ArcelorMittal in Vanderbijlpark shuts a furnace over rail troubles

VANDERBIJLPARK - Transnet's poor performance has forced ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) to shut off a blast furnace for three weeks while the steelmaker has also warned customers that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is pushing key input prices skyward. The curveballs come just a month after South Africa's primary steelmaker posted its highest earnings in nearly 15 years, rebounding from the brink of collapse as steel markets improved and structural reforms began to bear fruit. In a letter sent to customers earlier this month, which Fin24 has seen, AMSA said it had been experiencing a “progressive deterioration in the availability of trains” which has affected the levels of raw material stock and has forced the steelmaker to halt production at one of its blast furnaces in Vanderbijlpark.

PHOTO: (Supplied)