In mid October Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium avoided liquidation by accepting an acquisition offer from Hong Kong-based International Resources; a conclusion of a 7 year long struggle to recover from the 2008 global financial crisis. However the Highveld case is not seen as an isolated incident but rather a symptom of an ailing industry, and to say that the South African steel industry is in trouble would be accurate but not entirely fair as the global steel industry is suffering from depressed prices, rising input costs, and reduced demand. With the steel industry marked as a ‘key strategic industry’ the dti pushed to increase tariffs to WTO bound rates, but with a tariff rate increase of 10{fdf3cafe0d26d25ff546352608293cec7d1360ce65c0adf923ba6cf47b1798e1} downstream industries are likely to feel the pinch first.
In this Classic Business podcast the context of the problem, possible solutions, and their effects are discussed with a national panel of experts.
Download MP3 podcast (7.74MB)
Hosted by Michael Avery, Classic Business, Classic FM
Guests:
Tutwa’s own Peter Draper;
Henk Langenhoven
Chief Economist at SESIFSA;
Siyabulela Tsengiwe
Chief Commissioner International Trade Commission (ITAC);
George Geringer
Owner of International Trade Solutions which is a professional advisory firm dealing in international trade law.