Steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) is not planning to close the Newcastle plant or the Vanderbijlpark plant in the Vaal Triangle at this stage.
However, according to Netwerk24, Amsa CEO Kobus Verster says he will have to lay off another 400 workers at his Newcastle plant in KwaZulu-Natal. Verster confirmed this number to the media last week after announcing Amsa’s annual results in Sandton in Johannesburg, Netwerk24 reported.
Verster indicated that the decision to sustain steelmaking operations at Newcastle had been driven largely by social and market considerations rather than commercial ones, given the ongoing uncertain outlook for long-steel demand.
Amsa has previously announced that the Saldanha plant on the West Coast will be closed. Verster says the company has already launched an art on January 31. 189 process under the Labor Relations Act. It is expected to be completed by the end of June.
Amsa, which is Africa’s largest steelmaker, shed more than 1 000 jobs company-wide during a large-scale reorganisation late last year. The group said it would now focus on the domestic market and Africa where they can transport it by road. He says when international steel prices change; they can produce more in Vanderbijlpark and Newcastle.
Liezl Scheepers is editor of the Parys Gazette, a local community newspaper distributed in the towns of Parys, Vredefort and Viljoenskroon. As an experienced community journalist in all fields for the past 30 years, she has a passion for her community, and has been actively involved in several community outreach projects as part of Parys Gazette's team.
