The world's leading steel and mining company ArcelorMittal announced its turnover in 2018 in a press release on Thursday morning. All in all, the company considers 2018 to have been a good year for the firm.
Net income rose by 12.7%, ballooning to a total of $5 billion in 2018. By comparison, the company only recorded $4.6 billion in profits in the previous year. The gross operating profit lay above $10 billion, representing a 20.3% increase compared to the previous year.
The group's turnover amounted to $18.3 billion in the last quarter of 2018, while the same period in 2017 only brought in $17.7 billion.
The company shipped 84 million tonnes of steel, which represents a 1.6% decline. Shipments even fell 3.6% in the last quarter and the overall steel production slightly decreased to 92.5 million tonnes (-0,6%).
Amongst other reasons, the low demand from the automotive sector and weak export markets explain the falling numbers in Europe. The company had to introduce strategic countermeasures when it acquired Italian group Ilva, such as the sale of a number of sites, including the Dudelange one.
The group forecasts a slight increase in 2019's global steel demand.
