bold spirit - ArcelorMittal South Africa

15
ArcelorMittal South Africa
Annual Report 2010
The World Class Manufacturing
programme at Saldanha Works
evaluates performance against the rest
of ArcelorMittal group to identify areas
for potential improvement, such as
maintenance and people development.
And by twinning with Monlevade, a
long product mill in Brazil, Newcastle
Works is examining the further
standardisation of work routines and
integrated management systems. The
newly adopted visual management
system is helping to clarify individual
plant level strategies, targets and
ongoing performance against targets.
Over the coming years, we expect
the benefits from these initiatives
to cascade across many aspects of
our business. Superior performance
and increased efficiency ensure that
we continually drive our costs down
and thus retain our cost position in
the bottom quartile of world steel
producers.
Capital expenditure
Our capital expenditure for 2010 was
R1 714 million, up from R915 million
in 2009. The bulk of the spending
was on sustainable maintenance with
environmental projects accounting
for close to 20% of the total. Key
environmental projects undertaken
during the period were:
• The R230 million sinter bag house
facility at Vanderbijlpark Works
is on track for completion in the
first quarter of 2011 and will
significantly reduce particulate
(dust) emissions. Particulate
emissions from the sinter main
stack are the biggest single point
source at the site, so this is a
project of considerable importance
to Vanderbijlpark’s overall emissions
reduction strategy.
• Completion of Phase 1 of the
remediation of Vanderbijlpark
Works’ waste disposal facility at
a cost of R45 million will yield
important benefits for ground and
surface water as well as fugitive
dust emissions.
• Rehabilitation of various dams
previously used for waste water
disposal using biological treatment
was completed at a total cost of
R46 million.
• Spending on the R200 million
zero-effluent discharge initiative
at Newcastle Works continues
although design challenges have
pushed out the completion date to
early 2013.
Transforming the workplace
experience
People are the ultimate differentiator
in the pursuit of excellence. Our
drive to attract, develop and retain
talent within an inclusive workplace
culture regained focus over the past
year. The company makes available a
multitude of training and professional
development opportunities to our
employees which are an embodiment
of our belief in lifelong learning.
During the year we invested over
R172 million in training, bursaries and
other skills development programmes.
At the end of 2010 we had a total of
3 221 people in the training pipeline
− over five times the equivalent
number ten years ago − 102 bursars
enrolled at universities in engineering
degrees and more than 80 staff
pursuing various degrees. Despite
this significant investment, the skills
shortage facing the engineering and
related industries and the lack of
critical skills will remain an ongoing
challenge in the short to medium term.
We have made significant progress
in improving the physical state
of workers’ facilities at all sites
prioritising change rooms, ablution
facilities and dining rooms at a cost so
far of around R18.6 million.
The roll-out of the new four-team
shift roster commenced in October
2010 to replace the old three-team
system. This represents a significant
investment by the company from
which we expect to derive important
benefits, not least of which are
reduction in overtime hours, a better
work-life balance for our employees
and making more time available
to train the workforce to increase
productivity. Significantly, the change
to a four-team system will result
in the creation of more than 1 228
permanent jobs across the company.
Socio-economic equity
We recognise that our operations
have a significant social and economic
impact on the lives of employees,
their families and the surrounding
communities. The seven pillars
of Broad-Based Black Economic
Empowerment are key indicators of
our performance on this journey to
socio-economic equity.
Our relationship with the communities
from which we draw our labour and on
which we have an impact is extremely
important to us. Many of our
operations are located in regions that
face significant economic and social
challenges. We therefore encourage
local economic growth and endeavour
to foster the development of strong
and sustainable local communities by
working in active partnership with
local organisations in an open and
transparent manner.
In 2010 the company made significant
progress on a number of key initiatives.
These were aimed at education and
skills development, small business
development and a variety of issues