Steel Mills

ArcelorMittal Looking at Asset Optimization in the US
Written by Sandy Williams
May 10, 2015
ArcelorMittal’s NAFTA segment, and in particular the US, saw a collapse in steel prices in first quarter. High levels of imports, a strengthening dollar, and a weak energy segment created significant headwinds for the company that are expected to continue in 2015.
CFO Aditya Mittal hinted in the earnings conference call that cuts may be coming to U.S. facilities similar to the asset-optimization program the company initiated successfully in Europe.
“I think, as we mentioned on the last call, said Aditya Mittal, “this is something we have been looking at, I would say, quite deeply in the U.S. and discussing quite extensively. And obviously, the downturn in the market is something that increases the urgency of that. So I think we are, again, looking very carefully and deeply at that. We know what to do.
“As we mentioned on the last call, I think we certainly have very significant opportunities in terms of rationalizing our finishing assets. We’re committed, both to being highly cost-competitive in our operations and to maintaining our market position, and we think we can get there.
“That an asset-restructuring plan in the U.S. is going to be part of the answer there, we’re not quite ready to announce that. I think when we’re ready, though, certainly, we’ll bring that information to the market.”
The surge of imports is one of the headwinds that may force changes in the U.S. trade cases are important to pursue, said Mittal, but ArcelorMittal is not counting on any material benefits from them.
“This is something we need to improve the results kind of on our own,” said Mittal, “and anything that happens on the trade front that’s positive, is just the icing on the cake if you will.”
“We recognize that we’ve got to improve the results based on our own initiatives and actions, financings with our assets and our positions with our customers,” Mittal added.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills

Nucor names Batterbee, Bledsoe to HR roles
Nucor Corp. has promoted Thomas J. Batterbee to the position EVP of human resources and talent and appointed Elizabeth Bledsoe to the newly created position of president of human resources and talent.

Millett sees tariffs, CORE case benefiting SDI
Steel Dynamics' top exec thinks Trump’s tariff policies, as well as the results from the recent CORE case, will prove advantageous to the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker and aluminum company.

USW digs in on opposition to USS-Nippon deal
“We remain deeply concerned about the national and economic security implications of the subject transaction,” the union stated in the letter dated April 21.

SDI’s Q1 earnings slump on-year, but up sequentially
SDI earnings slip in first quarter year over year, but are up sequentially.

POSCO inks MoU with Hyundai on Louisiana EAF mill
POSCO has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hyundai Motor Group that includes an equity investment in Hyundai’s previously announced EAF mill set to be built in Louisiana.