Steel makers across the world are suffering from weak prices due to a global oversupply of the metal.

Shares in the unit of the world's top steel maker of the same name fell as much as 5 percent before recouping some of the losses to trade 2 percent lower at 15.10 rand.

Arcelor Mittal said the headline loss was expected to come in  at between 25 to 30 cents per share in the six months to the end of June compared with a loss of 2 cents a year earlier.

Headline earnings are the main profit gauge in South Africa that exclude certain one-off items.

Arcelor Mittal has asked the South African government to protect the domestic steel industry by imposing anti-dumping duties on imports of cut-price steel from China.

Arcelor Mittal's rival, Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium, has applied for protection from creditors and plans to reduce its 2,200 jobs by about a half. 

--reuters--