West Coast Business News & Directory.

ArcelorMittal to close Saldanha steel plant

Within hours of Anglo American-controlled Kumba Iron Ore (KIO) dropping the bombshell that it wanted payment in advance for higher interim iron-ore prices, South Africa’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal (AMSA) announced that it was taking immediate steps to close its Saldanha export steel works and to cut domestic steel production drastically, which puts 3 000 to 4 000 jobs at risk, and which...

Expansion plans for Saldanha Bay port on the West Coast

A remarkable transport/engineering feat happened during last year’s Christmas season – on 27 December – at the Sishen railway station. It literally set the wheels in motion for far-reaching results, especially so for Saldanha’s iron ore export effort. On that day the last of ten trains left the Northern Cape’s iron export station for Saldanha, almost 1 000 km to the south. Its successful...

Good news for Saldanha Steel and the West Coast

LONDON – World steel demand is growing faster and earlier than expected, driven primarily by China’s runaway growth, and is now expected to hit pre-crisis levels this year, the World Steel Association said on Tuesday. The body expects apparent steel use to rise by 10,7% to R1,241-billion tons this year, while demand is expected to hit a historical high at 1,306-billion tons in 2011. “The...

ArcelorMittal’s Saldanha Bay ,R600/t Sishen surcharge evokes angry SA govt response

The decision of JSE-listed steelmaker ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) to impose a R600/t Sishen surcharge on the steel that it sells has evoked an angry response from the South African government, which described the surcharge as “unjustifiable”. As a consequence, South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said that it would be referring the matter to the Competition...

Duferco & Mittal slow down production.

It is rumored that Mittal steel West Coast has only orders for 10% of its capacity for November 2008, an official announcement is expected on 7th November 2008, Duferco Steel Processing who rely on Mittal steel in Saldanha has stopped production because of an empty order book

Weak metal prices will hit South African mining

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s Minerals and Energy Minister, Buyelwa Sonjica said on Tuesday the global financial crisis that had led to a decline in metal prices would negatively impact the country’s mining sector. “It (Financial crisis) is affecting all economies and South Africa is no exception,” she said. “I see it impacting on the producers. Of course...