Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal has announced that for the fourth quarter this year it expects to report impairment charges of $4.3 billion from its European businesses.
The company stated that the impairment is due to a weaker macroeconomic and market environment in Europe where apparent steel demand has fallen by approximately eight percent in the current year, resulting in a 29 percent decrease in demand since 2007.
According to ArcelorMittal's statement, the weaker demand environment, and expectations that it will persist over the near and medium term, led to a downward revision of cash flow expectations underlying the valuation of the European businesses. Meanwhile, in the US, apparent steel consumption increased by almost eight percent in 2012, while it is approximately 10 percent lower than 2007 levels.
The steelmaker underlined that key metrics such as net debt and EBITDA are unaffected by the impairment in question.