ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India EBITDA jumps 213% to $551 mn in Sept qtr

The EBITDA was lower than $607 million in the previous quarter, primarily due to a negative cost-impact, including higher iron ore and energy costs

ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) reported a 213 per cent increase year-on-year (YoY) in EBITDA to $551 million in the quarter ended September 30. It was at $176 million in the year-ago period.

The EBITDA was lower compared to $607 million in the previous quarter, primarily due to a negative cost-impact, including higher iron ore and energy costs. Crude steel production increased to 1.9 million tonne (mt) in the quarter compared to 1.8 mt in 2Q 2021.

ArcelorMittal follows a January-December financial year and AM/NS India numbers were released as part of its earnings in the quarter

In its strongest quarter since 2008, the global steel major reported an EBITDA of $6.1 billion in 3Q 2021, 19.9 per cent higher than 2Q 2021. Net income stood at $4.6 billion while net debt declined to $3.9 billion.

Commenting, Aditya Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal and chairman of AM/NS India, said, “ArcelorMittal’s third quarter results were supported by the continuing strong price environment, resulting in the highest net income and lowest net debt since 2008.”

“This has been a very strong year for ArcelorMittal. We have re-positioned our balance sheet, re-set ourselves for the transition to a low-carbon economy, we are growing strategically through high-quality, high-return projects and we are returning capital to shareholders,” he added.

On AM/NS India, where ArcelorMittal has a 60 per cent equity interest, Mittal said, the joint venture with Nippon Steel continued to perform strongly despite headwinds from higher energy prices and the pandemic.

“Steel production at Hazira rose further in the third-quarter and the JV is making good progress with its expansion and vertical integration plans. While the pandemic continues to introduce higher than normal levels of volatility across the world, our confidence in India’s domestic steel industry and long-term economic growth prospects remains intact,” he said.

AM/NS India plans to increase capacity at Hazira to 14-18 mt through brownfield expansion and there are also plans of setting up a 12 mt greenfield plant in Odisha.