Govt pushes for Arcelormittal SA business sell-off amid R1.2bn bailout

Ministry is pushing for the sale of components of Amsa business to identified buyers

- BANELE GININDZA

THE Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), Parks Tau, said on Tuesday that the government was pushing for the sale of components of Arcelormittal South Africa (Amsa) business to identified buyers following a substantial R1.2 billion bailout from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).

Answering an onslaught of questions from members of the portfolio committee on trade and industry in Parliament, Tau explained the scenario facing the automotive sector, which has expressed concerns over Amsa’s troubles.

Tau said the automotive sector had individually and through the Automotive Business Council (Naamsa) indicated that with Amsa doing defunct, the industry would have to follow suit as importing long steel would not be viable.

"We can't as a department, even the IDC as a minority shareholder with 8.2% shareholding, go out to the market and say the company is for sale. It is inappropriate and illegal," Tau said.

"We have asked Amsa to test the market appetite for the whole of the company or different components. Sometimes people have different technologies for different parts. At this point, our intervention is to share the information."