October 14, 2008

Mr LN Mittal sees strong global demand for steel

Mr LN Mittal president & CEO of Arcelor Mittal said that global steel demand should hold up in the face of US subprime mortgage and financial market crises.

Mr LN Mittal told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper in an interview that "So far the financial market crisis has only impacted housing construction in the US and, to a much lesser degree, industry. I see no reason to lower positive forecasts for steel demand in South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Far East."

Mr Mittal said that “He expects to see demand for steel recover in the United States, where the housing market has been slammed by a collapse of the market for high risk mortgages. Many steel processors and sellers are starting to stock up their reduced inventories again.”

Mr Mittal added that he is not worried that rising steel exports from China would hurt the industry, because he felt that a complaint filed with the European Union and rising raw material prices would curb exports. He said "There will be further hefty cost increases next year, especially for iron ore and coke. That will likely dampen Chinese steelmakers' drive to export."