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Metals & Engineering News

Global crude steel production rises 2.6% y/y in August

By: Simone Liedtke 25th September 2018 Global crude steel production increased by 2.6% year-on-year to 151.7-million tonnes in August, the World Steel Association (worldsteel) reports. According to the data, which was released on Tuesday, China’s crude steel production for August was 80.3-million tonnes, an increase of 2.7% compared... →

Africa’s metals, engineering cluster needs to do more to attract investment

By: Marleny Arnoldi 21st September 2018 Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) chief economist Dr Michael Ade has declared Africa’s metals and engineering sector open for business. Ade was addressing delegates on the second day of Seifsa’s fourth annual Metals and Engineering Indaba, in Johannesburg. →

Seifsa chief economist Dr Michael Ade talks about the need for South Africa's metals and engineering sector to increase its exports throughout Africa, while IFC senior investment officer Paul Mukasa discusses financing in Africa. Video and editing: Darlene Creamer.

AMSA appoints new CFO

By: Creamer Media Reporter 21st September 2018 Avinash Desmond Maharaj has been appointed CFO and executive director of ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA), effective October 1. He has a Master’s degree in Finance and is a qualified chartered accountant. →

PSV brings on board two key partnerships to drive strategy going forward

By: Marleny Arnoldi 19th September 2018 AltX-listed industrial holding company PSV Holdings has finalised an equity transaction with Regis Holdings and concluded a broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) partnership with Beryl Holdings Partners. Regis is a Mauritanian-headquartered investment holding company, and Beryl... →

Global steel production, consumption growth to slow – Fitch

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 18th September 2018 Growth in global production and consumption of steel in expected to slow over 2018/19, following a significant rebound since early 2016, Fitch Solutions Macro Research’s recently published ‘Global Steel Outlook’ report states. The global market will post a narrowing deficit of 7.4-million tonnes... →

PIC foresees great opportunity in investing in early stage tech-driven companies

By: Kim Cloete 14th September 2018 The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has outlined its vision for its recently launched R2-billion fund aimed at early-stage tech-driven companies. PIC executive head of research Sholto Dolamo told a Frost & Sullivan CEO Think Tank, in Cape Town, that the PIC was venturing beyond its... →

India's steel minister wants import duty on coking coal scrapped

By: Reuters 13th September 2018 India's steel minister said on Thursday he wanted the finance ministry to scrap the 2.5% duty on imports of coking coal, a key steelmaking raw material, to limit input costs. "We are pursuing a cut," Chaudhary Birender Singh told reporters. "We want to make it zero. It cannot be 2.5% to 2%." →

Ghana on hook for $2bn China deal if bauxite plan stalls

By: Bloomberg 10th September 2018 Ghana will have to use alternative sources to pay back China’s Sinohydro Corp. for $2-billion in infrastructure if the revenue from an earmarked bauxite project is insufficient to meet installments. Sinohydro agreed to a deal with the West African nation in May to build bridges, roads, hospitals... →

Aveng expects to wrap up noncore disposals by June 2019

By: Terence Creamer 7th September 2018 Embattled construction group Aveng expects to finalise the disposal of all noncore businesses by June 2019. Following a strategic review, the JSE-listed company identified Aveng Trident Steel, Aveng Grinaker-LTA, Aveng Manufacturing, as well as certain properties and other assets, for sale. →

Metals, engineering collective agreement to be submitted for gazetting

By: Simone Liedtke 4th September 2018 Parties to the Metals and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC) have voted in favour of the extension of the three-year agreement reached in the metals and engineering sector in 2017. Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) operations director Lucio... →

Dinosaurs dominate South African Mint’s 2018 Natura Palaeontology Collection

By: Simone Liedtke 3rd September 2018 The South African Mint on Monday unveiled the five-coin Palaeontology Collection in 24 ct gold. The collection brings to life the ‘archosauria’, which comprise crocodiles, pterosaurs, dinosaurs and birds or the ruling reptiles that roamed and soared freely in Southern Africa about 200-million... →

South African farmers play chicken with Trump tariffs

By: Reuters 29th August 2018 Herman Pretorius is just the kind of white South African farmer US President Donald Trump expressed concern for when he barged into the country's delicate land reform debate by ordering an investigation into the "large-scale killing of farmers". But for the greying, bespectacled 58-year-old,... →

