The South African operations of the world’s biggest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, reported slight improvements in sales and production volumes in the September quarter.
Thursday’s operational update only provided figures in tons of steel, not rand.
ArcelorMittal said the total amount of steel it sold during the September quarter rose by 3.5% to 1.1-million tons from the matching quarter in 2017.
The amount of steel it sold locally increased by 2.8% to 887,000 tons while the amount it exported increased by 6.4% to 215,000 tons.
Export growth outpacing local sales was thanks to strong international demand and a weaker rand against the dollar, the operating update said.
ArcelorMittal SA successfully lobbied for tariffs on imported steel in 2016.
“Total imports of primary steel products decreased by 7% in the third quarter compared with that of 2017,” it said.
It used 85% of the capacity of its steelworks during the September quarter versus 81% during the third quarter of 2017.
Reuters reported the Luxembourg-based parent group grew its “core profit” by 42% in the September quarter.
“Market conditions in the third quarter remained favourable”, CEO Lakshmi Mittal said in the parent group’s September-quarter results statement.
“We continue to see robust real demand and healthy utilisation rates across all steel segments.”
Mittal said the group’s US operations had benefited from US President Donald Trump’s 25% import tariffs on steel, while its Canadian and Brazilian units had suffered.
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