ArcelorMittal Europe boosts profits

ArcelorMittal Europe released its second quarter 2016 results, which said it generated € 340 million in operating profit, which is much higher than the € 77 million operating profit achieved in the first quarter of 2016.

Steel supplies increased by 10.886 million tons, an increase of 4.2 percent. The increase was 2.8 percent for flat products and 8.3 percent for long products. Compared to the first quarter of this year, sales increased by 9.2 percent to $ 7.8 billion, driven not only by an increase in volume, but also by price. Prices increased on average by 6 percent, while flat steel prices increased by 6 percent and long products by 9 percent. However, compared to the previous year, incomes were lower, as well as lower prices, an average of 9 percent.

Operating income in the second quarter was slightly lower than the € 352 million generated in the same period in 2015. It is worth noting that the decrease in operating profit in the second quarter of 2016 was influenced by the write-off of 44 million euros in connection with the sale of ArcelorMittal Zaragoza in Spain.

Comparison of EBITDA for the previous year showed an improvement of 4.2 percent and an increase to € 643 million, mainly due to cost reductions and efficiency gains resulting from the transformation program implemented at ArcelorMittal Europe. This result was partially offset by lower selling prices, which fell by about 11 percent over the year.

Aditya Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal Europe, commented: “Today's results for ArcelorMittal Europe are the result of two factors - the improvement in the market since the beginning of the year and the positive effect of the implemented programs to ensure higher efficiency. Although we are pleased with today's results, the European steel market remains sensitive to the impact of price dumping. ”

ArcelorMittal Europe notes that forecasts show that real steel consumption in Europe will grow by 1.5-2 percent in 2016, while apparent steel consumption will grow by only 1 percent due to reduced stocks.