When the furnaces fall silent: Why South Africa's steel collapse could spark a new industrial era

THE FURNACES of Newcastle once glowed like a promise, molten rivers of steel feeding a nation’s industrial dreams.

- NOMVULA ZELDAH MABUZA

Today those mills lie silent, haunted by at least 3 500 direct job losses and almost 100 000 livelihoods indirectly destroyed. In October 2025, the European Commission proposed cutting tariff-free steel import quotas to 18.3 million tonnes and applying 50 % duties on any shipments above that limit, with plans to take effect next year. The move has tightened the vise on South Africa's already-fragile sector, threatening to halve export volumes and place another R9 billion in trade at risk.

In a country where 34 % unemployment gnaws at hope, steel’s collapse is not destiny; it is the result of decades of policy drift and industrial neglect. What we are witnessing is not only a trade dispute but an economic reckoning. Yet inside this tariff storm lies a quiet opportunity, a chance to rebuild an industrial future rooted in African demand, green-steel innovation and regional integration.

For years South Africa's steel sector has stood at the uneasy intersection of global dependence and domestic dysfunction. The EU’s measures landed like a hammer on an already brittle industry that has seen production fall by nearly 30 % since 2020. July’s crude-steel output of 430 800 tonnes was 5.7 % lower year on year and ArcelorMittal’s retrenchments have rippled through supply chains from Mpumalanga to KwaZulu-Natal.

According to the South African Revenue Service, exports to the EU were valued at R20.3 billion in 2024, behind China’s R25.4 billion. That dependency exposes a painful truth: South Africa has tied its fortunes to markets turning inward while overlooking regional and domestic infrastructure demand worth billions.