The Manufacture of Number Plates, Signage and Displays and Engraving in South Africa 2024

This report includes all types of commercial and retail signage, road signage, number plates (or licence plates) and billboards, and excludes the manufacture of electronic (digital) signage. It includes information on the size and state of the industry including signage demand and new regulations in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, which will have a significant impact on industry revenues, trends, notable players and developments.

There are profiles of 19 companies including signage companies such as AE Signage, Signs R Us and Billboard Africa, and number plate companies including Uniplate and New Numberplate Requisites.

Introduction

• Demand for signage is subject to spending by companies on branding, the completion of new buildings, government spending on roads, new vehicle registrations and changing regulations.
• The number plate industry is expected to see a significant growth in demand for number plates with new licence plates announced in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
• Number plate manufacture is a highly concentrated sector, with production of blanks carried out by just three companies.
• Embossers allege that the three companies collude to fix prices.
• Printed signage such as billboards is declining as more signage becomes electronic.

Key Trends

• Electronic signage is steadily replacing physical signage, particularly printed billboards.
• Increasing demand for road signs with reflective materials.
• Renting signage a growing trend.
• Sustainability is growing in importance, with recycling of scrap and use of environmentally-friendly materials
• Vehicle wrapping is increasing.

Opportunities

• Development of better security features for number plates.
• Manufacture of signage from sustainable materials.
• New number plates in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal will drive sales of number plates in these provinces.
• Road signage in rural municipalities remains undeveloped.
• Setting up small or virtual signage manufacturing businesses.
• Some companies are using the economic slowdown as a time to improve branding and signage.

Challenges

• Embossers face high prices to procure embossing machinery.
• Growth in government spending on roads is expected to halve in the three years to end-March 2027, over the previous three years.
• Growth in vehicle registrations is expected to slow following lower growth in new car sales.
• Loadshedding and the slowing economy have affected spending on signage.
• Number plate cloning remains a major challenge to the industry.
• Number plate manufacturing is a highly concentrated sector, with only three manufacturers of blanks.
• The number of non-residential buildings (including offices and shopping centres) completed has slowed in recent years.
• The printing of blank number plates is a highly concentrated sector.

Market Outlook

• The outlook for number plate manufacturing looks positive, given the new number plates in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, which could boost the revenue of local manufacturers.
• The outlook for signage manufacturers is more uncertain.
• The slowdown in the economy could lead to companies spending less on shopfront signage and billboards.
• Spending on road signs could also be affected given slow government spending on road maintenance.