ArcelorMittal Cuts European Steel Consumption Outlook After Shipment, Price Declines -- Update
November 09 2023 - 7:21AM
Dow Jones News
By Pierre Bertrand
ArcelorMittal said it expects Europe's apparent steel
consumption to further degrade after reporting third-quarter
earnings which, though they beat expectations, reflected declines
in steel shipment and prices.
The Luxembourg-based steelmaker said Thursday that it expects
2023 European apparent steel consumption to be below the bottom end
of its previous forecast, due to weak demand and construction
activity.
The company had previously guided for between a 0.5% decline and
1.5% growth in European apparent steel consumption.
The downgraded outlook comes as crude steel production fell 6.5%
on year on the continent and shipments fell 7.6%, due to the
economic environment and weaker construction-related demand.
In Europe, sales declined 17% on year which ArcelorMittal said
was mainly--in addition to lower shipments--due to 11% lower
average steel selling prices.
As a group, shipments in the period decreased 3.7% from the
second quarter of the year to 13.7 million metric tons and came in
at nearly level with the 13.6 million tons reported for the third
quarter of the prior year, ArcelorMittal said.
The company's third-quarter net profit was $929 million compared
with $993 million in the prior year, on sales that fell 12% to
$16.62 billion.
Meanwhile, average steel selling prices in the period fell 12%,
ArcelorMittal said.
Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization fell 30% to $1.86 billion.
The result compares with analysts' expectations of $1.81 billion
in Ebitda and $909 million in net profit, according to a
company-provided consensus.
ArcelorMittal said steel shipments grew 8% on year in the Nafta
region of Canada, Mexico and the U.S., but that crude production
had stayed flat in the quarter.
It added that increased output from Ukraine mainly contributed
to higher on-year crude steel production at ArcelorMittal's ACIS
region.
ArcelorMittal still forecasts global apparent steel consumption
excluding China to grow between 1% and 2% this year.
Following last month's accident at its Kostenko coal mine in
Kazakhstan, ArcelorMittal said it was conducting an internal review
of its safety program and is commissioning an audit of its safety
practices.
Write to Pierre Bertrand at pierre.bertrand@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 09, 2023 07:06 ET (12:06 GMT)
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