ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) will resume operation of its blast furnace (BF) C in January owing to increased steel demand in the region.
According to media reports on Sep 22, demand has seen an unexpected uptick with construction activity resuming and a surge in retail sales to this sector has resulted in AMSA being left with lower-than-usual inventories. The steelmaker, therefore indicated on Tuesday that it was restarting the BF-C in Vanderbijlpark at the beginning of 2021. The restart will add 600,000mt of flat steel products per year to its stockpile.
The company had idled two of its furnaces in July after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted demand in the region.