London: World's largest steel maker,
ArcelorMittal, on Wednesday reported a net loss of USD 0.8 billion for
the second quarter of this year due to heavy inventory
write-downs and workforce reduction programmes.
"The loss in the second quarter of 2009 resulted from
exceptional charges amounting to USD 1.2 billion primarily
related to write-downs of inventory (USD 0.9 billion) and
provisions for workforce reductions (USD 0.3 billion)," the
NRI billionaire LN Mittal-promoted company said in a
statement.
The company had a profit of USD 5.8 billion in the same
quarter of the last fiscal.
ArcelorMittal saw its sales plunging by nearly 60 percent to USD 15.2 billion in the reporting quarter compared to
the period a year ago due to fall in steel demand and prices.
"The main reason for the decline continues to be the
extreme weakness in demand for steel products in 2009 as a
result of the global economic crisis, along with a steep fall
in prices," it added.
However, the company is hopeful of a demand revival in
the second half of the year and is mulling the rollback of 50
percent production cuts at some of its facilities.
"In recent weeks we have started to see some initial
signs of recovery, as a result of which we are now planning to
re-start production at some facilities. Provided there are no
further unexpected economic deteriorations, we should see
continued gradual improvement throughout the second half of
the year," Mittal said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, July 29, 2009, 12:06