Fin24 reports that in a statement on Wednesday, ArcelorMittal SA (Amsa) announced that it might close some of its operations.  

The company, which supplies more than 60% of the steel used in SA, has operations in Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging, Saldanha and Newcastle.  Local steel consumption is at its lowest levels in a decade – currently 30% lower than in 2007 – which has hit Amsa.  The company said in a statement that it was currently reviewing the "operational and financial sustainability of certain of its major operating sites, individual plants and production areas".  This will exclude its commercial coke operations, and won’t impact its planned acquisition of the Highveld Structural Mill.  The company is already in talks with employees about possible retrenchments.  It indicated that those consultations should be finalised by the fourth quarter of 2019.  More than 2,000 of the company’s 8,700 employees may be affected by the retrenchments, with Numsa warning that even more workers were at risk.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Fin24

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