Thesis (M.Com. (Development Theory and Policy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences. / South Africa has been referred to as a country of “geological superlatives” because of its rich and diverse mineral resource base. Despite its unique endowment of precious metals and mineral resources, the country has fallen short of translating these resources into the required economic linkages that will lead to sustainable employment creation and economic emancipation for the majority of its people. Whilst the country has established, successful critical upstream industries based on its natural resource advantage, it has not managed to develop successful downstream value additions in most of its strategic value chains, most notably the chromium mineral value chain. This paper explores the significance of the chromium mineral value chain in the context of South Africa’s economic development trajectory, the dynamics between the mining and manufacturing sectors, the ongoing structural constraints, and the implications all these have on stainless steel fabrication. South Africa is a dominant player in chrome, consuming approximately 80% of the world’s chromite ore reserves and is undeniably one of the major producers of ferrochromium globally, with production accounting for approximately 34% of total world production. Despite a mature ferrochromium industry that boasts world-class ferrochromium manufacturing facilities and contributes massively to the domestic and global economies, a declining market share to China threatens the sector. The availability (or lack thereof) of power supply, high energy costs, uncompetitive domestic prices amongst other structural issues are contributing to this decline. The challenge remains in government, the mining industry, labour and all other affected stakeholders to engage robustly in order to preserve a value chain that possesses enough potential to enhance the development of the country, both socially and economically.

The Law of State Aid Focusing on Steel Industry Abstract The law of state aid is one of the fundamental pillars of the competition law. The task of this branch of law is to ensure healthy competitive environment. State interferences with the economy may, however, create unequal conditions between the competition on the market. It is therefore necessary to ensure and enforce strict regulation of state aid by law. The first part of the thesis focuses on explaining the concept of State aid under Article 107 of the Treaty on Functioning of the European Union in accordance with the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Prohibited State aid is granted by State or through state resources, directly or indirectly. In addition, the measure must be attributable to the State and selectively favor only certain sectors. State does not act as reasonable private investor when providing the aid, and is not aimed at maximizing profits but at supporting the undertaking. Lastly, the aid distorts, or has the ability to distort, competition which adversely affects trade between Member State. If the notified or planned measure appear cumulatively, such aid is prohibited and may not be granted. However, the prohibition on providing State aid is not absolute though. The thesis also deals with exemptions from the...

