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South Africa: Government studies funding for steel foundry in Mozambique

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Johannesburg (South Africa) - The South African government said Tuesday it may support the construction of new foundries in South Africa and Mozambique to forec a reduction in steel prices in teh country, whose market is dominated by the industry’s world leader, ArcelorMittal.

Speaking to the South African press, the South African minister of Trade and Industry, Mandisi Mpahlwa, said that “various alternatives” were being considered to increase steel production in South Africa.

Sipho Zikode, the director of Industrial Development Corp., a state company responsible for the feasibility studies, said that by September, the South African government would have the necessary information to take a decision about which projects to support.

"It will depend on the feasibility studies whether we support both," the foundries, one in South Africa and another in Mozambique, said Zikode.

The construction of a foundry in South Africa hás the interest of India’s Tata Steel, whilst South Africa's Palabora (Rio Tinto group) and Anglo-American are studying the construction of a similar unit at the Mozambican port of Maputo.

The Mozambican project is being followed closely by the Mozambican government and by mining survey company Mintek, owned by the South African state.

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