Africa’s largest steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa has shut down its blast furnace at its Vanderbijlpark plant for three weeks amid the low performance of South African railway company Transnet and the subsequent raw material shortage, according to media reports.
There has been a deterioration in the availability of trains affecting raw material stocks, while Russia’s war on Ukraine has increased the prices of key inputs, SteelOrbis understands.
ArcelorMittal South Africa has an annual production capacity of 7 million mt of liquid steel.