SA Steel Production Up By 1%

South African steel production rose by 1.1% year on year (y/y) in September to an estimated 550‚000 tons after plunging by 16.6% y/y in February to 515‚000 tons‚ according to World Steel Association (worldsteel) data.

There was a fire at ArcelorMittal SA’s (ACL) basic oxygen furnace plant on February 9 2013 in Vanderbijlpark‚ south of Johannesburg. In mid-April the company said its basic oxygen furnaces had been recommissioned.

In the first nine months of this year South African steel production was down 7.6% y/y and 13.6% lower than the first nine 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 nine months to 587.38-million tons‚ while the global steel industry expanded production by 2.7% y/y to 1.186-billion tons.

In 2012 South African production fell by 5.7% to only 7.12-million tons‚ its lowest level since at least 1980. This contrasted with a 1.2% rise in global steel production last year after an 8.1% jump in 2011.

-iNet Bridge