STEEL INDUSTRY
Why ArcelorMittal SA was protected
Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies argues that the state's action helped to preserve SA’s primary steel production
Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies issued a strong defence on Wednesday on the government’s protection of ArcelorMittal SA, arguing that this had helped to preserve SA’s primary steel production. Responding to questions in Parliament, the minister rejected claims that this protection of an “uncompetitive, monopolistic” company was at the expense of the battling downstream industry, which could not cope with ArcelorMittal’s prices. If the primary steel sector was not preserved, Davies said, there would be no downstream sector, especially as SA did not have the port capacity necessary to import all its primary steel requirements. What was needed, he said, was to achieve a balance between the interests of the primary and downstream sectors. This was what the government was trying to achieve. The dilemma required that tough choices be made. In return for government support, ArcelorMittal made pricing commitments while the Department of Economic Development recently announced the cre...
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