The Street reported that shares of ArcelorMittal were falling to USD 17.70, down by USD 1.62 or 8.4% as investors chose to flee the stock after it announced to idle its second blast furnace this week. It shut down a plant in Eisenhüttenstadt in Germany. The steel company hit a 52 week low when it toughed to USD 17.65 a share after noon.

Mr Anthony B. Rizzuto MD of metals research at Dahlman Rose told The Street that "I think the market looks at that news as ... a weakening."

Though investors have chosen to punish the stock twice this week, Mr Rizzuto felt upbeat about the steel producer's decisions. He said that "We like to see the discipline."

High raw material costs (iron ore, scrap steel, metallurgical coal), lean inventories and low global steel demand have forced ArcelorMittal to shift its strategies. Mr Rizzuto went on to say that it was wise of the company to close its higher cost facilities in Germany and France and shift production to some of its more efficient factories to partially offset these costs.

(Sourced from www.thestreet.com)