Steinmüller Africa is the leading provider of welding solutions for the power generation, petrochemical and heavy industry on the African continent.
We provide a combination of cutting-edge technology, certified expertise and strict compliance with international standards to provide best-in-class welding services.
From initial project phases to ongoing maintenance services, our full-service solutions cover some of the continent’s largest and most demanding projects.
Our award-winning welders specialise in technically critical on-site repairs and deliver welds that perform flawlessly under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions.
Ready to discuss your welding needs? Call us on +27 11 806 3000 or fill out the form to get started.
Interested in our welding services?
Welding Services
Steinmüller Africa provides comprehensive welding solutions for major industrial sectors, utilising two primary approaches: Workshop Welding and On-Site Welding.
Workshop Welding
Performed in controlled environments, our workshop welding ensures the highest levels of precision and quality for all fabrication projects. This includes:
On-Site Welding Services
Our on-site welding services involve deploying mobile teams for field installations, critical repairs, and ongoing maintenance. This ensures rapid response and operational continuity for our clients, offering consistency wherever you are for emergency repairs, scheduled shutdowns, and new construction.
Welding Technology
Steinmüller Africa employs a diverse portfolio of welding technologies to meet specific project requirements.
Conventional Welding Methods
Manual Arc Welding (MAW)
A reliable and versatile method used for a wide range of applications.
Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW)
Primarily used for heavy-duty and high-strength applications, relying on a flux-coated electrode for arc protection.
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW/TIG)
The preferred method for high-precision welding, especially on thin materials and critical joints where a clean and high-quality finish is paramount.
Metal Active/Inert Gas Welding (MAG/MIG)
Preferred for high productivity during structural welding.
Advanced welding methods
Submerged Arc Welding (SAW)
This highly efficient, automated process involves an arc submerged under a blanket of powdered flux.
Applications: It is ideal for large-scale projects requiring deep weld penetration and high deposition rates. Steinmüller Africa has notably extended this method to the fabrication of membrane walls for boilers.
Equipment: The company operates highly advanced machinery, including one of only two PEMA machines in the country and the only Oerlikon SAW stub welding machine in South Africa.
Benefits: SAW provides fast, cost-effective, and high-quality fabrication solutions with minimal need for repairs, increasing plant uptime for clients.
WeldCore® Technology
A novel and innovative sampling and repair technique.
Applications: This technology is primarily applied to high-pressure steam lines where it’s used to remove a small, cylindrical metallurgical sample from a pipe wall.
Equipment: The core equipment involves a system that performs a permanent, high-integrity repair using a solid-state process called taper friction hydro-pillar processing.
Benefits: The main benefits of this technology are the significant reduction in the risk of unexpected catastrophic failures in high-pressure steam lines. It also increases plant uptime, leading to substantial cost savings. Developed in collaboration with eNtsa, this innovative technology required a concerted effort to gain acceptance from clients and regulatory bodies.
Benefits
Steinmüller Africa’s welding services provide comprehensive, high-quality solutions, significantly boosting client plant uptime and delivering substantial cost savings.
- Complete Welding Solutions: Covering everything from qualification to fabrication and on-site services, utilising diverse welding technologies.
- Superior Quality & Precision: Achieved through controlled workshop environments, rigorous standards, and minimal repair needs.
- Enhanced Uptime & Cost Efficiency: Efficient, high-quality welding, including specialised methods like SAW and explosive welding, reduces downtime and associated costs.
- Unmatched Expertise: Deep specialisation, including unique explosive welding capabilities (sole qualified provider in SA’s power generation sector), and continuous investigation into opportunities to optimise component fabrication.
- Guaranteed Compliance: Strict adherence to critical industry codes (ASME, EN, and ISO) ensures structural integrity.
Specific advantages per approach include:
- Workshop Welding: Offers optimal conditions for precision welding of pressure parts and large assemblies, leveraging advanced mechanised/automated processes and comprehensive qualification.
- On-Site Welding: Provides rapid response with mobile teams for field installations, repairs, and maintenance, ensuring operational continuity, consistent quality at project locations, and reduced client logistics.
Benefit from our superior welding services. Call us now at +27 11 806 3000 or fill out the form today.
Notable Projects
Steinmüller Africa leads some of the most extensive and intricate welding projects across the continent. Here’s a look at some of our key achievements.
Mondi Boiler Erection Project – Richards Bay
In May 2025, as part of Project Vuselela, we undertook the complete mechanical installation of a new boiler at Mondi’s Richards Bay mill. This involved erecting steel structures, pressure parts, ducts, tanks, fans, and critical systems.
We boosted productivity by 2 to 3 times and cut welding time by nearly 50% using welding methods like stick, TIG, and Regulated Metal Deposition (RMD). We managed high quality weld depositions under high-humidity conditions. While portable gas manifold systems improved safety and supply efficiency.
Eskom HP Heaters Fabrication – Tutuka & Duvha Power Stations
Steinmüller Africa designed and fabricated 14 high-pressure (HP) heaters in-house at our Pretoria West facility, each requiring about 54 tonnes of imported pressure-grade steel. A global first, we innovatively combined rotary friction welding and (Friction Hydro Pillar Process) FHPP hybrid technology to attach nearly 448 nozzles per header.
