ArcelorMittal's net loss for the second quarter was $447 million
On August 1, ArcelorMittal released its second quarter and semi-annual results for 2019. In the second quarter of 2019, ArcelorMittal EBITDA (earnings before depreciation and amortization) was $1.6 billion; net loss was $447 million; operating profit was $200 million, including $900 million in impairment (300 million) The US dollar is related to the relief measures implemented by the acquisition of Italian companies, and the US$600 million is the impairment of fixed assets of ArcelorMittal America. In the first half of the year, ArcelorMittal's EBITDA was US$3.2 billion, down 42.6% year-on-year; net loss was 33 million yuan; operating profit was US$600 million (including US$1.1 billion in impairment). This is mainly due to the sluggish steel prices and rising raw material costs.
In the second quarter, ArcelorMittal iron ore sales were 15.5 million tons (up 6.1% year-on-year), of which 9.9 million tons were sold at market prices (down 1.0% year-on-year); in the first half, iron ore sales were 29.3 million. Tonne (up 3.0% year-on-year), of which 19.1 million tons were sold at market prices (down 4.0% year-on-year).
In the second quarter, ArcelorMittal's steel sales were 22.8 million tons, an increase of 4.3% from the first quarter of 2019 and an increase of 4.8% from the second quarter of 2018. In the first half of the year, its steel sales volume was 44.6 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.5%, mainly reflecting the acquisition of Italian companies.
Lakshmi N. Mittal, Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, said: "After strong growth in 2018, the market conditions in the first half of 2019 were very difficult, and global overcapacity is still A big challenge. Given the weak demand in the European market and the high volume of imports, we have adjusted our production plans and reduced our production in Europe. We expect to reduce production by about 4.2 million tons this year. Next, we need to take further measures. In response to the high import volume in the European market, we will strengthen cooperation with the European Commission and make active efforts to create a fair market competition environment."
ArcelorMittal expects global steel demand to increase by 0.5% to 1.5% year-on-year in 2019.
Posco's net profit for the second quarter was $562 million
Recently, South Korea's Posco announced its second-quarter operating results (consolidated financial statements). In the second quarter, Posco's operating income was 16.32 trillion won (approximately US$13.454 billion); operating profit was 1.07 trillion won (approximately US$882 million), which was more than US$800 million for the eighth consecutive quarter; The profit was 681.4 billion won (about 562 million US dollars).
Japan's three major steel companies continued to slump in the second quarter
Japan's three major steel companies have recently announced their second quarter operating results. In the second quarter, the profitability of Nippon Steel and JFE Holdings decreased significantly year-on-year, and Kobe Steel changed from profit to loss. This is due to the high price of iron ore and rising production costs; on the other hand, the price of steel is low.
In the second quarter, Nippon Steel's operating profit was 33.3 billion yen (about 313 million US dollars), down 61.0% year-on-year; JFE Holdings' operating profit was 19.7 billion yen (about 185 million US dollars), down 65.2% year-on-year; Kobe Steelmaking lost 1.1 billion yen (about 10.34 million US dollars), compared with a profit of 12.6 billion yen (about 118 million US dollars) in the same period last year.
In the second quarter, Japanese steel sales were 1.5224 trillion yen (US$14.407 billion), a year-on-year increase of 4.3%. In contrast, both JFE Holdings and Kobe Steel's sales fell year-on-year.
