(Bloomberg) – ArcelorMittal SA said it is up to South Africa to keep crucial steel factories open and to question the government’s industrial policy.
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The South African unit of the company has negotiated with state officials since 6 January, when the company said that it was planning to close three units, including two mills on which the car equipment and steel manufacturing industries depend on the country.
ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd. Or Amsa, Thursday delayed the closures with a month and said that it expected to make a final announcement at the end of February.
“We are not going to lose any further losses,” said Chief Executive Officer Kobus Vertiger at the headquarters of the company in Vanderbijlpark, south of Johannesburg. “The discussions are active, they are daily. They are actively focused on trying to find a solution. “
The one-off steel activities of the state purchased by the company of billionaire Lakshmi Mittal in 2003 effectively thrown the glove to the government to tackle complaints, ranging from high electricity and transport costs, to what it sees as insufficient rates on imported steel and unfair Support for rivals.
“Electricity is too expensive in South Africa, train rates are too expensive in South Africa, guarantees are not good enough, the scrap discount given to competitors is unfair,” Versster said. “You must tackle the structural problems.”
The company may need a legal problem to strengthen its finances, said Verster, causing its shares to fall no less than 17% to 93 South African cent in Johannesburg, the lowest since December 2023. It acted at 1 edge at 3:28 pm
The closure of the closure argued of the industries to intervene.
They claim that the factories, which also supply building steel, are the key to the health of their own activities, because import would be too expensive and less reliable.
Versster said that the Association and Newcastle Mills, which indirectly support more than 100,000 jobs, supply between 350,000 tons and 400,000 tonnes of steel products that cannot currently be manufactured by other companies in South Africa.
Although this is a fraction of the total production of the Mills, it consists of the flexible spring steel required for components of cars and the hollow variety that is used to make hand drills that are essential for the depth of the deep metals of south- Africa. It is also the key to the infrastructure drive of 4.8 trillion edge ($ 258 billion) that is defended by President Cyril Ramaphosa.