South African steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) stated that the restart of the second blast furnace at the Vanderbijlpark Works was earlier than initially planned and would enable the company to resolve the current steel shortage quickly, which had negatively affected downstream manufacturers and factories for several months.

The JSE- listed company restarted the C blast furnace on December 20th, 2020, to help resolve the backlog of supplies. The company originally planned to restart the facility in January this year.

AMSA reported last Friday that the furnace had been fully put into operation and would increase South Africa's annual flat steel output by approximately 600,000 tons.

CEO Kobus Verster expressed that with all three blast furnaces of Newcastle and Vanderbijlpark Works to put into operation, they would meet South Africa and neighboring countries' steel needs in the coming few months.