Brussels — ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, says the outlook for 2018 has improved, after a sharp pick-up in steel prices and increased iron-ore shipments helped it deliver higher than expected first-quarter earnings on Friday.
The group did not give a specific forecast for its own prospects, but repeated that it expected 2018 global apparent steel consumption, which takes into account inventory changes, to grow by between 1.5% and 2.5%.
Demand appeared strong, notably in the US, Europe and Brazil, and the spread between the price of steel and its raw materials was healthy, ArcelorMittal said.
"The outlook for 2018 has strengthened as the year has progressed, with the combination of growing demand and supply-side reform driving higher capacity utilisation rates and healthy steel spreads globally," CEO Lakshmi Mittal said in a statement.
First-quarter core profit, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda), the figure most closely watched by analysts, rose 13% year on year to $2.51bn, above the average $2.33bn expected in a Reuters poll of 10 analysts.
ArcelorMittal said its average steel selling price was 18.2% higher than in the first quarter of 2017, with shipments up 1.4%. For iron ore, of which it mines more than 50-million tonnes a year, shipments rose 5.5%, while prices were down 13.1%. The firm has been a vocal supporter of trade measures against cheap imports into both the US and the EU, where it has the bulk of its operations.
"Comprehensive solution for [unfair] trade imports across geographies still required," ArcelorMittal said in an overview of EU and US measures, including the 25% import tariffs imposed since March 23 by US President Donald Trump, with certain temporary exemptions, such as for EU steel.
At the South African unit, stronger export sales helped overcome a weak domestic market.
Reuters
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