Mittal to reduce China steel ambitions

Lakshmi Mittal has signalled a dramatic scaling back of ArcelorMittal’s ambitions to expand in China’s steel industry through an agreement to cut the company’s stake in one of the country’s top metals producers.

The chairman, chief executive and main owner of the world’s biggest steelmaker had hoped to build up ArcelorMittal’s 30 per cent stake in Hunan Valin into a controlling shareholding but has been frustrated by Beijing’s refusal to loosen constraints over foreign ownership in the steel business.

Through an outline deal to reduce the Hunan Valin stake to 10 per cent over the next two years, ArcelorMittal is likely to gain about $300m, about $200m of which will be reinvested in increasing its operations in China in the more specialised segment of making high-value steel for the automotive industry.

Tony Taccone, a partner in First River, a US steel consultancy, said: “This is a pragmatic and sensible move by Mr Mittal to reallocate ArcelorMittal’s position in China in a way that is more helpful for the business.”

Sudhir Maheshwari, head of ArcelorMittal’s China operations, said it would be wrong to depict the new outline deal as part of a “reining back” of the company’s overall activity in China. “Instead, we are refocusing on an area [automotive steel] with a lot of potential.”

The deal comes as ArcelorMittal has faced increasing pressures in its main markets in Europe and North America where many of its plants are operating well below capacity as a result of sluggish growth in steel demand caused by a weak global economy.

The Chinese government has for decades viewed steelmaking as a strategic industry over which it is adamant domestic companies – many of which are state-owned – should have complete control.
China is by some way the world’s biggest country for both making steel and using the commodity – the world’s most widely traded metal with many applications in fields from construction to packaging.

Mr Mittal has always regarded his company’s investment in Hunan Valin – agreed in 2005 – as part of a long-term investment in China that he hoped could be turned into a foothold for controlling a big part of the country’s steel sector.

He has now settled on trying to increase ArcelorMittal’s position in the relatively narrow field of making steel for cars – an area in which it has a strong global position, particularly in the area of specially treated flat steel for vehicle exteriors.

ArcelorMittal will push up its capabilities in this sector by increasing from 33 per cent to 49 per cent its stake in a joint venture with Hunan Valin in making steel for cars.
As part of this new activity, the Luxembourg-based company is contributing about a quarter of an $800m investment in increasing the output of this joint venture from 1.2m tonnes a year to 1.5m tonnes .

However in this industry in China, ArcelorMittal is facing tough competition from other top producers of automotive steel such as Chinese steelmakers including Baosteel and Nippon Steel of Japan.