Denna studie har med ett sociologiskt perspektiv ämnat undersöka hur upplevelsen av jämställdhet ser ut bland produktionsanställda inom den starkt mansdominerade stålindustrin. Det studerade företaget är SSAB som är ett svensk-finskt stålföretag vilka är specialiserade på utveckling och tillverkning av höghållfasta stål. Årligen har företaget en produktionskapacitet om cirka 8,8 miljoner ton på sina produktionsanläggningar i Sverige, Finland och USA. År 2018 omsatte företaget 75 miljarder kronor. Av SSAB:s cirka 14 300 anställda runt om i världen så är 81 procent män, vilket inte gör företaget unikt sett till könsfördelningen inom stålindustrin. SSAB arbetar aktivt med att försöka förändra dessa siffror genom att rekrytera fler kvinnor. Detta som ett led i företagets långsiktiga jämställdhetsmål med tron på att kunna skapa en bättre prestationskultur och bättre kunna tillgodose kundernas behov genom en jämnare könsfördelning. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur produktionsanställda upplever jämställdhet på arbetsplatsen. Detta gjordes genom kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med produktionsanställda på SSAB:s koksverk i Luleå. Resultatet tyder på att den upplevda jämställdheten bland de anställda främst handlar om att företaget rekryterar fler kvinnor och att det synliga därför blir hur fler kvinnor tillträder arbetsplatsen. Detta uppfattades av en del vara ett uttryck för att SSAB kvoterar kvinnor till företaget. Därför upplevdes detta jämställdhets initiativ vara negativt eftersom kompetens och kvalifikationer åsidosatts enligt anställda. Det efterfrågades även initiativ rörande förändringar av attityder, normer och värderingar, vilka ansågs ha inverkan på rådande arbetsplatskultur som under lång tid formats av män. Arbetsplatskulturen och jargongen uppfattades av många som hård, men samtidigt rolig och grunden för trivsel bland de anställda. Däremot uppfattades den även som gränslös och att en minskad chefsnärvaro på grund av en tidigare omorganisation kunde vara grunden till den upplevelsen vilket även synliggjorde en önskan om förändring på arbetsplatsen. De anställda menar att en förändring skulle kunna innebära ökad acceptans mellan kollegor och bättre jargong på arbetsplatsen. / This study aims to investigate, from a sociological perspective, how the perception of gender equality appears among production employees in the highly male-dominated steel industry. The company studied is SSAB, which is a Swedish-Finnish steel company, specialized in development and manufacturing of high strength steels. Each year, the company has a production capacity of approximately 8.8 million tonnes at its production facilities in Sweden, Finland and the USA. In 2018, the company had sales of SEK 75 billion.   Of SSAB's approximately 14 300 employees around the world, 81 percent are men, which does not make the company unique in terms of gender distribution in the steel industry. SSAB is working actively to try to change these figures by recruiting more women. This as part of the company's long-term gender equality goal, with the belief that it can create a better performance culture and better meet the needs of customers through a more even gender distribution.   The purpose of the study was to investigate how production employees experience gender equality in the workplace. This was done by performing qualitative semi-structured interviews with production employees at SSAB's cookery plant in Luleå. The result indicates that the perceived gender equality among the employees is mainly about recruiting more women and that the visible is thus becoming more women taking up the workplace. This was perceived as an expression of SSAB quoting women to the company. Therefore, this initiative of gender equality was perceived to be negative, as the skills and qualifications were neglected according to employees.   Initiatives were also requested concerning changes in attitudes, norms and values, which were considered to have an impact on the prevailing workplace culture that has long been shaped by men. The workplace culture and jargon were perceived by many as hard, but at the same time fun and the basis for well-being among the employees. However, it was also perceived as limitless and that a reduced managerial presence due to a previous reorganization could be the basis for that experience, which also made a wish for change in the workplace. The employees believe that this could mean increased acceptance between colleagues and better jargon in the workplace.

De acordo com Babu et al. (2015), o carvão mineral é um importante recurso natural devido à sua aplicação em várias atividades econômicas, como geração de energia, produção de aço, fabricação de cimento e produção de combustível líquido. Em função do custo e da baixa qualidade do carvão brasileiro (não coqueificável, na maioria das reservas, com elevado teor de cinzas e baixo poder calorífico), como apontado por Süffert (1997), as empresas brasileiras dos setores siderúrgico e termoelétrico necessitam importar este insumo, por via marítima. O desafio no planejamento da logística de suprimento desta matéria prima é garantir o abastecimento ao mínimo custo de estoque e de espera dos navios. A garantia de abastecimento passa por uma programação adequada da chegada e descarga dos navios. Quando a descarga de navios é uma operação gargalo, é necessário maior cuidado com a programação de recebimento, de maneira com que não haja atrasos, que causem a falta de produto, nem em muita antecipação, que podem significar excessivos tempo de fila para recebimento do material por falta de área para estocagem. Com o objetivo de se programar adequadamente a chegada de navios, de forma a evitar filas muito grandes e desabastecimento foi proposto um modelo de programação de chegada de navios, com base nos dados do complexo de Pecém. Este modelo proposto utilizou um buffer de tempo pré-determinado, que foi testado e validado através de simulação, com objetivo de minimizar os atrasos, de forma que possam ser absorvidos por um estoque de segurança, e as antecipações, de forma que não haja risco de falta de área de estocagem. / According to Babu et al. (2015), coal is an important natural resource due to its application in various economic activities, such as power generation, steel production, cement manufacturing and liquid fuel production. Due to the cost and low quality of Brazilian coal (not coking, in most reserves, with high ash content and low calorific value), as pointed out by Süffert (1997), Brazilian companies in the steel and thermoelectric sectors need to import this input, by sea. The challenge in planning the logistics of supply of this raw material is to guarantee the supply at the minimum cost of inventory and waiting of the ships. The supply guarantee is subject to adequate scheduling of arrival and unloading of ships. When ship unloading is a bottleneck operation, greater care is required with the scheduling of receipt, so that there are no delays, which cause the lack of product, or in much anticipation, that can mean excessive queue time for receiving the shipment material for lack of storage area. In order to properly program, the arrival of ships, in order to avoid very large queues and shortage, a model for the arrival of ships was proposed, based on data from the Pecém complex. This proposed model used a pre-determined time buffer, which was tested and validated through simulation, in order to minimize the delays, so that they can be absorved by a security stock, and the anticipations, so that there is no risk lack of storage area.

