on the efficiency of the rest of the company’s workshop.

Significant major opportunities are being pursued, in close co-operation with partner businesses within the Murray & Roberts Group in Mozambique, where LNG and coal extraction and export prospects are especially promising.

Murray & Roberts Water has identified opportunities to deliver state-of-the-art water solutions amounting to several billion rand annually and these will be energetically pursued both in South Africa and in other parts of the continent. The new company achieved early success only months after its establishment, when it secured a contract to provide two modular plants at Gold Fields’ Ghana-based Tarkwa operations. Efforts are also being made to build Murray & Roberts Water’s design-build and operations and maintenance capabilities.

The roll-out of the Murray & Roberts Group Stop.Think.Act.24/7 safety initiative during 2013 has reinforced the Engineering Africa platform’s focus on health and safety, underpinning the introduction of the Group’s “Zero Harm through Effective Leadership” programme and its platform-specific health and safety interventions.

With Eskom’s Medupi and Kusile power projects well underway, all the companies in the platform continues their strong focus on risk awareness, alignment and formalisation of a Visible Felt Leadership programme. The implementation of an enhanced health and safety communication strategy continues to give employees the opportunity to recommend a variety of solutions to improve safety in their work environment.

About Murray & Roberts
Murray & Roberts is a leading South African engineering, contracting and construction services company. It has created employment, developed skills, applied technology and delivered infrastructure since 1902.

The company offers civil, mechanical, electrical, mining and process engineering; general building, construction and infrastructure development services in the global underground mining market and selected emerging markets in the natural resources and infrastructure sectors.

The company operates in Southern Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australasia and North and South America. The company is based in Johannesburg South Africa, where it has a public listing on the JSE Limited.

Murray & Roberts is a group of world-class companies and brands aligned to the same purpose and vision, and guided by the same set of values.

More information is available at www.murrob.com