ArcelorMittal achieves 2010 cost-cutting target of $3bn in H1

New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) The world's largest steel-maker,
ArcelorMittal, has achieved its target of saving USD 3 billion
in 2010 through various cost-cutting measures in the first
half of the year itself.
"At the end of the first half of 2010, we had achieved
annualised sustainable cost savings of USD 3 billion, meeting
our 2010 full-year target of USD 3 billion," the company said
in its half-yearly report emailed from Luxembourg, where it is
headquartered.
"We have demonstrated a significant flexibility in our
capacity utilisation, implementing production cuts of up to 45
per cent in response to the economic crisis at the end of
2008, before gradually increasing capacity utilisation rates
back to 78 per cent as of June, 2010," the report said.
The company now plans to bring down production to 70 per
cent in the July-September period from the June level.
"So far, in the third quarter of 2010, we have taken
steps to adjust production to expected seasonally weaker
demand, particularly in Europe, and will continue to make
similar adjustments to increase or decrease production
depending on market conditions," it said.
In the aftermath of the global economic crisis in 2009,
the company had been operating at 59 per cent of its
production capacity.
The company had initiated the cost-cutting measures to
tide over the demand slump amid the global economic crisis in
2008-09. The measures, which included cutting production and
optimising its operations, helped the Non-Resident Indian
billionaire L N Mittal-led firm, achieve its 2010 cost-cutting
target in the first six months of the calendar year.
The company, which posted a profit of USD 1.7 billion in
the April-June quarter, had expressed concerns over the
prospects for the next three months, saying the dip in
European and Chinese markets could impact its performance.
The company produced 73 million tonnes of steel in 2009,
amounting to an 8 per cent share of global steel production.
PTI