Top steel company announces profit after nine-month loss

World top steel company ArcelorMittal, based in Luxembourg, announced Wednesday the first profit of 903 million U.S. dollars for the third quarter after nine-month consecutive loss.

Due to combined initiatives including selected growth projects in key emerging markets, adjusted financial policy and strategic investment, the giant steel maker gained a net income of 903 million U.S. dollars, with shipments of 18.2 million tons, up seven percent from last quarter, the giant said in a statement.

"We have seen the first signs of recovery in the third quarter ... and we expect fourth quarter crude steel capacity utilization to be approximately 70 percent," Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and CEO of the company said in the statement.

However, the new income is less than one-fourth of the income of last year's third quarter, 3.821 billion U.S. dollars, and the whole loss for the first nine months of this year has reached 952 million U.S. dollars.

As worldwide market of automotive and construction were heavily hit by the financial crisis, the operating environment of the steel maker remains challenging.

In 2008, Arcelor Mittal had revenues of 124.9 U.S. dollars and crude steel production of 103.3 million tons, representing about 10 percent of world steel output.

Formed in 2006 by the merger of Arcelor and Mittal Steel, the company has become the largest steel maker in the world, with operations concerning automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging in over 60 countries.

Source: Xinhua