Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, has announced its financial results for the first half of the current year.
During the first half of the year, ArcelorMittal posted a net profit of $696 million, compared to a net loss of $549 million in the same period of the previous year. The company’s sales revenues decreased by 17.2 percent year on year to $28.14 billion, due to lower average steel selling prices, lower seaborne iron ore reference prices and lower marketable iron ore shipments, while the steel shipments decreased by 0.5 percent to 43.6 million mt, compared to the first half of the previous year, primarily due to lower shipments in Brazil, the NAFTA region and Europe. ArcelorMittal registered an EBITDA of $2.69 billion, down 2.88 percent year on year.
ArcelorMittal's crude steel production amounted to 46.3 million mt in the first half this year, down 3.1 percent year on year, while its iron ore production decreased by 13.5 percent year on year to 27.6 million mt.
ArcelorMittal stated that it expects its EBITDA to be in excess of $4.5 billion in the current year and, despite the steel spread recovery losing momentum in recent weeks, the impact of lagged prices will be an important support for operating results as the sector moves into a period of seasonally slower steel demand.