Commenting, Aditya Mittal, ArcelorMittal Chief Executive Officer, said:
“Market conditions improved as anticipated in the first quarter, with the end of customer destocking supporting apparent steel consumption growth and a rebound in steel spreads. This, alongside better general economic sentiment, resulted in good growth in first quarter profits as well as higher EBITDA per tonne. The improvements we have seen in market conditions are not yet fully reflected in our results due to pricing lags, and we expect a further increase in profitability in the second quarter.
We remain confident in our ability to generate healthy free cash flow this year and have therefore announced a new share
buyback today, while continuing to invest in growth and the energy transition. During the first quarter we completed the
acquisition of CSP and, also in Brazil, announced a new renewable energy joint venture, which aims to secure and decarbonize a considerable proportion of ArcelorMittal Brazil’s future electricity needs.
Improving group safety performance remains the highest priority. We continue to intensify efforts to improve our results, including evolving towards a “predict and prevent” culture centered around the recorded number of accidents that have the potential to result in serious injuries. I am cautiously optimistic we will be able to demonstrate the progress expected of us this year.
To conclude, the first quarter has unfolded as we expected. Geopolitical and economic uncertainty remains, but ArcelorMittal continues to demonstrate its ability to perform in all market conditions which bodes well for the remainder of this year.”