Insimbi acquires Group Wreck for R120m

By: Marleny Arnoldi 28th August 2018 JSE-listed Insimbi Industrial Holdings is acquiring scrap metal recycler Group Wreck International for R120-million. “Insimbi needs to grow by acquiring businesses that complement the existing Insimbi businesses and are accretive to earnings,” said Insimbi CEO Fred Botha. →

Crude steel production, capacity utilisation ratio increase y/y in July

By: Marleny Arnoldi 27th August 2018 Global crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association was 154.6-million tonnes in July – a 5.8% year-on-year increase. China contributed 81.2-million tonnes of crude steel in July, a 7.2% year-on-year increase. Japan produced 8.4-million tonnes, which is... →

Ghana opposition seeks IMF view on $2bn Chinese Bauxite deal

By: Reuters 24th August 2018 Ghana's opposition in parliament wants the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to decide whether a $2-billion Chinese deal agreed by the government in exchange for bauxite will add to the country's debt burden, it said on Thursday. Under the deal, approved by Ghanaian lawmakers last month, China's... →

US poultry industry to urge retaliation if South Africa ends quota

By: Reuters 22nd August 2018 The United States poultry industry will press its government to retaliate if South Africa suspends a quota that excludes some US imports from an anti-dumping tariff, the head of a poultry trade group said. The South African Poultry Association (SAPA) has filed a lawsuit seeking to force the... →

Turkey initiates WTO dispute complaint over additional US tariffs

By: Reuters 21st August 2018 Turkey has initiated a dispute complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against additional tariffs imposed by the US on Turkish steel and aluminium imports, the WTO said on Monday. The move was previously flagged by Turkish officials and comes after President Donald Trump this month said... →

Transnet results eclipsed by irregular expenditure, qualified audit and State capture

By: Terence Creamer 20th August 2018 A surge in irregular expenditure to over R8-billion triggered a qualification of Transnet’s 2018 financial results, all but eclipsing an otherwise strong financial and operational performance by the State-owned group. The irregular expenditure related primarily to procurement undertaken by... →

Industry membership set to stimulate sector

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 17th August 2018 Steel supplier and processing company Allied Steelrode will use its new membership of the SA Institute of Steel Construction (SAISC) to play a positive role in the development and regeneration of the downstream steel industry, Allied Steelrode executive director Warne Rippon tells Engineering... →

Photo by Bloomberg
UNDER PRESSURE The downstream steel sector is experiencing severe challenges

Trump says his steel tariffs will save the US industry – WSJ

By: Reuters 16th August 2018 President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his tariffs on foreign steel are saving the US industry and he predicted that in the future American steelmakers will mostly face domestic competition, the Wall Street Journal reported. In a 20-minute interview with the newspaper, Trump said some people... →

Two workers die at Dubai aluminium furnace, EGA says

By: Reuters 15th August 2018 Two workers died at an industrial furnace in Dubai, reportedly by burning to death, the operator of the plant said on Tuesday. Emirates Global Aluminium said the accident took place on Monday as the men "were working at an industrial furnace, which was shut down for routine maintenance and was... →

China coal output hits lowest in years, but heatwave boosts power generation

By: Reuters 14th August 2018 China's coal output fell 2% in July to its lowest in years as Beijing's crackdown on polluting industries crimped mining in the world's top consumer of the fuel, driving import demand as hot weather boosted thermal power generation. The country produced 281.5-million tonnes of coal in July, down... →

India's Tata Steel Q1 profit more than doubles, lags forecasts

By: Reuters 13th August 2018 Indian steelmaker Tata Steel said on Monday quarterly net profit more than doubled, but it was well below market expectations as a result of a one-off charge. Net profit was 19.34-billion rupees ($276-million), compared to a profit of 9.21-billion rupees a year earlier, Tata said. →

Solidarity reaches wage agreement with AMSA

By: Marleny Arnoldi 8th August 2018 Trade union Solidarity has reached common ground with steel giant ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) and has signed a wage agreement that is “favourable to all parties”. This follows after the union on July 13 referred its dispute with AMSA to the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining... →

Mathe Group ups tyre processing by 35%, grows steel exports

By: Irma Venter 7th August 2018 The KwaZulu-Natal-based Mathe Group, South Africa’s largest tyre recycler, has developed two steel by-products that are being exported to Australia and Korea in growing quantities. Dr Mehran Zarrebini, head of British investment group PFE International, which is one of the major shareholders in... →

