ArcelorMittal South Africa narrows first-half loss

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal South Africa said on Friday its first-half loss narrowed compared to last year but earnings are expected to remain under strain because of weak domestic economic growth and labour disputes. Africa's biggest producer of steel reported a headline loss of 2 cents a share for the six months to end-June compared with a loss of 31 cents the same period last year. Headline earnings, the main profit gauge in South Africa, exclude certain one-off and non trading items. The company, a unit of the world's top steelmaker, said liquid steel production for the period declined 3.8 percent to 2.386 million tonnes, mostly due to a planned shutdown of a blast furnace at its Newcastle plant. The company said its results for the third quarter would be under pressure from a weak local economy and a strike in the manufacturing sector. "The effects of the metal and engineering strike will have short-term negative effects on our cost and on our customers," it said in a statement. South Africa's main manufacturing union ended a four-week strike in the metals and engineering sector on Monday after accepting a wage increase offer from employers. The metals strike came hot on the heels of a five-month walkout in the platinum sector, the longest and costliest strike in South Africa's history.