Local auto makers seek cheaper steel abroad

ED RICHARDSON LOCAL AUTO makers have started looking abroad for steel because of the high prices of locally made product. This is according to the review of business conditions in the motor industry in the second quarter of 2005 by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa). The news came in the same week that Mittal Steel – formerly ISCOR – announced record headline earnings of R3.2 billion for the six months ended 30 June 2005.