By Alex MacDonald
LONDON--ArcelorMittal (MT), the world's largest steel maker, is
forecasting slower growth in Chinese steel demand this year due to
more muted construction demand growth stemming from a credit
squeeze on property investments, the company's chief financial
officer said Friday.
The Luxembourg-based company expects steel demand in China, the
world's largest steel-consuming nation, to grow by as much as 4.5%
this year after growing 7% last year, Aditya Mittal told
journalists on a call.
Steel demand in the U.S. is forecast to grow by as much as 4.5%
this year after more modest growth last year, the company said,
while demand in the European bloc of 28 member states is forecast
to rise by as much as 2.5% after contracting last year.
Mr. Mittal said that ArcelorMittal is still reviewing its
Eastern European steel plants, but doesn't expect to embark on a
major restructuring program of those assets.
"It remains an area that we are reviewing [but] assuming that
the demand levels continue to improve as we are forecasting,
perhaps there won't be an asset-optimization requirement in East
Europe," he said. "We need to be careful when we're looking at our
asset base so that we don't cut capacity and then in a few
years...need that capacity in order to maintain [market] share as
the market grows."
At its Asian, Africa, and Commonwealth of Independent States
division, which comprises six steel plants and several captive
iron-ore mines, the company plans to focus on improving operational
performance rather than carrying out a major restructuring program
because it expects emerging-market steel demand to pick up in the
future, Mr. Mittal said.
The company is reviewing the lifting of trade sanctions on Iran
to see whether it could sell more steel to the country, Mr. Mittal
said. Before the 2010 trade sanctions, Iran was a large consumer of
steel produced by ArcelorMittal's Kazakhstan steel plant.
Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@wsj.com
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