* Year diluted headline loss/shr 13 cts vs EPS of 343 cts
* Sees significantly better Q1 vs Q4
* Hard to gauge when underlying demand will improve
(Adds detail, quotes, shares)
By Agnieszka Flak
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 7 (Reuters) – ArcelorMittal South
Africa slid into a full-year loss on the back of higher
raw material costs, lower output and weaker sales and warned
that a pick-up in demand from key construction industry
customers has yet to materialise.
Chief Executive Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita said restocking
and lower input prices would bring a significant turnaround in
earnings for the first three months of 2012 compared with the
previous quarter but the outlook was challenging.
“The primary consumer of steel products in South Africa is
the construction industry and the outlook from this particular
sector continues to be bleak,” Nyembezi-Heita said.
“Therefore it is difficult for us to gauge when underlying
demand for steel will really start kicking in.”
The South African unit of ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest
steelmaker, is betting on planned projects to build renewable
power plants, transport infrastructure and water systems in the
country to boost but it is unclear how quickly these projects
will come on stream.
Continued…
