VIDEO INTERVIEW: ArcelorMittal eyes 100m tpy iron ore output as divestments go on

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“We believe this is a key competitive advantage in the current environment of high raw material prices,” ceo Lakshmi Mittal told delegates at the AMM Steel Success Strategies conference in New York on Tuesday June 19:

“Despite recent falls, [these] look set to remain at a high level compared with past trends, largely as a result of substantial demand from China,” he added.

While it expands its iron ore business, ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, will continue to divest non-core assets to reduce net debt and maintain a healthy balance sheet, ArcelorMittal USA president and ceo Mike Rippey said.

Of the company’s targeted 100 million-tpy iron ore output by 2015, 15 million tonnes will be produced by its operations in Liberia, west Africa.

Metal Bulletin spoke to ArcelorMittal ceo for community relations and governance Joe Matthews, who said that a percentage of the iron ore produced by the Liberian operations will be sold on the seaborne, or spot, market. 

ArcelorMittal announced the sale of Skyline Steel and Astralloy to US steel producer Nucor for $605 million in May.

The company has also sold its stake in Turkish flats producer Erdemir.