By Alex MacDonald
ArcelorMittal (MT), the world's largest steelmaker, credited a
combination of higher shipments and cost savings with helping its
Flat Carbon Europe division record marginally higher operating
earnings in the third quarter.
The Luxembourg-based producer reported earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortization at its division of $193
million in the third quarter, up 1% from $191 million in the same
quarter a year earlier. Steel shipments rose 12.7% on year to 6.58
million metric tons.
On a quarterly basis, ArcelorMittal's Flat Carbon Europe
division saw Ebitda drop 43% from the second quarter, with steel
shipments declining 6.9% on seasonal factors.
Average selling prices also fell 3.3% in the third quarter from
the previous quarter.
"The operating environment continues to be challenging and our
third-quarter results were impacted by the normal seasonal demand
patterns, as well as a negative price-cost squeeze," said Robrecht
Himpe, CEO of Flat Carbon Europe.
"We are however seeing improvement in the underlying performance
of the business, due to the benefits of asset optimization and our
cost-improvement program," he said.
ArcelorMittal is seeing improvement in parts of Europe as the
euro-zone region emerges from recession. It said automotive sales
have rebounded 5% year-on-year in September, the biggest gain since
August 2011. Euro-zone manufacturing activity rose above 50 in July
for the first time in two years and remains at 51.1 for
September.
ArcelorMittal improved its forecast steel demand in the European
Union in 2013. It now expects steel demand to drop within a range
of 1.5% to 2.5% this year compared with expectations over the
summer for a 2.5% drop.
-Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires