ArcelorMittal increases profits, but forecasts that growth will slow down

In announcing its fiscal 2018 results, ArcelorMittal reported a profit of 5.1. billionUS-Dollars, while sales reached 76 billion US-Dollars. Its net income was its highest since 2010, the company said.

“2018 was a year of positive momentum for ArcelorMittal characterized by important strategic and financial progress. Operating in a healthy market environment, the company enjoyed a strong financial performance, delivering substantial profitability improvement,” said ArcelorMittal chief executive Lakshmi Mittal in a statement.  

In Europe, it expects demand to rise between 0.5% and 1% on continued strength in construction. That's down from 2.9% that last year, the company said.  

In China, overall demand is predicted to retract somewhere between 0.5% and 1.5% on declining machinery output.

Still, the company said it expects global demand to tick up by between 0.5% and 1%.  

“Although the issue of global overcapacity persists and there are well-publicized macro-economic risks, we expect further, moderate global steel demand growth this year,” Mittal said.

Source: AIST, photo: fotolia