West Coast Business News & Directory.

Proposed Arcelormittal Saldanha Steel Wind Energy Facility

Arcelormittal Saldanha works is proposing the construction of a Wind Energy Facility consisting of 6 wind turbines. On my way to work last week and spotted this notice on the fence at Saldanha Steel. News brought to you by West Coast Office National. We deliver Stationery & Business Supplies on the West Coast. 022 713 1111 www.pencil.co.za  

API’s first pipe mill to be followed by two more as water projects touch R5bn

Africa Pipe Industries (API) CEO John-Gordon Jansen van Nieuwenhuizen started planning his Sasolburg pipe plant in 2010, with the first project rolling off-line in January this year. He estimates the plant’s first year of turnover will be between R300-million and R400-million, with the facility, located close to steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa, busy “from day one”. What is driving...

Minister moves to save Saldanha Steel plant

Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies was meeting ArcelorMittal and Kumba today to try to ward off a threat to close Saldanha Steel with thousands of jobs at stake. His spokesperson, Sidwell Moloantoa Medupe, confirmed that Davies had requested the meeting after Kumba’s announcement on Friday that it would stop supplying iron ore to ArcelorMittal SA steel plants unless it agreed to new terms...

A review of spoilt brat Arcelor’s rights is in order

It seems that the lighter ArcelorMittal South Africa’s legal case becomes, the louder are its threats. Its latest – to close its Saldanha Steel plant and stop all steel exports – smacks of the sort of churlish behaviour one would expect of a spoilt child. And spoilt child is pretty much the status that ArcelorMittal SA has enjoyed for most of its stay in South Africa. The extent of...

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...

ArcelorMittal SA seeks quick end to row with kumba

The South African unit of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel maker, on Tuesday said it was cooperating with Kumba Iron Ore to expedite a prolonged dispute over iron-ore supply amicably. ArcelorMittal South Africa also said steel prices were set to rise on recovery of global demand, restocking and a boom in South Africa’s economy, particularly in the construction industry. “We...

Steel prices increase Saldanha Steel will benefit, but not the consumer.

JSE-listed steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) confirmed to Engineering News Online on Monday that the price of flat and long steel for delivery from June 1, 2010, would increase by between 2% and 17%, depending on product type – news of the increase was met with anger by steel consumers. The June increases would be over and above the R600/t surcharge instituted from May 1, 2010,...

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...

ArcelorMittal in Saldanha Bay could face price increase for iron ore

Details of an “interim pricing arrangement” between iron-ore belligerents ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) and Kumba Iron Ore (KIO) are expected to be concluded in the near term, with detailed discussions on the finer details reaching maturity. Further, an update on the progress regarding the channel through which the two companies would seek to resolve their dispute could also be communicated...