ArcelorMittal pessimistic about the future

ArcelorMittal is pretty miserable about the outlook for steel prices and consumption in the next six months and the company's chief executive, Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita told Business Report that the company's earnings were likely to be considerably lower than in the previous quarters.

29 Jul 2011

She says that the construction sector has not made a contribution to South Africa's gross domestic product this year and there are poor prospects for it for the rest of the year. The construction sector is a major consumer of steel and this has resulted in ArcelorMittal's profit dropping by 60% year-on-year.

In addition, Times Live reports that high energy costs were up by 25% to R600-million for the six months to June and this, combined with a sharp rise in raw material costs has weighed heavily on the company's figures.

ArcellorMittal declared an interim dividend of 55 cents a share

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