ArcelorMittal first half loss seen up to 14-fold wider

Johannesburg - Africa's biggest steel maker ArcelorMittal South Africa [JSE:ACL] flagged as much as 14-fold wider half-year loss on Thursday, citing tough trading conditions and higher finance costs.

Steel makers across the world are suffering from weak prices due to a global oversupply of the metal.

Shares in the unit of the world's top steel maker of the same name fell as much as 5% before recouping some of the losses to trade 2% lower at R15.10.

Arcelor Mittal said the headline loss was expected to come in at between 25 to 30 cents per share in the six months to the end of June compared with a loss of 2c a year earlier.

Headline earnings are the main profit gauge that exclude certain one-off items.

ArcelorMittal has asked the South African government to protect the domestic steel industry by imposing anti-dumping duties on imports of cut-price steel from China.

ArcelorMittal's rival, Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium, has applied for protection from creditors and plans to reduce its 2 200 jobs by about a half.