Even before the Covid-19 pandemic kicked lumps out of the South African economy, the country was on the back foot when it came to fixed investment projects and its pipeline of new investments. Public-sector spending was waning, despite huge backlogs and community protests over the lack of services, while the private sector lacked the policy certainty and confidence needed to proceed with major projects. Now that the virus has further undermined the financial capacity of government and its poorly managed State-owned entities to stimulate the economy through large-scale infrastructure programmes, any infrastructure-led recovery will require new delivery, funding and business models. Only through extreme transparency will South Africa attract investors motivated by fair returns over the project life cycle, rather than predatory opportunists and rent seekers. Another critical component lies in having a ready-made pipeline of projects that are immediately bankable, rather than merely aspirational. That pipeline must include not only projects directed at meeting the country’s most pressing infrastructure needs but those that can also be immediately funded through sustainable fiscal transfers, user-pay tariffs or a combination of the two. South Africa, therefore, needs to adopt a far more innovative and collaborative approach to the conceptualisation, financing, implementation, operations and maintenance of public infrastructure if it is to have any hope of truly using such investments to stimulate a recovery from the economic devastation wrought by Covid-19. These difficulties are partially reflected in the second edition of the Projects in Progress supplement.

Creamer Media’s Real Economy Year Book has been divided into separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight, and investigates key developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, road and rail, steel, water, manufacturing, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. This six-page brief is a synopsis of key developments in the steel sector over the past 12 months. It provides an overview of the global and South African steel markets, the setbacks that South Africa is facing as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the South African government’s development of a steel master plan.

Creamer Media’s Real Economy Year Book has been divided into separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight, and investigates key developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, road and rail, steel, water, manufacturing, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. This four-page brief is a synopsis of key developments in the platinum sector over the past 12 months in South Africa, including an overview of the global and South African platinum markets and the impact that Covid-19 has had on the sector.

Creamer Media’s Real Economy Year Book has been divided into separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight, and investigates key developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, road and rail, steel, water, manufacturing, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. This five-page brief is a synopsis of the key developments in the manufacturing sector in South Africa, including its contribution to the economy and job creation, and the impact that Covid-19 has had on the sector.

Creamer Media’s Real Economy Year Book has been divided into separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight, and investigates key developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, road and rail, steel, water, manufacturing, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. This four-page brief is a synopsis of key developments in the iron-ore sector over the past 12 months, including details of the global and South African iron-ore markets, and the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the sector.

Creamer Media’s Real Economy Year Book has been divided into separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight, and investigates key developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, road and rail, steel, water, manufacturing, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. This four-page brief is a synopsis of key developments in the coal sector over the past 12 months. It includes an overview of the global and South African coal markets and the push for cleaner coal.

Creamer Media’s Real Economy Year Book has been divided into separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight, and investigates key developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, road and rail, steel, water, manufacturing, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. This four-page brief is a synopsis of key developments in the pumps sector over the past 12 months. It provides an overview of the global pumps market and how the advent of smart pumps and the Industrial Internet of Things is affecting the sector.

The economic and social recovery from the global Covid-19 pandemic will, without question, shape the economies of all countries globally for years to come, as well as all the sectors featured in Creamer Media’s 2020 Real Economy Yearbook. Likewise, the policy choices made in the coming few months will have a strong bearing on the future health and wellbeing of citizens and the sustainability of the sectors discussed in this yearbook.

Relatively strong Chinese demand has been supporting iron-ore prices in 2020, which have been remarkably strong. However, the uncertainty surrounding other economies is increasing. With hardly any market unaffected by the coronavirus pandemic, commodity markets are navigating uncertain times. Creamer Media’s Iron-Ore 2020 report provides an overview of the global iron-ore market, with particular emphasis on supply and demand, as well as trade and pricing. It also provides information on South Africa’s iron-ore market, its major producers and iron-ore export infrastructure, as well as an overview of the major global iron-ore producing companies and other significant producers.

The economic damage that has followed in the wake of legitimate government efforts to stave off the Covid-19 storm is becoming clearer by the day, along with how incredibly challenging it is going to be to navigate our way out of it. Thousands of businesses are in grave peril and millions of jobs are at risk. Business confidence has fallen precipitously, and most major capital investments are either being delayed, deferred or cancelled as business leaders turn their attention from growth to survival. This publication showcases some of those large-scale mining, industrial and infrastructure projects initiated well ahead of the Covid-19 lockdown. What is immediately clear from the pages that follow is that the stock of productive and infrastructure projects was already insufficient to not only address prevailing backlogs, but also stimulate the investment-led growth required to help this country deal with its serious social problems. For that pipeline to be replenished in a way that is fully aligned with the needs of a post-pandemic world, more urgency is required to implement the much-needed structural reforms that would provide investors with the confidence they require to proceed with new fixed-investment projects.