Name: History of ArcelorMittal
Creator: Steelonthenet.com
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Keywords: History, ArcelorMittal, Ispat, LNM Holdings, Usinor Sacilor, Mittal Steel, Lakshmi Mittal, Acciaierie d'Italia, Ilva

History of ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal was formed from the acquisition of Arcelor by Mittal Steel. Mittal Steel was in turn formed from the merger of ISPAT International and LNM Holdings. In 2022, ArcelorMittal was the second-largest steelmaker in the world, producing ~69 million tonnes of crude steel.

The timeline below covers the history of the firm.

1989: Lease deal with Iron & Steel Company of Trinidad & Tobago.
1992: Acquisition of Sibalsa in Mexico.
1994: Acquisition by Ispat of Sidbec-Dosco in Canada.
1995: Acquisition of Karmet Works in Kazakhstan.
1995: Acquisition of Hamburger Stahlwerke in Germany.
1997: Ispat International floats in NY & Amsterdam.
1997: Takeover of Thyssen Duisberg, Germany.
1998: Acquisition of Inland Steel Company, USA.
1999: Ispat purchase of Unimetal, France.
2001: Purchase of Sidex Galati in Romania.
2001: Purchase of Alfasid [renamed Mittal Steel Annaba] in Algeria.
2001: Equity partnership deal with Iscor, South Africa.
2003: Acquisition of Nova Hut in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
2004: Acquisition of Skopje plant from Balkan Steel, Macedonia.
2004: LNM Holdings & ISPAT International merged into Mittal Steel.
2005: Purchase of PHS - Polskie Huty Stali in Poland.
2005: Mittal Steel takeover of the International Steel Group, USA.
2005: Acquisition of Kryvorizhstal, Kryvyi Rih in Ukraine.
2005: Purchase of small stake in Hunan Valin, China.
2005: Iron ore mining agreement with government of Liberia.
2005: Unsuccessful bid for Erdemir Group, Turkey.
2006: Acquisition of Arcelor and creation of ArcelorMittal.
2007: ArcelorMittal purchase of 100% stake in Galvex, Estonia.
2007: Arcelor Mittal finalises acquisition of Sicartsa.
2008: Increase of stake in Macarthur Coal Australia to ~20%.
2008: Sale of Sparrow's Point to Russia's Severstal.
2008: Creation of VAMA jv between Arcelor Mittal & China's Valin Steel.
2008: Purchase of three coal mining assets in Russia.
2009: Dispute in South Africa over iron ore supply from Kumba.
2009: Divestment of minority interest in Wabush Mines, Canada.
2010: Spin-off of stainless & specialty steels business into Aperam.
2011: ArcelorMittal wins control of Baffinland iron ore mine, Canada.
2012: Sale of 48.1% stake in Paul Wurth Group to SMS GmbH.
2012: Florange steel closure announced - much political reaction.
2012: 15% stake sold in Canada Mines for $1.1 billion.
2013: Rumoured interest in purchase of TKS Alabama Calvert mill.
2013: Plan announced to raise $3.5bn to lower debt via share issue.
2013: Cancellation of 12 mt per annum steel project in Odisha.
2013: Sells 6.66% equity stake in Turkey's Erdemir Group for $267m.
2013: Opens new auto stampings production plant in Senica, Slovakia.
2013: ArcelorMittal (& others) buy ThyssenKrupp Alabama steel mill.
2014: Pays $90 million to settle US price-fixing lawsuit.
2014: Agrees Senegal $150m fine over failed Faleme iron ore mine deal.
2014: Opens new US$852 million advanced automotive steel plant in China.
2014: With Gerdau, sells stake in US-based Gallatin to Nucor Corp.
2015: Rumours of impending closure of Vanderbijlpark Works in South Africa.
2015: Transfer of various Algerian ownership stakes to government.
2016: Considers idling of operations at Indiana Harbor, East Chicago.
2016: Mothballs EAF steel plant in Sestao, northern Spain.
2016: Closes down Point Lisas steel plant in Trinidad and Tobago.
2016: Proposes $3bn rights issue in Feb 2016 to reduce debt burden.
2016: Sells LaPlace & Vinton long product facilities in the USA.
2017: Group led by ArcelorMittal wins race to buy Italy's Ilva plant.
2017: Becomes majority owner of Bekaert steel cord company in Brazil.
2018: Wins bid for the acquisition of India's Essar Steel.
2018: Agrees to divest plants in Galati Romania & Ostrava in Czech Republic.
