South Africa’s largest steel producer, ArcelorMittal South Africa, will increase the prices of some of its flat steel products from September 1.

The company confirmed on Thursday that prices of some flat steel products would increase by between R250/t and R750/t.

Spokesperson Sven Lunsche told Engineering News Online that price increases would affect between 5% and 10% of products produced by the steel giant. The prices of the remaining products would roll over.

He said that the prices for these particular flat-steel products had increased owing to higher international prices.

Luncshe noted that future price increases on ArcelorMittal South Africa’s other products were difficult to predict, as they depended on the strength of the rand and overseas movements of the same products.

The steel company announced last month that it would increase the base price for flat steel products by between 3% and 4% across its flat-product range, and the price for long-steel product by 4% in August.

This followed steel price increases of between 4% and 6% in June, when it instituted its first price increase since August 2008.

Between September and May, the group had been forced to cut prices several times on the back of a steep fall in steel prices internationally, with domestic prices falling by over 60% on average over that eight-month period.

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