ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, the largest producer of rolled steel in Ukraine, has finished the overhaul of its blast furnace number seven after just 26 days. A total of 17 operations were performed on the blast furnace. "In April we accomplished a category two overhaul repair of blast furnace number seven. During this period, the furnace remained idle for four weeks (19 days of repairs and seven of commissioning operations). We were using only two blast furnaces in this period, but this did not affect our production performance in April", said Paramjit Kahlon, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih chief operating officer. Kahlon added that cold repairs to the two-bath steelmaking vessel in the open-hearth plant and repairs to the return-stream apron conveyor number one in the sinter shop number one, also started in April.

Outokumpu has started a strategic review of its high performance alloys or VDM business unit. During this review, Outokumpu will evaluate strategic options for VDM and consider how best to drive continued growth and profitability for the business, within or outside of Outokumpu. Says Outokumpu CEO Mika Seitovirta: “Given the challenging economic and market environment, we want to investigate strategic options for the VDM business unit with the aim of improving our profitability and strengthening our balance sheet while ensuring the realization of at least € 200 million of synergy savings enabled by the Inoxum acquisition.”

„2012 endete mit einer roten Null – die Auftragslage in der Thermoprozesstechnik-Branche hat sich im Jahresverlauf sukzessive eingetrübt, nachdem 2011 überdurchschnittlich viele Neuaufträge eingegangen waren. Das vorhandene Auftragspolster verhalf der Branche 2012 noch zu einer Umsatzsteigerung von durchschnittlich 6 %“, berichtete Dr. Timo Würz, Geschäftsführer des VDMA-Fachverbandes Thermoprozesstechnik am Mittwoch in Frankfurt. Der Auftragsrückgang machte sich bereits in der Jahresproduktion der Branche bemerkbar. Sie lag im abgelaufenen Jahr mit einem Wert von 1,7 Mrd. € unter der Zwei-Milliarden-Marke, die noch in den beiden Vorjahren überschritten worden war. Besonders betroffen war dabei der Bereich des elektrischen Industrieofenbaus.

ArcelorMittal announced results for the three month period ended March 31, 2013. Highlights: Health and safety performance improved in 1Q 2013 with a LTIF rate of 0.9x as compared to 1.1x at 4Q 2012; Ebitda of $1.6 billion in 1Q 2013 as compared to $1.6 billion in 4Q 2012 (which included $0.5 billion of gains from asset disposal and CO₂ credit sales); Steel shipments of 20.9 Mt, an increase of 4.7% as compared to 4Q 2012; 13.1 Mt own iron ore production; 7.3 Mt shipped and reported at market prices vs. 6.8 Mt in 1Q 2012; Net debt decreased by $3.8 billion during 1Q 2013 to $18.0 billion as of March 31, 2013 due largely to proceeds from combined offering ($4 billion) and proceeds from the first tranche of AMMC 15% stake sale ($0.8 billion), partially offset by working capital investment ($0.5 billion); Liquidity improved to $18 billion from $14.5 billion at end 4Q 2012; average debt maturity of 6.0 years; $0.2 billion New Management Gains achieved during 1Q 2013, from implementation of the new plan to achieve $3 billion of improvement by the end of 2015

ArcelorMittal announced results for its Flat Carbon Europe segment for the first quarter of 2013. The segment recorded an operating loss of €43 million for the first quarter of 2013 which excludes interest and tax costs. This is compared to an operating loss of €2,212 million in 4Q 2012 that had included a €1.9 billion write down of goodwill due to the weaker macro economic and market environments in Europe.

• Compared to Q4 2012, the segment’s crude steel production increased 14.2% to 7.3 Mt in Q1 2013 due to a stock re-build following weak demand in the fourth quarter of 2012. Production in 1Q 2013 improved, benefiting from the restart of furnaces at Asturias and Dunkerque.
• Steel shipments for Q1 2013 increased to 6.9 Mt, an increase of 15.7% as compared to 6.0 Mt for Q4 2012. Steel shipments increased in 1Q 2013 due to a pick up following the seasonally weaker period.
• Sales were €5.2 billion for Q1 2013, 10.6% increase as compared to € 4.7 billion for Q4 2012. Sales benefited from higher steel shipment volumes offset in part by lower selling prices following weak iron ore pricing during Q4 2012.
• Capital expenditure in the segment for the first quarter of 2013 was €157 million.

1 003 022 745 shares, or 60.23% of the Company's share capital, were present or represented at the general meetings on 8 May in Luxembourg. The results of the votes will be posted shortly on www.arcelormittal.com under "Investors > Equity Investors > Shareholders’ meetings > Annual General Meeting – 8 May 2013" where the full documentation regarding to the general meetings is available.

Quintiq, a global player in supply chain planning and optimization (SCP&O), announced that its platform is being rolled-out at the Outokumpu Stainless AB in Avesta, Sweden to support the scheduling of cold flow operations. The project will be completed by the end of 2013, and Outokumpu’s cold flow area, which produces stainless steel coils and sheets, will experience tangible benefits immediately upon completion.

Aperam, a leading global producer of stainless and speciality steel, has published its second Sustainability Report yesterday. The report outlines the Company's sustainability performance and its record and policies in areas such as safety, people, communities, environment, as well as the contribution of the Company's products to society.

According to a recent article published by worldsteel –the association that represents steel producers globally and of which Alacero is a member- a new class of container ships, the Triple E, will go into service as of July 2013. These vessels are 400 m long, taller than London Olymipic Stadium, and each is made of 55 thousand tons of high quality steel (8.4 times the steel used in the Eiffel Tower or the equivalent to the required to produce 186 thousand Harley-Davidson motorcycles). New Triple E ships have a storage capacity of 18 000 20-feet containers, enough to transport up to 36 000 cars or 863 million food cans. If all these containers were put in line, they would reach 110 km long. If they were put on top of each other, they would reach the stratosphere (47 km).

Uncertainty, weak sentiment and difficult access to financing continue to paralyse the EU economy. Key indicators lost ground again in March and April. Also recent data on industrial production and unemployment signal that the economy continued to weaken in the first months of 2013. At the same time, the performance gap between Germany on the one side and France, Spain and Italy on the other appears to be widening. Pressure on the industrial sector is rising. Only exports are expected to provide support to activity, on a par with the gradual strengthening in global economic momentum later this year. Total activity in the steel using sectors is expected to decline by around 1.5% this year. For 2014 a moderate recovery is pencilled in, supported by exports and domestic demand as investment and private consumption start to recover cautiously.