SA steel production falters

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.