A demanda pela introdução de novos produtos tem sido intensificada no setor siderúrgico, justificando uma preocupação maior com a eficiência e a eficácia do Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos (PDP), cujo desempenho depende de vários fatores relevantes citados na literatura. No caso da indústria siderúrgica, um fator relevante é o projeto do processo, não somente pela característica de ser um processo contínuo mas também por, geralmente, envolver investimentos significativos na preparação da produção. Nesse contexto, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo realizar uma análise exploratória da fase de projeto do processo no desenvolvimento de novos produtos em duas unidades de análise do setor siderúrgico. Pretende-se, por meio da abordagem de estudo de caso, identificar práticas organizacionais, com base na literatura, focando na parte do desenvolvimento industrial e suas respectivas interfaces organizacionais, envolvendo as áreas de marketing, engenharia do produto e manufatura. Também é abordado a forma de integração dos times multidisciplinares, a tomada de decisão e os critérios utilizados para avaliação dos resultados do processo de desenvolvimento de produtos. O trabalho conclui que as empresas analisadas utilizam-se de práticas que estruturam o PDP e a integração interfuncional das áreas envolvidas é o que destaca-se como fator de sucesso na condução do desenvolvimento de novos produtos. / The demand for introducing new products has intensely increase in the metal industry. This justifies a growing concern with effectiveness of New Product Development (NPD) process, from which the performance depend on various relevant factors from the literature. In the case of the metal industry, one of the relevant factors is the manufacturing process design not only because is a continuous process but also because it involves significant investments to prepare production. In this context, this paper aims at performing a exploratory analysis of process design stage in two industrial units from metal industry. It intends to identify organizational practices e their respective interfaces, involving areas of marketing, product engineering and manufacturing. It also deals with the way multifunctional teams are integrated, decision making process, and criteria used to evaluate the results from NPD. The paper concludes that the two companies adopt organizational practices that create a framework for NPD and the integration of functional areas is one of the success factor for developing new products.

