NATIONALIZE UNDER WORKERS CONTROL
By Ana Monteiro
January 06, 2025
A red hot steel beam is shaped by a rolling machine inside the ArcelorMittal HighVeld Steel & Vanadium Corp. plant in eMalahleni, South Africa, on Tuesday, June 6, 2017. Steelmakers have seen profit buoyed with metal prices at the highest in more than two years in key markets such as the U.S. and Europe.
(Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg)
(Bloomberg) -- ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd. will close its business that makes long-steel products, potentially affecting about 3,500 jobs.
Persistent high logistics and energy costs, together with insufficient policy interventions by the government, left the business unsustainable, the company said in a statement Monday. The wind-down will hit both its Newcastle and Vereeniging Works, as well as rail and structures unit Amras. A scaled-back coke-making operation at Newcastle will continue, reflecting reduced demand, it said.
The company said steel production will likely cease by the end of the month and it has yet to determine the final number of job losses.
A decision to shutter the business was previously announced last February, but the company delayed the move after consulting with the government and state-owned freight firm.
South African steel industry “is facing its greatest sustained challenge” since the 2008 financial crisis, the firm said, adding that deteriorating global and local steel markets, high expenses and surging low-cost imports — particularly from China — have damaged the business.
“We are disappointed that all our efforts over the last year have not translated into a sustainable solution,” Chief Executive Officer Kobus Verster said. “The issues tabled for resolution sought to level the playing field,” and could “firmly address the structural problems within the South African steel industry.”
The news comes as a blow to the business-friendly coalition government’s desire to revive industry in a nation whose economy has expanded at an average of less than 1% annually over the past decade, outpaced by population growth.
ArcelorMittal South Africa expects to report a bigger loss for the year through December. The headline loss per share will range from 4.06 rand to 4.41 rand compared with 1.70 rand a year earlier, it said.
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) -- ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd. will close its business that makes long-steel products, potentially affecting about 3,500 jobs.
Persistent high logistics and energy costs, together with insufficient policy interventions by the government, left the business unsustainable, the company said in a statement Monday. The wind-down will hit both its Newcastle and Vereeniging Works, as well as rail and structures unit Amras. A scaled-back coke-making operation at Newcastle will continue, reflecting reduced demand, it said.
The company said steel production will likely cease by the end of the month and it has yet to determine the final number of job losses.
A decision to shutter the business was previously announced last February, but the company delayed the move after consulting with the government and state-owned freight firm.
South African steel industry “is facing its greatest sustained challenge” since the 2008 financial crisis, the firm said, adding that deteriorating global and local steel markets, high expenses and surging low-cost imports — particularly from China — have damaged the business.
“We are disappointed that all our efforts over the last year have not translated into a sustainable solution,” Chief Executive Officer Kobus Verster said. “The issues tabled for resolution sought to level the playing field,” and could “firmly address the structural problems within the South African steel industry.”
The news comes as a blow to the business-friendly coalition government’s desire to revive industry in a nation whose economy has expanded at an average of less than 1% annually over the past decade, outpaced by population growth.
ArcelorMittal South Africa expects to report a bigger loss for the year through December. The headline loss per share will range from 4.06 rand to 4.41 rand compared with 1.70 rand a year earlier, it said.
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
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