Steel product manufacturer Scaw Metals Group announced on Wednesday that the company was contemplating restructuring and had issued a notice in terms of Section 189A of the Labour Relations Act, which could result in a reduction in employee numbers.

"This unfortunate decision has been necessitated by the current conditions in the steel industry both locally and globally. This process could potentially impact about 1 000 of our employees throughout our local operations," the company said.

In a statement of its own, trade union Solidarity said it would do everything in its power to "mitigate the impact of this process on our members and to limit the number of retrenchments to a minimum".

The news followed the initiation of business rescue proceedings by fellow steelmaker Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium earlier in the year, while ArcelorMittal South Africa had indicated that it was conducting a "footprint review" of its Vereeniging operations, which could lead to a possible mothballing of some of the plants at the Vereeniging Works.