Last checked at 14 Aug 2012 08:15
EVRAZ RESUMES OPERATIONS OF EVRAZ HIGHVELD IN SOUTH AFRICA
14 August 2012 - EVRAZ plc (LSE: EVR) (the Company) announces the restart of operations at EVRAZ Highveld Steel and Vanadium (South Africa) which had been temporarily suspended as a result of an industrial action announced by EVRAZ Highveld's largest union NUMSA at the end of July. A suitable agreement has been reached between EVRAZ Highveld and NUMSA which ends the four-week strike.
The main dissenting issue, namely converting the three-shift system to a law compliant four-shift system, has been resolved and all operational employees reported to duty on 13 August 2012 on the new four-shift system. Agreement has further been reached on certain compensation for the employees who would have been negatively financially impacted by the implementation of the four - shift system.
The steelworks re-started on 13 August 2012 and it is expected that the steelworks will be fully operational by the end of August. The Company will focus on meeting all orders and commitments to its clients and partners.
The EBITDA of EVRAZ Highveld in 2011 represented less than 1% of consolidated EBITDA of EVRAZ plc and the labour actions in South Africa have had no material effect on the financial performance of EVRAZ during the current period.
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For further information:
Investor Relations:Alexander BoreykoDirector, Investor RelationsLondon: +44 207 832 8990 Moscow: +7 495 232 1370
ir@evraz.com
Media Relations:Oleg KuzminVP, Corporate CommunicationsLondon: +44 207 832 8998 Moscow: +7 495 937 6871media@evraz.com
EVRAZ is a vertically integrated steel, mining and vanadium business with operations in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, USA, Canada, Czech Republic, Italy and South Africa. EVRAZ is among the top 20 steel producers in the world based on crude steel production of 16.8 million tonnes in 2011. In 2011 EVRAZ sold 15.5 million tonnes of steel products. A significant portion of the company's internal consumption of iron ore and coking coal is covered by its mining operations. The company's consolidated revenues for the year ended 31 December 2011 were US$16,400 million and consolidated adjusted EBITDA amounted to US$2,898 million.