Luxembourg, November 11, 2021 - ArcelorMittal (referred to as “ArcelorMittal” or the “Company”) (MT (New York, Amsterdam, Paris, Luxembourg), MTS (Madrid)), the world’s leading integrated steel and mining company, today announced results[1],[2] for the three-months and nine-months period ended September 30, 2021.
Highlights:
- Health and safety performance: Protecting the health and wellbeing of employees remains the Company’s overarching priority; LTIF rate3 of 0.76x in 3Q 2021 as compared to 0.89x in 2Q 2021; 0.80x in 9M 2021
- Improved operating results in 3Q 2021, with a positive evolution of steel spreads more than offsetting 8.4% lower steel shipments17 (vs. 2Q 2021) due to weaker demand (in particular automotive order cancellations) as well as production constraints and order shipment delays which are expected to reverse in 4Q 2021
- 3Q 2021 operating income of $5.3bn compares to $4.4bn in 2Q 2021
- EBITDA of $6.1bn in 3Q 2021, the strongest quarter since 2008 and 19.9% higher than 2Q 2021
- Share of JV and associates net income in 3Q 2021 of $0.8bn including solid performance at AMNS India4 and AMNS Calvert5
- Net income of $4.6bn in 3Q 2021 is the highest level since 2008 (vs. $4.0bn in 2Q 2021)6
- Lower steel shipments and price impacts led to $2.9bn investment in working capital during 3Q 2021
- Free cash flow (FCF)14 of $1.6bn generated in 3Q 2021 ($2.4bn net cash provided by operating activities less capex of $0.7bn less minority dividends $0.2bn); Company expects a working capital release to support higher FCF in 4Q 2021
- Gross debt declined by $1bn to $8.2bn (vs. $9.2bn as end of 2Q 2021 and $12.3bn as end of 2020); net debt declined to $3.9bn, the lowest level since the merger (vs. $5.0bn as end of 2Q 2021 and $6.4bn as end of 2020)
Strategic update:
- Consistently returning capital:
- Based on strong 3Q 2021 cash flow, share buyback increased by a further $1.0bn, bringing the capital returns announced since September 2020 to $6bn
- Continued leadership on decarbonization:
- Post 2Q 2021 results, ArcelorMittal and the Government of Canada announced a plan to invest CAD$1.8bn in order to reduce CO2 emissions at Dofasco by 2.9Mt; finalizing Government of Canada support and in discussions with Government of Ontario
- ArcelorMittal Mines Canada (AMMC) to invest CAD$205m in its Port-Cartier pellet plant, enabling this facility to convert its entire 10Mtpa annual pellet production to DRI pellets by the end of 2025
- The Company signed a letter of intent with the governments of Belgium and Flanders, supporting €1.1bn investment in decarbonization technologies at its flagship Gent plant
- ArcelorMittal joined Breakthrough Energy’s Catalyst program as an anchor partner
- The Company contributed to the development of the Mission Possible Partnership’s Net Zero Steel Strategy, published in October 2021 with Energy Transitions Commission and the Rocky Mountain Institute
- Strategic growth:
- ArcelorMittal has signed on September 10, 2021, with the Government of the Republic of Liberia an amendment to its Mineral Development Agreement which, upon ratification, will lead to the acceleration of construction of the 15Mtpa concentrator plant project ("phase 2 expansion"); with further expansion opportunities to 30Mtpa
- AMNS India completed construction of a 6Mtpa pellet plant in Odisha taking its pellet capacity up to 20Mtpa and commenced operations at the Ghoraburhani-Sagasahi iron ore mine in Odisha with 7.2Mtpa capacity
- During the quarter, the Company approved strategic investments to strengthen its Long products businesses in Brazil (Monlevade expansion, previously “on hold”) and further vertically integrate its Mexico operations through investments at Las Truchas (Mexico) and Serra Azul (Brazil) iron ore mines
Financial highlights (on the basis of IFRS1,2):
Note: As previously announced, effective 2Q 2021, ArcelorMittal has amended its presentation of reportable segments to report the operations of AMMC and Liberia within the Mining segment. The results of each other mine are accounted for within the steel segments that it primarily supplies; as from 2Q 2021 onwards, ArcelorMittal Italia is deconsolidated and accounted for as a joint venture.
Commenting, Aditya Mittal, ArcelorMittal Chief Executive Officer, said:
“Our third quarter results were supported by the continuing strong price environment, resulting in the highest net income and lowest net debt since 2008. However, this success has been outweighed by our safety results. Improving the group’s safety performance is of the highest priority. We have already this year significantly strengthened our safety procedures and will be analyzing what further interventions can be introduced to ensure we eliminate all fatalities.
