ArcelorMittal Results Affected by Declining Iron Ore Price and Imports

ArcelorMittal reported a net loss of $728 million in first quarter 2015 compared to a loss of $955 million in fourth quarter 2014. EBITDA was $1.4 billion. Steel shipments were up 3 percent year over year to 21.6 million tonnes. Iron ore shipments rose 5 percent to 9.4 million tonnes. Total sales for the company were $17.1 billion.

“We faced a number of headwinds in the first quarter, including a declining iron-ore price, a stronger dollar and surge of imports in the United States,” commented Chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal in the earnings report. “As a result of which EBITDA declined to US$1.4 billion, although the underlying performance of our steel business remained similar to the first quarter of 2014. The performance in Europe was of particular note, with EBITDA improving 15% year-on-year. Offsetting the impact of these headwinds is a priority and we are focused on achieving a 15% reduction in mining costs and improving the competitive position of our US operations. Importantly, we still expect to remain free cash flow positive and further reduce net debt over the course of the year.”