ArcelorMittal maintains global and India demand growth view

ArcelorMittal has maintained its guidance that the demand for steel in India is likely to grow in the range of 6.5-8.5% in 2024, while global demand, excluding China, is likely to grow at 3-4% in the same period.

The global steel major, which also has a presence in India through AMNS India, said that the overall sentiment remains subdued, and that there is no apparent restocking yet.

“Nevertheless, sentiment appears to have reached a floor and given the low inventory environment (particularly Europe) as soon as real demand begins to gradually improve, apparent demand is expected to rebound,” it said it its outlook while announcing earnings for the March quarter.


In its short-range outlook released last month, the World Steel Association said that it expects global demand to go up by 1.7% on year.

AMNS India – in which ArcelorMittal has a 60% equity interest – produced 1.98 million, and sold 2.02 million tonne of steel during the March quarter.

Sales volume during the quarter rose 8% sequentially helped by higher exports. On the production front, meanwhile, the company hit an annual run-rate of 8.1 million tonne in March, which is close to its capacity debottlenecking target of 8.6 million tonne, the company said.

Sales in Jan-Mar rose 6% on quarter to $1.81 billion, operating profit slumped by more than a third sequentially to $312 million. This was because of a negative price-cost effect including a lower impact from natural gas hedges, offset in part by higher shipments, the company said.