South Africa: Steel maker Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium has reported a 21% drop in steel production for the second quarter of 2015, which ended on 30 June 2015, due to weak domestic demand and a surge of cheap Chinese imports, according to Business Day.
Evraz, which is currently in business rescue, said that hot steel production declined to 119,027t in the second quarter of 2015 from 150,510t in the first quarter of 2015. Hot steel output was 38% lower year-on-year. Vanadium slag output fell by 18% in the second quarter to 1.47Mt, mainly due to lower demand and excess supply.
"The domestic market remains under pressure as a result of poor demand further exacerbated by a surge of low price imports from China," said Evraz. During the first quarter of 2015, which ended on 31 March 2015, 488,000t of steel was imported, amounting to almost half of what was imported during all of 2014.
