Hudson Rubber (Pty) Ltd was founded in 1959 in Pretoria, South Africa and is a well- known brand in the industry. The company was owned by the founding family until October 2016 when it was sold to private investors. The Hudson Rubber capacity was further expanded in November 2016 when a merge was concluded between Hudson Rubber and SDV International Trading Group.
We are now the largest manufacturer of extruded rubber products in Africa, and processes over 150 Mt of material per month. We have 104 permanent employees, the capacity to process in excess of 500 Mt per month in our ISO 9001 accredited production facilities located in Pretoria West and Babelegi.
Our production capacity includes 3 Internal mixers, 5 Continuous vulcanization extrusion lines, 2 Autoclave cure extrusion lines,16 Gasket joining stations, 1 rubber sheet calendar. We have a technical partner in China which is also an Accredited OEM supplier.
Hudson Rubber exhibited at the recent NAACAM Conference and Exhibition hosted by the Durban Automotive Cluster to showcase the company as well as garner support for local manufacturing capability. The local manufacturing of automotive components in this sector presents considerable opportunities despite the challenges associated says the Chairperson of Hudson Rubber, Stoney Steenkamp.
Although local manufacturing capability exist the requirements to deliver such products are lacking and needs
investment in people, equipment and processes to ensure a reliable, consistent quality and competitive offering. Hudson Rubber has taken a strategic decision to take this challenge head on and secure valuable jobs for South Africans.
There is nou doubt that Hudson will require support from all stakeholders but the recent response from the
NAACAM show as well as interactions substantiate our decision to enter this new challenge in Hudson’s history. All other customers will benefit from the new strategic intent. As local manufacturers we need to contribute to the manufacturing sector in the country by building the required skills base and investing in technologies which makes us more efficient and productive.
The new owners of Hudson Rubber and the Board of the Company is fully committed to this, to build a local manufacturing company which can compete globally, both in terms of quality products as well as competitiveness.
We will be consolidating our manufacturing operations into one facility in Babelegi as from October 2017. We are also introducing additional capabilities to the business with the introduction of new technical processes. Stoney further adds that we are looking forward to the challenges presented by all our clients and we intend to build a best in class rubber manufacturing company.