We also successfully repaired four headers using this new method (friction welding and FHPP) after initial submerged arc weld defects. Precision tube-bundle connections were achieved in tight spaces using orbital TIG welding systems, maintaining a defect rate under 2% with 100% radiographic testing. Real-time weld tracking via our WeldEx cloud system ensured ISO-certified quality assurance and traceability.
Explosive Welding for High-Pressure Heat Exchangers
Steinmüller Africa pioneered explosive welding and tube-plugging in South Africa, particularly for Eskom’s ageing coal-fired heat exchangers at power stations like Kriel and Arnot. This method allows for dissimilar-metal bonds (e.g., stainless or titanium to carbon steel), significantly reduces downtime and cost, and eliminates the need for post-weld heat treatment.
With weld travel speeds exceeding 8 000 m per second, we produce near-perfect metallurgical bonds. Notably, Steinmüller Africa remains the sole licensed explosive welding provider in South Africa’s power generation sector.
Maintenance & Repairs – PetroSA Mossel Bay and Sasol Secunda
We regularly undertake critical maintenance and repair work during plant shutdowns for major industrial players. This includes replacing internal coil U-sections and welding various pipe components at PetroSA Mossel Bay and Sasol Secunda. We also provide ongoing maintenance for Eskom’s boilers and HP piping across 11 coal stations, offering both workshop fabrication and on-site services.
Award Winning Welding
These awards highlight Steinmüller Africa’s leading position in the welding industry, showcasing our expertise from high-pressure boiler fabrication to comprehensive developmental training programmes and our consistent delivery of quality under stringent standards.
At Eskom’s Welding Awards event held at Wits University on 27 October 2024, Steinmüller Africa’s welders earned six prestigious awards, including:
Our Boilerserve team at Kendal Power Station received the Contractor of the Year Award 2024. This honour recognises our exceptional weld repair rate, which remained below 2% over two Eskom financial years, alongside achieving over 1.7 million safely worked hours with no lost-time injuries.
Steinmüller Africa was presented with the Southern Africa Institute for Welding (SAIW) Gold Medal in 2013. This award acknowledged our unwavering commitment to skills development, significant investment in modern welding technology, and full ISO 3834 certification across multiple worksites, including our fabrication facilities in Pretoria West.
Achiever Award for Best Training Programme: Large Company (2013) – awarded to Steinmüller Africa’s Technical Training Academy for excellence in welders’ training programmes.
Runner-Up in the same Achiever Award category in 2014.
Certifications and Quality Standards
A cornerstone of Steinmüller Africa’s operations is its unwavering commitment to quality and adherence to international standards.
Standards Compliance
The company’s welding procedures are in strict accordance with major international standards, including ASME, AWS, and EN.
Certified Workforce
We employ certified welders and skilled artisans who deliver thousands of meters of X-ray quality welds.
Training and Development
Steinmüller Africa invests in regular training programs to ensure its welders are proficient in the latest techniques and technologies, maintaining a high standard of workmanship across all projects.
For high-quality welding services, contact us today! Call us on +27 11 806 3000 or fill out the form.
Welding Services
Steinmüller Africa provides comprehensive welding solutions for major industrial sectors, utilising two primary approaches: Workshop Welding and On-Site Welding.
Workshop Welding
Performed in controlled environments, our workshop welding ensures the highest levels of precision and quality for all fabrication projects. This includes:
Manual and Automated Welding
From hand welding for specialised applications to advanced mechanised and fully automated processes for repeatable quality and speed.
Specialist Welding for Pressure Parts
Including headers, steam drums, superheaters, and economisers, where structural integrity and code compliance are critical.
Proactive and Predictive Maintenance
First-line and detailed inspections help identify problems before failure, reducing future repair costs and maintaining plant performance.
Drone-Assisted Plant Inspection
Our drone technology reduces inspection time and improves safety by eliminating the need for human entry into hazardous areas like boilers and confined spaces. These units operate in up to 50°C and dusty conditions and are ideal for:
Other Industrial Frameworks
Beyond these large-scale projects, we also provide Structural Welding for high-specification structural components for boilers, piping systems, and various industrial frameworks, serving a broader client base within heavy industry.
Manual Arc Welding (MAW)
A reliable and versatile method used for a wide range of applications.
Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW)
Primarily used for heavy-duty and high-strength applications, relying on a flux-coated electrode for arc protection.
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW/TIG
Primarily used for heavy-duty and high-strength applications, relying on a flux-coated electrode for arc protection.
Metal Active/Inert Gas Welding (MAG/MIG
Primarily used for heavy-duty and high-strength applications, relying on a flux-coated electrode for arc protection.
Why Steinmuller Africa is driving Africa’s welding progress
Steinmüller Africa’s welding services provide comprehensive, high-quality solutions, significantly boosting client plant uptime and delivering substantial cost savings.
Complete Welding Solutions
From qualification to fabrication and on-site services, utilising diverse welding technologies.
Superior Quality & Precision
Controlled workshop environments, rigorous standards, and minimal repair needs.
Enhanced Uptime & Cost Efficiency
Africa’s first use of specialised methods to reduce downtime and associated costs.
Unmatched Expertise
Award-winning capabilities and qualifications.