O objetivo desta dissertação é analisar a evolução, principalmente nas últimas três décadas, e a configuração atual da indústria siderúrgica no Brasil sob a ótica do paradigma estrutura-conduta-desempenho (ECD), desenvolvido por Joe Bain, e das teorias de estrutura de mercado (em especial das teorias de submercados e de rotas tecnológicas) de John Sutton (1991 e 1998). Pretende-se elucidar as seguintes indagações: o por quê das usinas integradas se manterem no Brasil frente à ascensão das aciarias elétricas (mini-mills) que ocorre no cenário mundial? Qual é a evolução tecnológica dessa indústria e seus impactos sobre sua estrutura? E, por fim, quais são as razões para o uso tanto de carvão vegetal quanto de carvão mineral na produção de aço bruto em grande escala no Brasil, mas não em outros países? Os dois arcabouços teóricos considerados auxiliam na explicação de na indústria siderúrgica do Brasil haver dois submercados independentes que se diferenciam por suas rotas tecnológicas (usinas integradas versus usinas semi-integradas) e por sua classe de produtos (aços planos versus aços longos). Sob a ótica da teoria de Sutton (1998) ainda é possível fazer algumas inferências quanto à tomada de decisão em nível da empresa, a qual se depara com duas estratégias distintas: a de escalada e a de proliferação. A primeira diz respeito ao montante ao ser investido em P&D e a segunda se refere em quantas trajetórias e diferentes grupos de produtos a empresa irá atuar. Diante dessa segmentação da indústria buscou-se, a partir de análise econométrica, considerando os anos de 1996 a 2009, fundamentar as premissas de que tais submercados (aços longos versus planos) têm dinâmicas distintas nas relações entre concentração e investimentos, sendo possível identificar relação causal positiva entre investimentos em tecnologia e concentração na produção, principalmente no submercado produtor de aços longos, ou seja, à medida que aumentam os investimentos em tecnologia, a indústria tem sua estrutura alterada, passando a integrar suas rotas tecnológicas e, consequentemente, elevando a concentração do mercado. Já no submercado de aços planos, fica ilustrada a maturidade deste segmento da indústria siderúrgica no Brasil, com a concentração sendo marginalmente reduzida diante de variações no tamanho do mercado e nos investimentos. Além disso, os resultados econométricos mostram que, em ambos os submercados analisados (aço planos e longos), o papel do BNDES não foi fundamental em afetar a concentração no período de 1996 a 2009, apesar de ter tido esse papel em anos anteriores. / The objective of this dissertation is to analyze the evolution of the steel industry, mainly in the last three decades, and its recent configuration in Brazil under structureconduct- performance paradigm and Sutton\'s theories. It is aimed to answer some questions, such as: why the integrated mills still exist in Brazil as the mini-mills are surging in the world scenario; what is this industry technology evolution and how does it affect the industry structure? And so far, which are the main reasons to the existing of steel mills based on charcoal and coal at the same time, rather than in other countries? The two theoretical frameworks interact in the explanation of the existing of two independent submarkets in the steel industry in Brazil that are distinguished by their technological trajectories (integrated versus mini-mills) and by their list of products (flat versus long steel). From the Sutton\'s theory perspective, it is still possible to highlight some topics related to the firm decisionmaking level, which is faced with two distinct strategies: the escalation and the proliferation parameters. The first is related to the amount to be invested in R&D and the later refers to how many trajectories and groups the company will operate. Based on econometric analysis, in the time period from 1996 to 2009, are valid the assumptions that these submarkets have different dynamics in the relationship between concentration and investments. Also it is possible to identify positive causal effects concerning technology investments and industry concentration mainly on the long steel submarket, reflecting that as investments are increased, the industry structure is amended to integrate their technology trajectories and thus increasing industry concentration. About flat steel submarket it is showed the maturity of this segment as the concentration is marginally reduced in response to variations in market size and investment. Furthermore, in both submarkets (flat and long steel) it is evident that the BNDES\'s role was not crucial in affecting the concentration in the time period from 1996 to 2009, despite having had this role in previous years.

Este trabalho apresenta a arquitetura de hardware, software e os resultados da implantação de um sistema automação industrial em ambiente siderúrgico, especificamente nas Baterias de Coque do grupo Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais S/A Usiminas, precisamente na Usina de Cubatão, localizada no município de Cubatão, estado de São Paulo - Brasil. O sistema de automação monitora em tempo real o processo de coqueificação através da obtenção da temperatura na exaustão dos gases do processo de aquecimento do carvão mineral. O objetivo é estabelecer a relação da temperatura dos gases de exaustão, proveniente do aquecimento do carvão mineral versus a determinação do tempo ideal para o respectivo desenfornamento. O ganho de produção gerado pela implantação deste sistema é apresentado ao final deste trabalho. / This work presents the architecture of hardware, software and the results of implantation of a steel industrial automation environment, specifically in the group of Coke Drums Steel Units of Minas Gerais S/A - Usiminas, precisely in Cubatão Plant, located in Cubatão, state of Sao Paulo - Brazil. The automation system monitors the real time coking process by raising the temperature in the exhaust gases of the heating process the coal. The aim is to establish the relationship between the temperatures of the exhaust gases, from the heating coal versus determining the optimal time for the respective furnace charging. The gain in output generated by the deployment of this system is provided at the end of this work.

Esta pesquisa analisa o processo de reestruturação do setor siderúrgico mundial e brasileiro após os anos da década de 1990, o mesmo está representado pela internacionalização das empresas do setor, com a formação de grupos multinacionais, via fusões e aquisições, sendo impulsionado pelo processo intenso de privatizações, além da nova divisão internacional do trabalho com o crescimento da produção de aço dos países subdesenvolvidos, principalmente os asiáticos. Nesse sentido, buscamos analisar o comportamento da siderurgia nacional e, especialmente o da Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) nessa nova conjuntura mundial, assim como, as suas conseqüências para a sócio-espacial brasileira. Podendo-se observar dois cenários possíveis: A desnacionalização dos ativos internos do setor siderúrgico nacional ou a inserção ativa do país nesse processo mundial de reestruturação. / This research analyzes the process of restructuring of the Worldwide and Brazilian Worldwide and Brazilian industry sector after 90\'s, the same has been represented by the internationalization of companies in the sector, with the formation of multinational groups, via mergers and acquisitions, which have been pushed by the intense process of privatization, in addition to the new international division of labor with the growth of steel production of the developing countries, especially the Asians. Thus, we seek to analyze the behavior of the domestic ironworks industry and especially the National Ironworks Company\'s one (CSN) in this new worldwide conjecture, as well as their consequences to the Brazilian social space. It could be observed two possible scenarios: The denationalization of the domestic assets of the national ironworks sector or the active insertion of the country in this global restructuring process.

