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Wednesday April 29, 2009.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shannon O'Donnell.

Making headlines today:

Africa's largest steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa reported its first quarterly loss since the unbundling of the steel and mining units of Iscor in 2001. The company declared a headline loss of 237-million-rand for the first quarter of 2009. The result was also a massive reversal from the 2-billion-rand profit reported by the group during the corresponding period in 2008.

The most recent previous loss by the steel unit of Iscor was the 66-million-rand interim loss made in the six months ended June 2001.

Earnings were also sharply down from the 1,1-billion-rand profit reported for the fourth quarter of 2008. This was when the steel market decline began gaining traction, after record prices and demand during the first half of 2008.

CEO Nku Nyembezi-Heita said that the loss arose from a "sudden and sharp" collapse in the international demand and prices for steel.

State-owned power utility Eskom has confirmed that power producers in the Southern African Power Pool have pledged their support to assist South Africa in catering for the electricity requirements of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2009 Confederations Cup.

On Tuesday, Eskom reported that the other 13 members of the power pool had pledged to support South Africa in the areas of power generation, transmission, customer contributions and demand-side management initiatives during the sporting events.

SAPP chief engineer Alison Chikova reported last week that its members would meet in Mozambique to sign the pledge, as the 2010 FIFA World Cup would be a big electricity-supply challenge for the SAPP region.

The signing of the pledge formed part of Eskom's plans to ensure the reliability of electricity supply for the two sporting events.

Also making headlines:

US auto manufacturer General Motors downsizes to avoid bankruptcy.
Coal-miner Exxaro is entering the power generation business.
Green building council will start work on the Green Star South Africa retail rating tool.
And, steel producer Highveld Steel & Vanadium reports a sharp drop in first quarter output.

That's a round up of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories please visit engineeringnews.co.za.