Steel mills in China's Hebei cut output due to power shortage

By: Reuters 6th August 2018 Some steel mills in Hebei, China's top steelmaking province, have been ordered to curb operations due to power shortages in the region, industrial sources said. Power grid loading in late July in southern areas of Hebei reached 36.57 gigawatts (GW), the highest on record, as a heatwave spurred... →

Eskom pilots incentive designed to claw back 5 TWh of energy-intensive demand

By: Terence Creamer 6th August 2018 State-owned electricity producer Eskom has confirmed that it has entered into a sales incentive pilot programme with nine large industrial customers in a bid to stabilise sales to electricity-intensive industries. The two-year sales incentive pilot programme, which commenced on June 1, has the... →

Japan steelmakers shrug off US tariffs in earnings but warn on automobile duties

By: Reuters 2nd August 2018 Japanese steelmakers reported little fallout in their first-quarter earnings from the US import tariffs on steel, but they all voiced growing concerns over possible US duties on automobiles which could hurt a wide range of Japan's industries. US President Donald Trump ordered a national security... →

AMSA studies new Vanderbijl electric arc furnace as it moves to restart Vereeniging mill

By: Terence Creamer 1st August 2018 Steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA), which announced its first interim profit in six years and may be on track to deliver its first full year profit since 2010, has initiated a study for the construction of a new electric arc furnace (EAF) at its Vanderbijlpark mill and has also... →

AMSA CEO Kobus Verster

AMSA swings to H1 profit

By: Reuters 1st August 2018 ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) swung back to a modest profit in the first half of the financial year, boosted by higher steel prices and upbeat sale volumes, the firm said on Wednesday. Diluted headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the six months ended 30 June, 2018, is 5c a share compared... →

IDC open to ‘all options’ for turning around Foskor as impairments surge

By: Terence Creamer 31st July 2018 The State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) reported a sharp rise in impairments during its 2018 financial year, which surged 178% to R2.7-billion, from R954-million in 2017. Impairments as a percentage of total financing also increased to R4.9-billion (R2.1-billion), or 17.4%, only... →

IDC CFO Nonkululeko Dlamini and CEO Geoffrey Qhena discuss the rise in impairments in the 2018 financial year, while IDC chairperson Busisiwe Mabuza outlines the need for policy certainty. Video and editing: Nicholas Boyd.

Turkish steel makers eye exports to West Africa amid US tariff setbacks

By: Reuters 31st July 2018 Turkish steel makers are looking to expand in West Africa and other emerging markets in response to tariffs and planned quotas which threaten their sales to the United States and the European Union (EU), a senior sector official said. Namik Ekinci, board chairperson for the Turkish Steel Foreign... →

Hulamin sells well despite US import tariffs, decreased trade with China

By: Marleny Arnoldi 30th July 2018 JSE-listed aluminium supplier and exporter Hulamin has declared a 77% decrease in headline earnings a share to 13c for the six months ended June 30, partly owing to the 7% strengthening of the rand against the dollar to an average of R12.30 in the period, compared with an average of R13.22 in the... →

Hulamin CEO Richard Jacob

Chinese investors plan $10bn metallurgical complex in South Africa

By: Reuters 27th July 2018 Chinese investors signed agreements to build a $10-billion metallurgical complex in South Africa during President Xi Jinping's state visit this week and hope to start construction next year, an executive involved in the project and a provincial official told Reuters. South Africa's President... →

Competitive prices key in eliminating counterfeit parts

By: Halima Frost 27th July 2018 Although Africa is a brand-conscious continent the majority of consumers seek cheaper prices, and the automotive industry needs competitive aftermarket prices to deal with the challenges posed by counterfeit goods, says intellectual property law firm Spoor & Fisher anti-counterfeiting department... →

SPARKS FLY Confiscated bearings are taken to a smelter to be destroyed

D2M system grows its Plascon Acryline range

By: Halima Frost 27th July 2018 Owing to global demand for smarter painting systems that are cost effective and reduce process time, coatings company Kansai Plascon has introduced its Acryline Direct-2-Metal (D2M) system of automotive paints, which is considered as one of South Africa’s leading commercial-vehicle (CV) coating... →

A RAINBOW OF COLOURS Kansai Plascon’s D2M range is available in thousands of different hues

Global steel output jumps in H1 as strong margins tempt mills to ramp up

By: Reuters 26th July 2018 Global crude steel output, a gauge of economic health, rose 4.6% in the first half of this year versus the same period last year, as strong margins prompted mills in major producing countries to ramp up, industry data showed on Thursday. Crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to... →

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