ArcelorMittal to invest $5 bn in Brazil

SAO PAULO: ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, is to invest five bn dollars building a new plant in Brazil, its president told Thursday's edition of the Brazilian financial daily Valor.

"We have an expansion program in Brazil. We want to increase our presence," Lakshmi Mittal was quoted as saying.

The new factory will be built in the southeastern state of Espirito Santo in conjunction with Brazil's iron group Vale.

The newspaper said ArcelorMittal was replacing China's Baosteel in the joint venture. Baosteel dropped out in the middle of the global financial crisis.

Mittal said he had laid out the plans in a meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Vale's chief, Roger Agnelli, did not reveal the joint project in a briefing to Brazilian reporters in London late Wednesday, saying only that his company and ArcelorMittal were "carrying out some joint studies."

In 2008, ArcelorMittal accounted for 31 percent of Brazil's steel output.