Shorter work week at AMittal?

Johannesburg - ArcelorMittal South Africa is negotiating with unions to shorten the working week at its operations in an effort to reduce costs.

Sven Lunsche, spokesperson for the steel giant, told Sake24 that discussions were taking place, but no decisions had been arrived at. He declined to confirm rumours that the option was to cut the week from five to four working days.

"This [a shorter working week] is something we are considering, but it is still too early to discuss any details." It is one of several options on the table to reduce costs, he added.

South Africa's second largest steel manufacturer, Highveld Steel & Vanadium, announced earlier in the week that it would retrench 300 of its 2 500 workers owing to the poor trading conditions.

This decision was condemned by the Solidarity trade union as untimely, "since one can already see signs of improvement in the steel market".

ArcelorMittal SA has raised its steel prices for July delivery for the first time since September last year, by between 4% and 6%. Lunsche says these increases will have a "very small" impact if one takes into account that steel prices have dropped 60% to 75% since last year.

"We are anticipating bringing costs down further. No definite signs of a recovery in steel prices or of demand are visible. For July we see some indications of positive developments in global prices," he commented. Local prices are based on prices in the international market and the rand/dollar exchange rate, and are not directly influenced by local economic conditions.

ArcelorMittal, by far the world's biggest steel producer, this week also concluded an agreement with the Spanish government regarding the 40% reduction of total working hours at its plants in that country.

- Sake24.com

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