Steelmaker Cape Town Iron and Steel Works (Cisco) was planning to reopen its Western Cape-based steel mill, following government’s move to limit South Africa’s reliance on import.
The once-profitable plant shut down in 2010, but following Turkish investment group DHT Africa’s acquisition of the unit from Murray & Roberts, plant start-up was “imminent”.
Cisco believed that the draft policy to restrict the export of ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal through a mechanism stipulating that domestic consumers are given first right of refusal and preferential prices, tabled by Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, could revive the local steel industry, which requires “all the assistance it can get” as it buckled under economic pressures.
“While unsustainable economic factors contributed to a number of plant closures in the last two years, the newly proposed measures will go a long way to making [steelmakers] viable once again,” Cisco spokesperson Ayda Turanli said.
The increase in scrap metal exports deindustrialised the sector and further pressurised the State’s infrastructure build programme, as it deprived the country’s steel mini mills, foundries and other related processors of quality inputs.
“If the intended controls are made law, then domestic users of scrap will have first offer on ferrous and nonferrous waste and scrap metal at a discounted price and for a period of time, before the scrap can be considered for exportation,” Turanli pointed out.
The new levels of discounts offered by scrap market suppliers to local users were expected to rise to about 30% from the current 10% to 15%.