ArcelorMittal net income falls 69% to $287 mn in September quarter

ArcelorMittal, which also has a presence in India, on Thursday posted a 69 per cent fall in net income to $ 287 million during the third quarter, mainly on account of a decline in steel shipments.

Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal follows the January-December calendar as the financial year.

In July-September 2023, it clocked $ 929 million "net income attributable to equity holders of the parent", the company said in a statement.

The company recorded a net income of $ 504 million in the second quarter of 2024, the statement said.

Globally, the medium- to long-term outlook for steel is positive, and ArcelorMittal will continue to harness its unique geographic presence and strong research and development capability to meet stakeholders' need, its Chief Executive Officer Aditya Mittal said.

Demand is expected to be stronger in the second half of this year compared with 2023, and inventory levels are low, indicating that re-stocking will occur when real demand recovers. The increased level of imports into Europe is a concern and stronger trade measures are urgently required to address this, he said.

Further, Mittal said, "Our free cash flow generation enables us to continue to invest in the business for strategic growth and return capital to shareholders. Our first renewables project is now operating and started supplying power to AMNS India in September."  During the quarter, the company's crude steel production fell to 14.8 million tonne (MT) from 15.2 MT in July-September a year ago.

Sales in Q3 2024 also trimmed to $15.1 billion against $16.6 billion in Q3 2023.

Total steel shipments in the third quarter were lower at 13.4 MT compared with 13.7 MT a year ago.

The company's 60:40 joint venture with Nippon Steel produced 1.7 MT of crude steel in July-September 2024 compared to 1.9 MT in the year-ago period.

Sales declined to $ 1.5 billion from $ 1.6 billion in the third quarter of the last year, primarily due to lower average steel selling prices.

In India, ArcelorMittal set up a green energy project of 1 GW capacity ramp in at $ 0.7 billion investment to supply  The project has obtained the requisite grid connectivity approvals and commenced supply of power to AMNS India as of September 2024.

"The solar/wind project is expected to provide 20 per cent of AMNS India's Hazira plant electricity requirements reducing carbon emissions by 1.5 MT per year, and is estimated to add $ 0.1 billion to ArcelorMittal EBITDA," the statement said.