Lakshmi N. Mittal, chairman and CEO of global steelmaker ArcelorMittal, has expressed concerns about the sustainability of ArcelorMittal's business in Romania and also about high energy prices during his meeting with Romanian President Traian Basescu and Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta.
Mr, Mittal said that measures must be taken to address the high and increasing energy prices that are hurting the competitiveness of the steel industry in Romania and in the European Union as a whole. Earlier this year, ArcelorMittal Romania's management spoke out against the incentives being offered to the renewable energy industry and the related rise in energy bills for heavy-duty energy consumers such as steel companies
According to ArcelorMittal, energy costs for ArcelorMittal Galati, its Romanian unit, which employs 7,000 people, have risen by €25 million in the past four years.
Additionally, Robrecht Himpe, ArcelorMittal management committee member and CEO of the Flat Carbon Europe segment, issued a statement at the EUROFER European Steel Day saying, "EU industrial policy should reduce operational costs such as the high costs of energy. It is important that Europe focuses on promoting growth and infrastructure investment and not only on austerity measures."