The South African Iron and Steel Corporation (ISCOR) was established in 1928 as a state‐owned initiative under the Iron and Steel Industry Act. Its first major facility, the Pretoria Works, began producing steel on 4 April 1934 when its open-hearth furnace tapped its first steel.
ISCOR was driven by industrial pioneers like Hendrik van der Bijl, who envisioned a state-run enterprise operated on commercial lines to catalyse South Africa’s industrial growth.

The onset of World War II sharply increased steel demand, pushing ISCOR to expand beyond Pretoria. However, by the early 1980s, older blast furnaces at the Pretoria Works were deemed outdated and uneconomical, leading to their closure in 1982.

Later, after a series of privatization and mergers, ISCOR evolved into Ispat Iscor and eventually became ArcelorMittal South Africa in 2006. Although the Pretoria Works ceased being a core steel-making site, its founding legacy endures as an essential chapter in the nation’s industrial history.

The coke making operations was shutdown for good in 2017.