Africa's largest steel producer, ArcelorMittal South Africa, has announced that it has signed a contract manufactoring agreement with Russia-based steelmaking and mining giant Evraz's South African subsidiary Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium (Highveld) and with Highveld’s subsidiary Highveld Structural Mill Proprietary Limited (HSM) according to which ArcelorMittal South Africa will supply blooms and slabs to HSM for processing into heavy structural steel.
According to ArcelorMittal South Africa, the agreement will result in the reopening of the Highveld heavy section mill, thus making available supply of heavy structural products to the South African market. The reopening of the heavy section mill is a positive development and will result in the added benefit of creating further jobs, the company stated. The heavy section mill is expected to begin operations in 2017.
The agreement will operate for an initial period of two years with an option to extend for a further period of one year.