SA’s LARGEST steel maker, ArcelorMittal SA, said on Thursday that it was putting its Vereeniging long steel works into “emergency care” until the end of next month, underlining the dire state of the industry.
The move follows Evraz Highveld Steel & Vanadium, SA’s second-largest steel producer, going into business rescue in April.
ArcelorMittal said it had already spoken to about 1,200 affected employees about the decision.
The company, part of the global ArcelorMittal group, said that if it was “not sensible” for the plant to continue operations it would “follow a process of closing down parts of it or closing the entire operation down”.
Cheap, state-subsidised imports from China have badly dented its business and ArcelorMittal SA has reported losses for the past five years.
ArcelorMittal SA CEO Paul O’Flaherty said it had been slowing down output at the Vereeniging facility for some time now, and staff were already working on “short-time”.
“This is survival time. We cannot allow the company to burn cash non-sustainably,” Mr O’Flaherty said.
It had lobbied the government for protective tariffs on imported steel of 10%-15%. “I’ve got a company that has made losses for five years,” Mr O’Flaherty said.
He said SA had huge steel production overcapacity and was consuming about 400,000 tonnes of steel a month at present. He said ArcelorMittal SA by itself produced enough steel in a year to cover this demand.
SA’s weak economy has been slowed down by regular power outages, and high labour and input costs amid a global commodities slump while the government’s infrastructure programme has been slow to take off.
Mr O’Flaherty said ArcelorMittal SA had “no issues” in terms of parent company debt coverage and remained “a going concern”.
ArcelorMittal SA said the timing of any closures at Vereeniging, which would follow a section 189 notice process, would depend on the state’s response to the sector’s application for at least 10% tariffs on Chinese imports or harsher anti-dumping duties.
The Vereeniging plant makes products ranging from window frames and fencing posts to oil, gas and petrochemical pipelines and axles for locomotives. But it was only running at one-third of about 500,000 tonnes a year of steel production capacity.
Trade union Solidarity said on Thursday that it “deplored the proposed closing” of the Vereeniging plant.
“According to management, the closing of the Vereeniging steel mill will affect approximately 1,200 employees, including contractors,” said Marius Croucamp, head of the union’s metal industry sector. The union was in talks with ArcelorMittal on alternatives to retrenchment.
ArcelorMittal SA said it had taken measures to improve operating and financial performance.
“The harsh reality is that the profitability of the operations remains under pressure,” it said. This had resulted in the need to consider additional cost savings and optimisation initiatives.
The company was considering moving all billet production from its Vereeniging works to its more efficient Newcastle furnace in KwaZulu-Natal.
Evraz this week temporarily ceased production, blaming capital constraints, reduced demand and a “significant increase” in Chinese imports.
Evraz has issued a proposed restructuring notice on “a possible reduction” of about 50% of its 2,400 workforce. “The company will restructure to a curtailed operating mode, which will allow a start-up on a limited basis when market conditions improve and adequate funding (is) obtained.”
But Evraz Highveld business rescue practitioner Piers Marsden of Matuson & Associates said the steel producer was unlikely to recommence operations until it had protection from the government against Chinese imports.
Mr Marsden said on Thursday that the Russian-backed company had received a number of indicative offers from “mini consortiums”, including empowerment partners linked with multinational groups. Prospective bidders are required to provide $10m in guarantees by next Monday to proceed to the next stage of the bidding process.
Source: Business Day Live
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