By Reuters
Talks with the South African government have so far yielded little progress to avert the closure of loss-making long steel operations at ArcelorMittal South Africa, the company said on Monday.
The South African unit of world number two steelmaker ArcelorMittal SA initially said in November 2023 it planned to close the two plants, citing weak domestic demand, high electricity tariffs, poor freight logistics and competition from local scrap metal recycling mini-mills and imports from China.
“Regrettably, limited progress has been made to date in redressing the major structural impediments,” ArcelorMittal South Africa said in a trading update. It said the closure could no longer be postponed beyond September 30 unless a solution is found soon.
South Africa’s trade and industry minister Parks Tau told lawmakers on July 4 that the government was in “firefighting mode” as it tries to avoid the closure of ArcelorMittal’s operations in KwaZulu Natal and near Johannesburg.
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