ArcelorMittal South Africa narrows loss after shutting long steel operations

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ArcelorMittal South Africa JSE:ACL said on Thursday it narrowed its full-year loss by 34% on the back of lower raw material costs and after closing its money-losing long steel business.Sub-Saharan Africa's top steelmaker posted a headline loss of 3.355 billion rand ($207.86 million) in the year ended December 2025, compared to a 5.1 billion rand loss the previous year.The South African unit of global steelmaker ArcelorMittal EURONEXT:MT has been battling weak local demand, high electricity costs as well as competition from local scrap metal recycling mini-mills and imports from China. ArcelorMittal South Africa's Luxembourg-headquartered parent company, however, on Thursday reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $1.59 billion for the fourth quarter, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.51 billion.The South African unit said its crude steel production and sales were down 12% to 2.3 million metric tons and 2 million metric tons, respectively. Its realised steel prices were 5% lower in rand terms and 3% down in U.S. dollars.ArcelorMittal South Africa shut down its long-steel plants last year in an effort to stem losses. The long-steel operations' impact on the company's EBITDA was neutralised for 2025, after a 1.7 billion rand loss in 2024, it said in its results announcement. On January 22, the company confirmed talks with the state-owned Industrial Development Corporation that could lead to a potential transaction. The steelmaker has not disclosed details of the proposed transaction, but Bloomberg has reported that the IDC, which is ArcelorMittal South Africa's second-biggest shareholder with 8.2%, had resumed talks to acquire the business after negotiations stalled last year over valuation. ArcelorMittal South Africa said the discussions were continuing and would shape its outlook for 2026 if successfully concluded. ($1 = 16.1406 rand)

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