'Steely' resolve needed in anti-counterfeiting drive

Dubai - 53% of steel industry reports incidence of,what is believed to be counterfeit products

A surplus of fake steel in the Middle East and North Africa region has led the Steel Alliance against Counterfeiting (SAAC) to call for more vigilance on the issue, which is estimated to affect more than half of the region's industry.
A recent study commissioned by the SAAC has revealed that 53 per cent of the industry has reported an incidence of, what is believed to be, counterfeit steel products at some point in day-to-day operations.
Lino D'Onofrio, managing director of Raccortubi Group, said that it was "frightening" to see that more than half of the respondents have been faced with counterfeit steel products. He called on product suppliers and end-users to join efforts and to help protect the lives and the integrity of structures in the region.
Ahmed Hashash, general manager of Pan Gulf Piping Systems, said that customer protection and safety should be any company's top priorities, but that they can often be neglected by unfair competitors. "Ensuring a high level of customer satisfaction, we cannot afford to put our reputation at risk. Therefore, we pay significant attention to the quality assurance confirmed by industry standards and hope to strengthen our trusted partnership with reputed producers."
Market studies indicate that the total volume of tubular products in the Mena market in 2016 reached 2,967,176 tonnes. The research revealed that 79 per cent of construction industry professionals in the Gulf are in favour of tighter controls over the import of steel products from certain markets. Government policies, including the UAE Fire and Life Safety Code, prescribe a very high standard for materials to be used in buildings and installations.
The SAAC is working with the industry to develop measures allowing it to detect counterfeit material and forged certificates. The Alliance is also carrying out trans-border investigations and initiating legal action against counterfeiters.
"Cities in the GCC region are shining examples of technology adoption and groundbreaking architectural feats. There is absolutely no place for any uncertainty or spurious practices that compromise their infrastructure. As the survey indicates, counterfeit steel products continue to pose significant risks across sectors and in critical installations like oil rigs, pipelines, oil refineries and so on," said Andrey Burtsev, commercial director for the Middle East, Africa and Asia markets, Interpipe.
"We cannot emphasise enough the dangers of counterfeit material usage in our sector. This is the reason why members of SAAC are working together to apply preventive measures to fight the use of counterfeit tubular products," Bertrand de Rotalier, managing director for the Middle East at Vallourec. "At the SAAC, we believe that the private and the public sectors should work even more closely together to curb this illicit traffic of fake steel. We have a number of concrete recommendations that we believe will help to reduce and possibly eradicate the presence of inferior and dangerous steel products."
- rohma@khaleejtimes.com