With 290 000 jobs in the balance, will government pull ArcelorMittal SA out of the fire? SA’s big steel producers are in deep trouble and events are overtaking their ability to save a key but rapidly disintegrating sector, writes Mark AliixAn unprecedented crisis in SA’s steel industry has led to a series of closed-door meetings in recent months, culminating in an unusual alliance of labour and business calling on government to adopt 10 "core collective demands" to prevent a tsunami of job losses in a key sector of the economy.Among these demands are the imposition of tariffs to stop rampant cheap steel imports from China; the designation of steel for government infrastructure spend; and the "urgent rollout" of the state’s 18 strategic integrated infrastructure projects. They also include demands for transparency in the capital expenditure programmes of state-owned enterprises; the banning of scrap steel exports so that local industries can benefit; and delaying the implementation o...

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