“At the beginning of the quarter, we announced an ambitious 2030 CO2 reduction target, backed by plans to invest in various decarbonization initiatives. It is our stated aim to lead the steel industry’s important role in ensuring the global economy achieves net zero. That is why we joined Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, are collaborating with the Science Based Targets initiative on a new methodology for the steel sector and are supporting the Industrial Deep Decarbonization Initiative’s campaign for green public procurement, which was launched at COP26 this week.
“Despite the volatility we continue to see as a result of the ongoing presence and repercussions of COVID-19, this has been a very strong year for ArcelorMittal. We have re-positioned our balance sheet, re-set ourselves for the transition to a low-carbon economy, we are growing strategically through high-quality, high-return projects and we are returning capital to shareholders. We are aware of the challenges but excited by the opportunities that will exist for steel in the coming years and beyond.”
“The outlook remains positive: underlying demand is expected to continue to improve; and, although marginally off the recent record highs, steel prices remain at elevated levels, something which will be reflected in the annual contracts for 2022.”
Third quarter 2021 earnings analyst conference call
ArcelorMittal management will host a conference call for members of the investment community to present and comment on the three-month period ended September 30, 2021 on: Thursday November 11, 2021 at 9.30am US Eastern time; 14.30pm London time and 15.30pm CET.
The dial in numbers are:
Footnotes
- The financial information in this press release has been prepared consistently with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”) and as adopted by the European Union. The interim financial information included in this announcement has also been prepared in accordance with IFRS applicable to interim periods, however this announcement does not contain sufficient information to constitute an interim financial report as defined in International Accounting Standard 34, “Interim Financial Reporting”. The numbers in this press release have not been audited. The financial information and certain other information presented in a number of tables in this press release have been rounded to the nearest whole number or the nearest decimal. Therefore, the sum of the numbers in a column may not conform exactly to the total figure given for that column. In addition, certain percentages presented in the tables in this press release reflect calculations based upon the underlying information prior to rounding and, accordingly, may not conform exactly to the percentages that would be derived if the relevant calculations were based upon the rounded numbers. This press release also includes certain non-GAAP financial/alternative performance measures. ArcelorMittal presents EBITDA, and EBITDA/tonne, which are non-GAAP financial/alternative performance measures and calculated as shown in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations, as additional measures to enhance the understanding of operating performance. ArcelorMittal believes such indicators are relevant to describe trends relating to cash generating activity and provides management and investors with additional information for comparison of the Company’s operating results to the operating results of other companies. Segment information presented in this press release is prior to inter-segment eliminations and certain adjustments made to operating result of the segments to reflect corporate costs, income from non-steel operations (e.g., logistics and shipping services) and the elimination of stock margins between the segments. ArcelorMittal also presents net debt and change in working capital as additional measures to enhance the understanding of its financial position, changes to its capital structure and its credit assessment. ArcelorMittal also presents adjusted net income / (loss) as it believes it is a useful measure for the underlying business performance excluding impairment items, exceptional items and derecognition of deferred tax assets on disposal of ArcelorMittal USA. The Company’s guidance as to its working capital release (or the change in working capital included in net cash provided by operating activities) for the fourth quarter of 2021 is based on the same accounting policies as those applied in the Company’s financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS. ArcelorMittal also presents free cash flow (FCF), which is a non-GAAP financial/alternative performance measure calculated as shown in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows, because it believes it is a useful supplemental measure for evaluating the strength of its cash generating capacity. The Company has revised the definition of free cash flow to include dividends paid to minority shareholders in order to reflect the measure it will use to determine dividends that will be paid under its new dividend policy. The Company also presents the ratio of net debt to EBITDA for the last twelve-month period, which investors may find useful in understanding the Company's ability to service its debt. Such non-GAAP/alternative performance measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures applied by other companies. Non-GAAP financial/alternative performance measures should be read in conjunction with, and not as an alternative for, ArcelorMittal's financial information prepared in accordance with IFRS.
- New segmentation reporting: Following the Company’s steps to streamline and optimize the business, primary responsibility for captive mining operations have been moved to the Steel segments (which are primary consumers of the mines' output). The Mining segment will retain primary responsibility for the operation of ArcelorMittal Mines Canada (AMMC) and Liberia and will continue to provide technical support to all mining operations within the Company. As a result, effective 2Q 2021, ArcelorMittal has retrospectively amended its presentation of reportable segments to reflect this organizational change, as required by IFRS. Only the operations of AMMC and Liberia are reported within the Mining segment. The results of each other mine are accounted for within the steel segment that it primarily supplies. Summary of changes: NAFTA: all Mexico mines (for 2020 and 2021 onwards) and Hibbing, Minorca, Princeton mines (each quarter of 2020, as they were included in the ArcelorMittal USA assets sold to Cliffs in Dec 2020); Brazil: Andrade and Serra Azul mines; Europe: ArcelorMittal Prijedor mine (Bosnia and Herzegovina); ACIS: Kazakhstan and Ukraine mines; and Mining: only AMMC and Liberia iron ore mines.
