On October 26, the world's largest steelmaker Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal issued its financial results for the third quarter of 2010, stating that the business performed towards the lower end of the company's expectations in the period against a background of seasonally lower volumes, weakening spot prices and higher costs.
According to the financial results, the net profit of the company was $1.35 billion in the third quarter of 2010, compared with a net profit of $1.7 billion in the second quarter of 2010, decreasing 20.6 percent, and compared with a net income of $910 million in the third quarter of 2009, increasing 49.6 percent.
Sales revenues in the third quarter of 2010 were $21.04 billion, which decreased three percent compared to $21.65 billion in the second quarter of 2010 and increased 30.1 percent compared to $15.2 billion in the third quarter of 2009.
The EBITDA of the company was $2.27 billion in the third quarter of 2010, compared with an EBITDA of $3 billion in the second quarter of 2010, decreasing 24.3 percent, and $1.61 billion in the third quarter of 2009, increasing 41 percent.
The company's year-to-date net income, sales revenues and EBITDA up to the end of the third quarter this year were $3.73 billion, $61.34 billion and $7.15 billion respectively, compared with a $945 million net loss, $46.47 billion revenues and $3.71 billion EBITDA in the first nine months of 2009.
Total steel shipments for the three months ended September 30, 2010 were 21 million metric tons as compared with 22.8 million metric tons for the three months ended June 30, 2010, and 18.2 million metric tons for the three months ended September 30, 2009. The company also said that its own iron ore production is expected to reach approximately 50 million mt by the end of 2010.
Commenting on the outlook, chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, Lakshmi N. Mittal, said, "Our outlook for Q4 remains cautious as the expected higher input prices continue to work through the business and demand remains muted, though with some regional differences."
Fourth quarter 2010 the company's EBITDA is expected to be approximately $1.5-1.9 billion. Shipments are expected to improve slightly; average steel selling prices and EBITDA/mt are expected to decline, while capacity utilization levels are expected to remain flat. The operating costs of ArcelorMittal are expected to increase as compared to the third quarter of 2010 due to higher raw material prices.