Mittal says damaged SA unit now operating

JOHANNESBURG – Mittal SA, South Africa’s unit of the world’s biggest steel maker, said yesterday it had brought back into operation a unit damaged by fire, and had only lost some 10 000 tonnes in finished product.

Mittal SA said in a statement the impact on the market was limited to less than 10 000 tonnes of final product. The company had initially estimated a loss of about 100 000 tonnes.The company, which is 52-per cent owned by Arcelor Mittal, said it had imported, used up stocks and diverted steel slabs from its other plants in South Africa to mitigate the estimated loss, thus reducing it considerably.Mittal SA’s Chief Executive Officer, Enrico Reato said earlier this month the company would import 45 000 tonnes of steel slabs to make up for loss of output after the fire.”To ensure we were able to meet our orders, we used our existing stocks of slabs with the shortfall being made up by the importation from within the group,” Tami Didiza, Mittal SA’s spokesman said.Mittal SA said the re-start of the caster took place 26 days after the fire, three days ahead of the planned start-up date.The V2 caster, which had also been affected by the same fire, resumed operations eight days after the fire incident.Nampa-ReutersThe company had initially estimated a loss of about 100 000 tonnes.The company, which is 52-per cent owned by Arcelor Mittal, said it had imported, used up stocks and diverted steel slabs from its other plants in South Africa to mitigate the estimated loss, thus reducing it considerably.Mittal SA’s Chief Executive Officer, Enrico Reato said earlier this month the company would import 45 000 tonnes of steel slabs to make up for loss of output after the fire.”To ensure we were able to meet our orders, we used our existing stocks of slabs with the shortfall being made up by the importation from within the group,” Tami Didiza, Mittal SA’s spokesman said.Mittal SA said the re-start of the caster took place 26 days after the fire, three days ahead of the planned start-up date.The V2 caster, which had also been affected by the same fire, resumed operations eight days after the fire incident.Nampa-Reuters