South African steel giant announces closure of long-term business

According to local media reports, ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA), the largest steel producer in Africa, recently announced that it will gradually shut down its long-term material business from the 1st and send employees a layoff notice.

Affected by factors such as the impact of low-priced imports and weak domestic market demand, the company's long-term materials business continued to suffer losses and faced a crisis of shutdown in March this year. After being supported by South Africa Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), the company's business received a 6-month operating buffer period to seek solutions.

Kobus Verster, CEO of Arcelor Mital South Africa, said in a letter to employees that due to the failure to meet expectations in consultation with the government and other stakeholders, the structural problems faced by the company are still unsolvable, and factors such as soaring electricity price costs and deteriorating transportation systems continue to restrict operations, and closing the long-term material business is a last resort.

Arcelor Mital South Africa Company was formerly Iscor. It was founded in 1928 and is one of the most important industrial enterprises in South Africa. The company has two long-term materials factories in Vanderbijlpark and Newcastle, South Africa, and is an important force in supporting local industrial development and employment.

It is understood that the company's steel factory directly and indirectly employs about 3,500 employees, and the shutdown measures will also affect thousands of jobs in the upstream and downstream industrial chains.