Steel production rose 2.6% in 2017 to an estimated 6.301-million tonnes after falling by 4.2% in 2016. The steel sector remains under threat due to global overcapacity so steel prices remain low.
In addition, the announcement of a 10% tariff on imports of steel into the US has thrown the global industry into turmoil as some countries are exempt and some not.
The Department of Trade and Industry has applied for exemption from the tariff as steel imports from SA are only 330,000 tonnes, or less than 1% of total US imports, and 0.3% of total US steel demand of 107-million tonnes.
Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies has noted that some of the tariff lines are covered under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act and the General System of Preferences and the application of duties will erode the benefits under these preferential arrangements.
He emphasised that SA does not a pose a threat to US national security or the US steel industry, but rather it is a source of strategic primary and secondary products used in further value-added manufacturing in the US, contributing to job creation in both countries.
Source: BDpro
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