SA steel production falters

South African steel production fell by 7.6% year-on-year (y/y) in May to an estimated 570‚000 tons after plunging by 16.6% y/y in February to 515‚000 tons‚ according to World Steel Association data.

By Helmo Preuss

21 Jun 2013

There was a fire at ArcelorMittal SA's basic oxygen furnace plant in Vanderbijlpark, south of Johannesburg in February that curtailed steel production.

By mid-April the company said its basic oxygen furnaces had been recommissioned.

In the first five months of this year South African steel production was down 11.4% y/y and 21.1% lower than the first five months of 2011.

By contrast‚ China's steel industry‚ which is a major importer of South African iron ore‚ grew by 8.0% y/y in the first five months to 325.2m tons‚ while the global steel industry expanded production by 2.1% y/y to 658m tons.

Last year South African production fell by 5.7% to only 7.12m tons‚ its lowest level since at least 1980. This contrasts with a 1.2% rise in global steel production last year after an 8.1% jump in 2011.

Source: I-Net Bridge

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