2018: Agrees sale to Liberty House of plants in Dudelange and Liege.
2018: Progresses transaction to buy Ilva: launches ArcelorMittal Italia.
2019: Completes acquisition of Essar Steel with Nippon Steel (NSSMC).
2020: Negotiations continue regarding new industrial plan for Ilva.
2020: Offers to set up new R&D centre in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
2020: Odisha govt asks ArcelorMittal-Nippon to build Paradip steel plant.
2020: Idles blast furnace #4 at Indiana Harbor mill in East Chicago.
2020: Considers sale of Canadian infrastructure assets.
2020: Arcelor Mittal announces Rs 2000 cr investment in Odisha.
2020: Mothballs steelmaking operations at Fos-sur-Mer, France.
2020: Agrees sale of US steelmaking assets to Cleveland Cliffs.
2020: Announces permanent closure of BFs and melt shop in Krakow Poland.
2021: Aditya Mittal named as CEO; Lakshmi Mittal becomes Executive Chairman.
2021: Signs Ilva investment deal with Italian Gov; renames ArcelorMittal Italia as Acciaierie d'Italia.
2021: Announces construction in Spain of world's first full-scale zero carbon-emissions steel plant.
2021: Signs binding agreement with Condesa Tubos for acquisition of 67% of equity .
2021: Confirms iron ore expansion plans in Liberia.
2021: State of Odisha approves plan for ArcelorMittal/Nippon Steel 24 mt/year plant in Kendrapara.
2022: Buys John Lawrie Metals, a Scottish supplier of recycled ferrous scrap metal.
2022: ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (AMKR) announces suspension of operations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
2022: Buys majority stake in VoestAlpine's HBI plant in Texas, USA.
2022: Completion of Acciaierie d'Italia Ilva acquisition is delayed by two years.
2022: Acquires 10 scrap yards in the south of Germany from Alba International Recycling.
2022: ArcelorMittal South Africa commences strike over wage issues. Matters soon resolved.
2022: ArcelorMittal Canada charged $12 million pollution fine.
2022: Signs joint venture agreement with SigmaRoc, a quarried materials producer.
2022: Acquires Netherlands-based Riwald Recycling - a ferrous scrap metal recycling firm.
2022: Signs agreement to buy Zlomex, a Polish scrap metal recycling business.
2023: Gets regulatory green light for acquisition of Companhia Siderurgica do Pecem (CSP).
2023: Acquires CSP, a Brazilian producer of high quality slab, for $2.2 billion.
2023: Ordered to close down steelmaking operations at Fos-sur-Mer for health and safety reasons.
2023: Press reports of possible enforced sale by Kazakh government of steel assets in Temirtau.
2023: Stops production of welded tube at AMTP Krakow plant, Poland.
2023: ArcelorMittal South Africa closes long products business.
2024: Italian government places Acciaierie d'Italia (Ilva) into special administration.
2024: AMKR fined UAH 10 million for air pollution (coke plant dust and CO2 emissions).

Notes

1995 purchase: Karmet also known as the Karaganda Metallurgical Kombinat. The facility is now known as ArcelorMittal Temirtau.
1997 flotation of Ispat International - at this point the Company controlled group steelmaking operations in Trinidad & Tobago, Mexico, Canada and Germany. The stock exchange debut involved a $776 million initial public offering.
In December 2004 Ispat International acquired LNM Holdings NV. The merged company’s name was then changed to Mittal Steel Company NV.
2005 purchase of PHS comprised Huta Katowice, Huta Sendzimira, Huta Florian and Huta Cedler.
2005 deal with International Steel Group (ISG) involved acquisition of the former Inland Steel's East Chicago Works, ex-LTV Corporation's Indiana Harbor Works and the Burns Harbor Works that had previously been owned by Bethlehem Steel.
2005 bid for the Erdemir Group was won by OYAK, the Turkish army pension fund.
2007 Sicartsa deal involved acquisition of long product capacity of ~2.7 million tonnes on facilities in Mexico (Lazaro Cardenas) and in Texas, USA (Border Steel). It included purchase of Sicartsa's wholly owned mine with iron ore reserves of ~160 million tonnes.
2008 purchase in Russia was of Beryozovskaya and Pervomayskaya coal mines and of the Zhernovskaya coal deposit.