Fondée en 1926, la première Entente internationale de l’acier (EIA) était impuissante à contrôler le développement de nouvelles capacités de production dans les pays membres. Les groupes sidérurgiques nationaux réunis dans l’EIA se partageaient des quotas de production. Fin 1929, les maîtres de forges sont convaincus que l’EIA ne peut survivre qu’en passant à une réglementation des exportations. Ils lancent l’entreprise des Comptoirs internationaux d’exportation dont la mise en route s’avère aussi difficile que leur fonctionnement ultérieur. Ils échouent après quelques mois seulement (été 1930). En mars 1931, la première EIA cesse de fonctionner. On assiste alors à un déchaînement sans précédant de la concurrence. Les prix s’effondrent. Les dirigeants des firmes sidérurgiques cherchent alors le salut dans une nouvelle entente internationale. Les tractations aboutissent à la création de la seconde EIA (février 1933) qui, à l’opposé de la première, est axée sur un partage des seules exportations. Elle est coiffée d’une demi-douzaine de Comptoirs de vente internationaux qui règlementent les ventes à l’exportation. En même temps, on note une tendance très nette à la protection mutuelle des marchés intérieurs au sein de l’EIA. Le dépouillement d’une documentation abondante et inédite nous a permis d’analyser le dynamisme interne, les effets et les limites de l’EIA au cours des années trente. / The International Steel Cartel (ISC), founded in 1926, was unable to control the development of production capacity in the member countries. The steelmakers, who were gathered in the ISC, shared production quota. At the end of 1929, steel producers were convinced that the ISC could only survive by changing over in order to regulate exports. The steel manufacturers of Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Saar decided to set up provisional international export syndicates for single products. These export syndicates did not achieve their aim. In March 1931, the ISC ceased to operate so that we are witnessing an outburst of the competition. Prices collapsed. The steel managers were seeking salvation in a new international agreement. The negotiations succeeded in the creation of the second ISC (1933), which, contrary to the first one, was centred on sharing of only exports. It was topped by half a dozen international syndicates, which regulated export sales. At the same time, we can see a very clear trend towards the protection of the internal markets within the ISC. The analysis of new archives allows us a better understanding of the internal dynamism, the effects and limits of the cartel during the thirties.

Este trabalho apresenta a arquitetura de hardware, software e os resultados da implantação de um sistema automação industrial em ambiente siderúrgico, especificamente nas Baterias de Coque do grupo Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais S/A Usiminas, precisamente na Usina de Cubatão, localizada no município de Cubatão, estado de São Paulo - Brasil. O sistema de automação monitora em tempo real o processo de coqueificação através da obtenção da temperatura na exaustão dos gases do processo de aquecimento do carvão mineral. O objetivo é estabelecer a relação da temperatura dos gases de exaustão, proveniente do aquecimento do carvão mineral versus a determinação do tempo ideal para o respectivo desenfornamento. O ganho de produção gerado pela implantação deste sistema é apresentado ao final deste trabalho. / This work presents the architecture of hardware, software and the results of implantation of a steel industrial automation environment, specifically in the group of Coke Drums Steel Units of Minas Gerais S/A - Usiminas, precisely in Cubatão Plant, located in Cubatão, state of Sao Paulo - Brazil. The automation system monitors the real time coking process by raising the temperature in the exhaust gases of the heating process the coal. The aim is to establish the relationship between the temperatures of the exhaust gases, from the heating coal versus determining the optimal time for the respective furnace charging. The gain in output generated by the deployment of this system is provided at the end of this work.