NEW DELHI: ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, has posted a net loss of $539 million for the July-September quarter of 2019 — a second straight quarter in the red zone — hit by lower steel shipments and prices, and high material costs.
Sales of the company declined to $16,634 million in the July-September quarter from $18,522 million in the year-ago period.
Chairman and CEO Lakshmi N Mittal in a statement said that “as anticipated, we continued to face tough market conditions in the third quarter, characterised by low steel prices coupled with high raw material costs.”
The Luxembourg-based company’s net debt, a key metric for markets, increased by $0.5 billion to $10.7 billion.
It has a target to pull it below $ seven billion. A substantial release of working capital in the fourth quarter should enable the company to reduce net debt further year-on-year, Mittal further said.