In the 2009 Kumba dispute, the Sishen Iron Ore Company [a subsidiary of Kumba Iron Ore Ltd] informed ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) in early 2010 that the steelmaker was no longer entitled to receive 6.25 mt per annum of iron ore mined by Sishen at cost plus 3%, as AMSA had failed to convert its old order mining rights in May 2009. Adding to the complexity of this dispute, the 21.4% mining rights not converted by AMSA were sold in early 2010 to Imperial Crown Trading 289 (Pty) Ltd (“ICT”), a step that was later challenged by Sishen. As at mid-2011, both cases are the subject of separate legal proceedings.
2011 purchase of Baffinland was a combined venture involving ArcelorMittal (70% ownership) and Nunavut Iron Ore Acquisition Inc (30% stake) of the Canadian iron ore mining assets.
Towards the end of 2012, ArcelorMittal determined that operation of two blast furnaces at Florange in France was no longer economic, and announced their planned closure. The French Government reacted by threatening to nationalise the company's Florange site. This step triggered much debate about the role of the State in private business, the value of interventionism, and messsages sent to future investors. Closure of Florange steelmaking was nonetheless postponed - over the short-term at least.
ThyssenKrupp decided to sell its Steel Americas business in mid-2012. This business included a new 5 mt/year integrated steel slab plant in Brazil as well as a rolling mill in Calvert, Alabama. It is understood that ArcelorMittal's interest is in the Alabama finishing mill only.
ArcelorMittal commenced work on several mega projects in India in ~2005-2006 but (like POSCO) faced many hurdles with land acquisition and other matters which led to major delays. These projects - all involving integrated steelmaking and costing almost $30 billion in total - were planned in Odisha, Jharkhand and at Karnataka. The Odisha project was finally cancelled in August 2013. As at Q3 2013, the status the Jharkhand and Karnataka projects remains uncertain.
VAMA began construction in mid-2012, with operations expected to commence mid-2014 and production geared primarily to the Chinese auto market. The jv will produce state-of-the-art automotive steels. ArcelorMittal is supporting the project with provision of production know-how. VAMA’s product portfolio is to include technologically advanced steel products including ultra high strength steel with strengths of up to 1200MPa and other advanced steels especially designed for hot stamping. VAMA's production lines will include continuous pickling and cold rolling with an annual production capacity of ~1 million tonnes of steel, with continuous annealing and continuous hot dip galvanising capability.
ArcelorMittal stake in the Erdemir Group was ~25% until March 2012, when it sold ~6.3% of the equity for ~US $268m. The October 2013 sale of the 6.66% stake further reduces ArcelorMittal's ownership to around 12.1%.
Arcelor Mittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation in November 2013 acquired ThyssenKrupp's Alabama steel mill in Calvert for $1.55 billion.
ArcelorMittal had initially planned to invest $2.2 billion in the Faleme iron ore mine project, including the construction of a new port near Dakar and a 750 km railway line. The mine, in the country's far east, is estimated to contain ~750 million tonnes of iron ore reserves. However, the project was suspended after the global economic crisis struck.
Valin ArcelorMittal Automotive Steel Co in June 2014 officially opened its new $852m advanced automotive steel plant in China. The joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Hunan Valin Iron & Steel Co will produce high-strength automotive steels for the Chinese market.
October 2014 sale by ArcelorMittal and Gerdau of their 50% stake in Gallatin to Nucor was reportedly part of a strategy to divest non-core assets
Q4 2015 rumours of closure of ArcelorMittal's South African steelmaking assets persisted, despite imposition by the South African government of a 10% tariff on steel imports in October
October 2015 ownership restructuring in Algeria involved the transfer of ArcelorMittal's minority shareholdings in both ArcelorMittal Algeria and in ArcelorMittal Tebessa - as well as its majority stake in ArcelorMittal Pipes & Tubes Algeria - to the Algerian government.
During the course of 2015 ArcelorMittal idled Indiana Harbor Long Carbon and the No. 2 galvanizing line at Indiana Harbor West. The company also notified its trade union of the intention to idle the No. 1 aluminizing line at ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor West (the former LTV steel mill).
The LaPlace Louisiana facility - along with a rolling mill in Harriman Tennessee - produces billets, angles, flats, channels and beams. The Vinton facility - located in El Paso Texas - produces rebar and grinding media. Both the LaPlace and the Vinton facilities were sold in March 2016 to an affiliate of Black Diamond Capital Management (‘Black Diamond’).
Successful June 2017 Euro 1.8 billion bid for Ilva by the AM Investco consortium included Marcegaglia and Banca Intesa Sanpaolo.
In June 2017 ArcelorMittal became the 55.5% shareholder of the Bekaert steel cord subsidiary in the Brazilian city of Sumare, with Bekaert retaining the remaining 44.5% ownership stake.
