bold spirit - ArcelorMittal South Africa
bold spirit - ArcelorMittal South Africa
bold spirit - ArcelorMittal South Africa
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17<br />
<strong>ArcelorMittal</strong> <strong>South</strong> <strong>Africa</strong><br />
Annual Report 2010<br />
aimed at further entrenching a sound<br />
compliance culture and to cater for<br />
the specific needs of the company.<br />
During the period under review,<br />
we conducted a competition law<br />
compliance audit which confirmed<br />
compliance with applicable<br />
competition law requirements overall.<br />
It is a condition of service for<br />
our employees to adhere to the<br />
<strong>ArcelorMittal</strong> Code of Business<br />
Conduct and Anti-Corruption<br />
Guidelines. These were designed<br />
to help employees understand<br />
their ethical and legal obligations in<br />
handling the company’s business. All<br />
employees are required to undergo<br />
regular training to ensure that they<br />
fully understand and comply with<br />
the code.<br />
We are currently subject to a number<br />
of investigations by the competition<br />
authorities. The most material<br />
of these pertains to a case that<br />
was referred by the Competition<br />
Commission to the Competition<br />
Tribunal in September 2009 against<br />
<strong>ArcelorMittal</strong> and various players<br />
within the primary steel industry,<br />
including the <strong>South</strong> <strong>Africa</strong>n Iron and<br />
Steel Institute, alleging cartel conduct<br />
by these companies in contravention<br />
of the Competition Act. The case<br />
is ongoing.<br />
Changes to board<br />
composition<br />
We effected a number of changes<br />
to the composition of the board.<br />
We welcomed Mr Johnson Njeke as<br />
chairman of the board of directors<br />
with effect from 4 February 2010.<br />
Mr Malcolm Macdonald joined<br />
the board as an independent nonexecutive<br />
director in February and Mr<br />
Eric Diack resigned from the board<br />
and as chairman of the Audit and Risk<br />
Committee in July and was replaced<br />
by Mr Macdonald as chairman of the<br />
Audit and Risk Committee. Mr Kobus<br />
Verster resigned as Chief Financial<br />
Officer in August 2010 and was<br />
replaced by Mr Rudolph Torlage. We<br />
thank our outgoing directors for their<br />
contribution and commitment to the<br />
group over the years.<br />
Appreciation<br />
Our employees deserve special<br />
mention for their valuable contribution<br />
and dedication over the past year.<br />
The company had to navigate its way<br />
through a particularly challenging set<br />
of circumstances, which would have<br />
been impossible without the loyalty,<br />
support and collective efforts of all<br />
our staff.<br />
We would also like to take this<br />
opportunity to thank all our<br />
stakeholders for the loyalty they have<br />
shown us. A company cannot thrive<br />
and grow without the support of its<br />
customers, suppliers, shareholders,<br />
and members of the communities in<br />
which it operates.<br />
Finally to our fellow board members,<br />
we would like to thank you for your<br />
strong support as well as ongoing<br />
advice and guidance.<br />
Conclusion<br />
Looking ahead to 2011, we are<br />
cautiously optimistic. There are early<br />
signs of a reasonably buoyant first<br />
half but poor visibility going into<br />
the second half of the year. There<br />
seems to be merit in the argument<br />
that the sector has bottomed out<br />
and the immediate future is relatively<br />
positive. We emerged from the global<br />
economic crisis a leaner and stronger<br />
company that is well positioned to<br />
benefit from the upturn when it<br />
materialises.<br />
Our financial position is strong; we<br />
have some of the best technical skills<br />
in the country and a training pipeline<br />
that will ensure that we have an ample<br />
supply of skills on which we can draw<br />
for our future needs. To succeed in<br />
our ambition to retain our position<br />
among the lowest cost producers in<br />
the world, we will:<br />
• persist on the business<br />
transformation path we embarked<br />
upon in 2010;<br />
• sustain our financial performance<br />
through the economic cycle;<br />
• continue to pursue opportunities to<br />
grow our business in sub-Saharan<br />
<strong>Africa</strong>; and<br />
• achieve higher levels of backward<br />
integration on key raw material<br />
inputs.<br />
Naturally, it is important to grow our<br />
business whilst continuing to advance<br />
our plans to address the economic,<br />
environmental, and wider social<br />
challenges of our time.<br />
Although unlikely to reach finality in<br />
2011, we expect to make substantial<br />
progress towards the resolution of<br />
the iron ore dispute and advancing the<br />
transactions referred to elsewhere in<br />
this report.<br />
We have set for ourselves the<br />
challenge of transforming tomorrow;<br />
<strong>bold</strong>ness is our secret ingredient to<br />
doing so. To drive domestic industry<br />
growth, an export orientation is an<br />
imperative for the steel industry. In<br />
the next financial year, we aim to<br />
triple the level of incentive support<br />
extended to export oriented steel<br />
manufacturers compared to 2010.