- LTIF figures presented for 3Q 2021 of 0.76x excludes ArcelorMittal Italia (deconsolidated as from 2Q 2021 onwards) and ArcelorMittal USA (no longer in scope as sold to Cleveland Cliffs on December 9, 2020) and compares with 0.89x in 2Q 2021.
- AMNS India has plans to debottleneck operations (steel shop and rolling parts) and achieve capacity of 8.6Mt per annum, with medium-term plans to expand and grow to 14Mt per annum and then to 18Mt per annum. The Thakurani mines is now operating at full 5.5Mtpa capacity since 1Q 2021, while the second Odisha pellet plant has been commission and started in September 2021, adding 6Mtpa for a total 20Mtpa of pellet capacity. In addition, in September 2021, AMNS India commenced operations at Ghoraburhani - Sagasahi iron ore mine in Odisha. The mine is set to produce 2Mtpa of high-quality iron ore in the current year and gradually ramp up production to a rated capacity of 7.2Mtpa and contribute significantly to meeting AMNS India’s long-term raw material requirements. AMNS India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Odisha to set-up an integrated steel plant with a 12Mtpa capacity in Kendrapara district of state Odisha. Pre-feasibility study report was submitted to the state government in 3Q 2021, and we are currently engaging with them for further studies and clearances.
- AMNS Calvert (Calvert) has plans to construct a new 1.5Mt EAF and caster to be completed 1H 2023. The joint venture is to invest $775 million.
- See Appendix 5 for reconciliation of adjusted net income /(loss).
- ArcelorMittal Mines Canada, otherwise known as ArcelorMittal Mines and Infrastructure Canada.
- On December 19, 2018, ArcelorMittal signed a $5,500,000,000 Revolving Credit Facility, with a five-year maturity plus two one-year extension options. During the fourth quarter of 2019, ArcelorMittal executed the option to extend the facility to December 19, 2024. The extension was completed for $5.4 billion of the available amount, with the remaining $0.1 billion remaining with a maturity of December 19, 2023. In December 2020, ArcelorMittal executed the second option to extend the facility, and the new maturity is now extended to December 19, 2025. As of September 30, 2021, the $5.5 billion revolving credit facility was fully available.
- Assets and liabilities held for sale as of December 31, 2020 included the assets and liabilities of ArcelorMittal Italia and heavy plate assets in Europe.
- XCarb™ is designed to bring together all of ArcelorMittal’s reduced, low and zero-carbon products and steelmaking activities, as well as wider initiatives and green innovation projects, into a single effort focused on achieving demonstrable progress towards carbon neutral steel. Alongside the new XCarb™ brand, we have launched three XCarb™ initiatives: the XCarb™ innovation fund, XCarb™ green steel certificates and XCarb™ recycled and renewably produced for products made via the Electric Arc Furnace route using scrap. The Company is offering green steel using a system of certificates. These will be issued by an independent auditor to certify tonnes of CO2 savings achieved through the Company’s investment in decarbonization technologies in Europe. Net-zero equivalence is determined by assigning CO2 savings certificates equivalent to CO2 per tonne of steel produced in 2018 as the reference. The certificates will relate to the tonnes of CO2 saved in total, as a direct result of the decarbonization projects being implemented across a number of its European sites.
- The Investment Agreement stipulates a second equity injection by Invitalia, of up to €680 million, to fund the completion of
the purchase of Ilva’s business by Acciaierie d’Italia, which is expected by May 2022 subject to certain conditions precedent. At this point, Invitalia’s shareholding in Acciaierie d’Italia would increase to 60%, with ArcelorMittal to invest up to €70 million to retain a 40% shareholding and joint control over the company. The conditions precedent include: the amendment of the existing environmental plan to account for changes in the new industrial plan; the lifting of all criminal seizures on the Taranto plant; and the absence of restrictive measures – in the context of criminal proceedings where Ilva is a defendant – being imposed against Acciaierie d’Italia Holding or its subsidiaries. In case conditions precedent are not met, then the Acciaierie d’Italia Holding would not be required to complete the purchase of Ilva’s assets and its capital invested would be returned.
