ArcelorMittal Registers Jul-Sept Net Loss At $261 Million

Global steel giant ArcelorMittal reported a net loss of $261 million for the July-September quarter of FY21.

During the same period last year, the company had reported a net loss of $539 million. In the April-June quarter of FY21, the company had reported a net loss of $559 million.

"ArcelorMittal recorded a net loss for 3Q 2020 of $261 million (or $0.21 basic loss per common share), as compared to a net loss for 2Q 2020 of $559 million (or $0.50 basic loss per common share), and a net loss for 3Q 2019 of $539 million (or $0.53 basic loss per common share)," the company said in a statement.

Sales in third quarter 2020 were $13.3 billion as compared to $11.0 billion for 2Q 2020, higher by 20.9 per cent.

"This 20.9 per cent increase was primarily due to higher steel shipments, with a better sales mix (higher automotive volumes share) largely offsetting lower realised selling prices (due to lag effect), and increased mining sales due to both higher market-priced iron ore shipments and higher seaborne iron ore reference prices," the statement said.

Sales in 3Q 2020 were 20.2 per cent lower as compared to Q3 2019 primarily due to the impacts of Covid-19 on demand for steel shipments and average steel selling prices offset in part by higher market-priced iron ore shipments and higher seaborne iron ore reference prices.

Lakshmi N. Mittal, ArcelorMittal Chairman and CEO, said: "The third quarter marked an improved operating performance for the group with steel markets recovering gradually from the very challenging second quarter after the ending of lockdowns. All steel segments saw improved demand with Brazil and ACIS showing particularly encouraging profitability improvement."

The company's mining segment also delivered a strong performance, taking advantage of the higher iron ore price environment and outperforming production targets, he said.

Mittal added that the quarter was also characterised by strong cash flow generation and the achievement of some important strategic milestones.

"In this very tough environment, we take considerable satisfaction from the fact that our deleveraging programme and asset disposal programme are now complete. Following the agreed sale of ArcelorMittal USA, we can now prioritise returning cash to shareholders," Mittal said.