ArcelorMittal to spend $ 35 bn on new capacity

Brussels, Sept 25: ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, is to spend $35 billion expanding capacity with particular emphasis on India, its chief executive told the Financial Times.

The money would be invested in the next eight years, Lakshmi Mittal said in comments that appeared in the newspaper on Tuesday.

About $20 billion would go on two steel plants in India -- in the northeastern states of Jharkhand and Orissa -- each making 12 million tonnes of steel per year by 2015.

Longer term, Mittal would like to build a plant in Russia, where ArcelorMittal has no production.

Mittal also hoped to build its relatively weak position in China, although was waiting for Beijing to approve ArcelorMittal taking a minority stake in local steelmaker Laiwu and longer term to let foreign producers take majority stakes.

Mittal told the newspaper that current credit problems were having no impact on the majority of its customers and said steel industry conditions were very favourable, with the exception of a weak U.S. market.

However, ArcelorMittal sold only about a fifth of its steel there.

Reuters
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