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The carbon tax is one of several green laws the
South African government is planning to impose on industry and
consumers to try and reduce emissions, and companies are
scrambling to meet deadlines for the laws.
At current carbon emission rates, Arcelor South Africa, part of
the world's top steelmaker ArcelorMittal, would pay about 600
million rand ($54.5 million) of carbon taxes a year.
"As a competitive company, I am going to pass the price onto my
consumers," Chief Executive Paul O'Flaherty told Reuters on the
sidelines of a news conference.
"We have to engage with each other to find out how we can work
together to get the right price for the industry but also, as is
our right, to make a certain amount of profit."
The company is also under pressure from the government to reduce
its steel prices, while fending off cheap imports from China
which threaten to undercut its business.
GREEN PLAN HANDED OVER
The steel maker also said it would not challenge an appeal court
ruling that it must hand over documents related to its largest
steel plant to environmental activist group Vaal Environmental
Justice Alliance (VEJA).
ArcelorMittal said it had initially refused to give VEJA its
assessment of the Vanderbijlpark plant's environmental impact,
and the company's planned remedial action, because it was an
internal working document and had become irrelevant as laws
changed over the years.
Having lost its appeal, ArcelorMittal said it will send the
documents within the required 14-day period.
The company has spent about 1.5 billion rand ($136 million) over
the past five years to reduce the harmful impact on the
environment at two of its plants, ArcelorMittal said in a
statement.
(Reporting by Zandi Shabalala; editing by David Clarke)
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