Steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) on Wednesday advised shareholders that it had experienced unforeseen delays in restarting the blast furnace at its Newcastle Works following the completion of the furnace reline at the end of October.
The JSE-listed company noted that the delays were “being attended to urgently”.
“Management is confident that the contingency plans in place will ensure delivery to most customers throughout December. The December shutdown period is expected to ease the pressure on the plants and customer orders for the new year will not be impacted,” AMSA said.
In August, AMSA said the reline project had hit snags and that the reline, which had initially been scheduled for completion in September, would be delayed until October. That delay had been estimated to add $20-million to the overall project cost, which rose to $100-million.
The reline of the blast furnace was expected to improve efficiencies at the plant, increasing steel production at Newcastle Works to 1.9-million tonnes a year, compared with the previous 1.7-million tonnes a year.