- In addition to the AMNS India and Calvert joint ventures, the Company has important investments in China that provide valuable dividend streams and growth optionality. VAMA, our 50:50 joint venture with Hunan Valin, is a state-of-the-art facility focused on rolling steel for high-demanding applications in particular automotive. The business is performing well and plans to expand the current capacity by 40% to 2Mtpa over the next 2 years, financed from its own resources. The investment will allow VAMA to broaden its product portfolio and further enhance its competitiveness. This will in turn enable VAMA to meet the growing demand of high value add solutions from the Chinese automotive / new energy vehicle (NEV) market and propel it to be among the top 3 automotive steel players in China by 2025. ArcelorMittal also owns a 37% interest in China Oriental, one of the largest H-Beam producers in China which has recently upgraded its asset portfolio and benefits from a strong balance sheet position.
- As of September 30, 2021, other assets include these main listed investments of Erdemir (12%) at market value of $792 million. As of June 30, 2021, other assets include these main listed investments of Cleveland Cliffs at market value of $1,258 million (which have since been redeemed) and Erdemir (12%) at market value of $876 million. As of December 31, 2020, other assets included amongst others the listed investment of Cleveland Cliffs (16%) at market value of $1,988 million and Erdemir (12%) at market value of $850 million.
- The Company has revised the definition of free cash flow to include dividends paid to minority shareholders in order to reflect the measure it will use to determine dividends that will be paid under its new dividend policy. The comparative figures for free cash flow under the prior definition of cash flow from operations less capex were inflows in 3Q 2021 of $1,767 million, $1,743 million for 2Q 2021, $1,250 million for 3Q 2020, $3,888 million for 9M 2021 and $895 million for 9M 2020.
- Segment “Other & eliminations” EBITDA result was a loss of $209 million in 3Q 2021 as compared to an income of $47 million in 2Q 2021 and to a loss of $171 million in 3Q 2020 principally due to the increase of the stock margin eliminations driven by the increase of the intra-group stock sales between steel and mining businesses.
- FY 2021 figures include $0.1 billion capex related to ArcelorMittal Italia which has been deconsolidated from 2Q 2021 onwards).
- Total steel shipments in 3Q 2021 were 14.6Mt, 9.0% lower as compared with 16.1Mt in 2Q 2021. Adjusted for the change in scope (i.e. excluding the shipments of ArcelorMittal Italia, deconsolidated as from April 14, 2021) steel shipments in 3Q 2021 decreased 8.4% as compared to 2Q 2021.
- On April 1, 2018, ArcelorMittal completed the acquisition of Votorantim Siderurgia (subsequently renamed ArcelorMittal Sul Fluminense "AMSF"), Votorantim S.A.'s long steel business in Brazil pursuant to which Votorantim Siderurgia became a wholly-owned subsidiary of ArcelorMittal Brasil. The acquisition was completed through the issuance of preferred shares to Votorantim S.A. representing a 2.99% interest in ArcelorMittal Brasil. Pursuant to the shareholders' agreement, such preferred shares are subject to put and call option arrangements exercisable by Votorantim S.A. and ArcelorMittal Brasil between July 1, 2019 and December 31, 2022 and between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2024, respectively. The Company determined that it has a present ownership interest in the preferred shares subject to the put option. In 3Q 2021, the Company recognized a $82 million charge in connection with the put option granted to Votorantim, and for which ArcelorMittal recognized a liability corresponding to the net present value of the redemption amount based on past and future EBITDA projections subject to certain adjustments.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document may contain forward-looking information and statements about ArcelorMittal and its subsidiaries. These statements include financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future operations, products and services, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the words “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “target” or similar expressions. Although ArcelorMittal’s management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors and holders of ArcelorMittal’s securities are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of ArcelorMittal, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include those discussed or identified in the filings with the Luxembourg Stock Market Authority for the Financial Markets (Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier) and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) made or to be made by ArcelorMittal, including ArcelorMittal’s latest Annual Report on Form 20-F on file with the SEC. ArcelorMittal undertakes no obligation to publicly update its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
About ArcelorMittal
ArcelorMittal is one of the world’s leading integrated steel and mining companies with a presence in 60 countries and primary steelmaking operations in 15 countries. It is the largest steel producer in Europe, among the largest in the Americas, and has a growing presence in Asia through its joint venture AM/NS India. ArcelorMittal sells its products to a diverse range of customers including the automotive, engineering, construction and machinery industries, and in 2023 generated revenues of $68.3 billion, produced 58.1 million metric tonnes of crude steel and, 42.0 million tonnes of iron ore. Our purpose is to produce smarter steels for people and planet. Steels made using innovative processes which use less energy, emit significantly less carbon and reduce costs. Steels that are cleaner, stronger and reusable. Steels for the renewable energy infrastructure that will support societies as they transform through this century. With steel at our core, our inventive people and an entrepreneurial culture at heart, we will support the world in making that change. ArcelorMittal is listed on the stock exchanges of New York (MT), Amsterdam (MT), Paris (MT), Luxembourg (MT) and on the Spanish stock exchanges of Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia (MTS).
http://corporate.arcelormittal.com/