ARCELORMITTAL SOUTH AFRICA: Repositioning, Restructuring and Revitalising Amid Steel Resurgence

Approaching its century at the helm of the South African steel trade, founded in 1928 ArcelorMittal South Africa is today the largest steel producer on the continent, with a typical production capacity of seven million tonnes of liquid steel each year and supplying over 60% of the steel used in South Africa. The rest it exports to sub-Saharan Africa and anywhere else that its flat, long, tubular and foundry products are required.

“ArcelorMittal South Africa is well known for its reputation for reliability and a sharply defined business focus,” the organisation says, which has helped to forge it into a modern, highly competitive supplier of steel products to both domestic and global markets. “This has been achieved through on-going alignment with international best practices and a comprehensive understanding of the steel business environment, ensuring the company’s continued global competitiveness and participation in international markets.”

A powerful association with the global leader in all major markets, ArcelorMittal, further underpins its own standing and opens up access to world-class research and development, best practice processes, aggressive procurement contracts and international market leverage. “This ensures the company remains at the cutting edge of the international steel industry,” it enthuses.

STEEL BOUNCE BACK

South Africa is one of the largest steel producers on the African continent, with steel-consuming industries contributing R600 billion to the country’s GDP, and steelmaking remains a key strategic industry for the country. As imported steel products continue to impact the viability of the South African steel industry, each tonne of steel produced domestically adds to the national economy, creates jobs and provides value through beneficiation, explained ArcelorMittal South Africa stakeholder management and communications group manager Tami Didiza in January.

“There must be adequate protection for the manufacturing industry against the unfair import of finished steel products which erodes the competitiveness of the manufacturing and fabrication capacity base of our country. We must avoid the country becoming a steel importer, leaving the upstream and downstream industries at the mercy of the global steel market.”

South Africa’s Master Plan for the steel and metal fabrication sector, signed last year, marked a huge step in the concerted bid to revive the local industry and boost output, implemented by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. A combined initiative by regulators, industry and labour, it sets out to re-energise the sector and expand production and negate the impacts of mounting pressure with fewer local infrastructure projects, high input costs and global price competition.

“The signing of the Master Plan sets the foundation and commitment for the development and growth of this important sector,” the ministry said of the scheme, whose priorities include addressing demand and supply, the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement and a steel fund to support industry projects. South Africa is not an outlier in terms of these protection measures, Didiza clarified. “Steel production is a crucial strategic competency, and most steel-producing countries have taken significant steps to protect their steel sectors against imports as per internationally agreed World Trade Organisation rules.

“It is estimated that it would take more than a decade to re-establish an integrated steel industry in South Africa were it to disappear,” he finished, in cautionary fashion. “This would be detrimental to the South African economy in every sense.” Hopefully a prospect which will never be more than a hypothetical, as from a desperate state only a matter of months ago the sector stands in its strongest position from a decade from a supply and potential demand perspective.

RESULTS REFLECT RESURGENCE

A confluence of global and local factors are seeing demand for steel around the world steadily improving as markets recover from lockdown restrictions. As its leading player, ArcelorMittal South Africa has perfectly embodied the ongoing resurgence, and drivers of demand spanned multitude markets including mining, automotive, construction and infrastructure and energy projects.

In July last year it reported its strongest half yearly EBITDA in a decade and a headline profit of R2,482 million, compared to a H1 2020 loss of R2,613 million. Sales volumes increased by 10% to 1.3 million tonnes and liquid steel production increased by 36%, in the context of global crude steel production which increased by 14% against H1 2020 to 1,001 million tonnes. 

ArcelorMittal South Africa observed the acceleration of the recovery in the global steel environment, in bloom since the second half of 2020. Activity in key markets has been boosted by strong demand and low supply chain inventories following significant destocking in prior periods, combining to support a strong recovery in steel spreads.

“As anticipated in February 2021, both stronger sales volumes and the benefit of robust price-cost effects enabled ArcelorMittal South Africa to enjoy a strong start to 2021, recording a half yearly EBITDA of R3 218 million, its strongest in a decade,” the company summated. “This performance was remarkably achieved against the backdrop of one of the most challenging operating environments in the company’s long history, characterised by two Covid-19 waves and inclement weather events at the beginning of the year.”

CIRCULAR CARBON CHAMPION

As a group, ArcelorMittal’s focus on transformation is informing its every move. “In order to live up to our brand promise of Transforming Tomorrow, we are committed to the highest standards of corporate responsibility,” it states. “We realise that an ongoing commitment to sustainable business practices will prove critical to achieving these goals and providing the kind of leadership that will transform the steel industry on the continent.”

Most recently, ArcelorMittal unrelieved an expansion of its partnership with carbon capture and re-use specialist LanzaTech with a US$30 million investment, the fourth via its XCarb™ innovation fund since its launch in March 2021.

Using LanzaTech’s gas fermentation technology, which captures carbon-rich waste gases from the steelmaking process and converts them into sustainable fuels and chemicals, the plant will reduce ArcelorMittal Ghent’s CO2e emissions by 125,000 tonnes a year. It will also produce 80 million litres of bio-ethanol annually, which can be blended with traditional gasoline and used as a low-carbon alternative fuel for the transport sector.

“We have worked with LanzaTech for several years, know their leadership team well and understand the potential of their technology and the role it can play in not only helping us to decarbonise, but also in producing valuable products from our carbon bearing gases which can help the decarbonisation of other sectors,” commented chief technology officer of ArcelorMittal, Pinakin Chaubal, a sentiment echoed by LanzaTech CEO Jennifer Holmgren.

“No longer can we simply extract more resources to make the things we need. ArcelorMittal has long been a champion of the circular economy and through their XCarb™ innovation fund they are helping create a new circular carbon economy. We are delighted to deepen our relationship with ArcelorMittal and look forward to this next chapter as we create a future where everything can be made from recycled carbon.”