October 2018 divestment plan announced as part of Ilva acquisition plan in discussions with European Commission. Divested assets to include ArcelorMittal Ostrava (Czech Republic), ArcelorMittal Galati (Romania), ArcelorMittal Skopje (Macedonia) and ArcelorMittal Piombino (Italy).
ArcelorMittal acquired Essar Steel India Limited (ESIL) in October 2018. ESIL is an integrated flat steel producer, and the largest steel company in western India with annual crude steel production of ~6.5 million tonnes. ESIL also has iron ore pellet facilities in the east of India, with current annual capacity of 14 million tonnes per annum. ArcelorMittal will jointly own and operate ESIL in partnership with Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation ('NSSMC'), Japan's largest steel producer.
On 2nd November 2018 ArcelorMittal announced that it had received a binding offer from Liberty House Group for the acquisition of ArcelorMittal Dudelange (Luxembourg) and finishing lines at ArcelorMittal Liege (Belgium): hot dip galvanising lines 4 and 5 in Flemalle; and hot-rolled pickling, cold rolling and tin plate lines in Tilleur. The assets are the final part of a divestment package that ArcelorMittal agreed with the European Commission during its merger control investigation into the Company's acquisition of Ilva.
ArcelorMittal in November 2018 announced that AM Investco Italy Srl's transaction to acquire Ilva S.p.A. had been completed. ArcelorMittal is the principal shareholder in AM Investco with a 94.4 per cent equity stake.
On December 10 2019, a lower court decided that Ilva's blast furnace #2 should be shut down. Later that month, ArcelorMittal signed a non-binding agreement with the Italian government to continue negotiations on a new industrial plan for Ilva, including discussions on a substantial equity investment by a government-controlled entity. An An appeal court reversed the decision regardig closure of blast furnace No. 2 in January 2020. This decision was cfor the continuation of the negotiations on the future of the steel mill.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Lakshmi Mittal was reported in January 2020 to propose investment in a research and development centre in Bangalore (Karnataka) to conduct research on various forms of steel usage.
February 2020 request from Government of Odisha came soon after ArcelorMittal-Nippon's acqusition of Essar Steel. This request was a revival of previous plans - Essar Steel had in 2005 signed an MoU with the Odisha government to build a 3 mt / year steel plant in Paradip.
The decision to idle blast furnace #4 at Indiana Harbor followed the decision by local automakers to shut down their manufacturing plants. Some 50% of the business from the Indiana Harbor steel mill comes from the automotive sector.
Mid-2020 press reports indicated that ArcelorMittal was considering the sale of infrastructure assets that service its 24m-tonnes-a-year Mont-Wright iron ore mine in Quebec, in order to strengthen its balance sheet.
Mittal's June 2020 announcement regarding the proposed Rs 2000 crore investment was thought to relate to the development of two iron ore mines- Sagasahi and Thakurani in Odisha. ArcelorMittal acquired the Thakurani iron ore mine in an auction earlier in 2020. The Sagasahi iron ore block was acquired by the Essar Group in 2016.
With the purchase of ArcelorMittal USA and subsidiaries, Cleveland Cliffs became the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America, with total shipments of approximately 17 million net tons. The purchase prices was approx US$1.4 billion. The purpose of the divestment was to help ArcelorMittal to reduce group debt and thus strengthen its balance sheet. [Note that Cleveland-Cliffs completed the acquisition of Ohio-based AK Steel in March 2020].
October 2020 announcement of Krakow front end closures also stated that coke-making and steel rolling (as well as hot dip galvanising and organic coating) operations would continue; and that slab feedstock for Krakow would be sourced from Dabrowa Gornicza. Restructuring of the Polish operations was attributed to reduced steel demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mid-2021 Ilva investment agreement was signed with Invitalia, an Italian state-owned company. Agreement stipulates initial injection by Italian Government of Euro 400 million in equity; and requires second equity injection by Invitalia of up to Euro 680 million to fund the completion of the purchase of Ilva's business by Acciaierie d'Italia. At this point, Invitalia's shareholding in Acciaierie d'Italia is envisaged at ~60%. ArcelorMittal, investing up to Euro 70 million, will then retain a 40% shareholding in the business and joint control over the company.
2021: The firm revealed in mid-July that its Sestao plant in Spain was set to become one of the world's first full-scale zero carbon-emissions steel plants using of green hydrogen. Finiancial support for this investment is to come from the Spanish Government - total investment is envisaged of Euro 1bn (~$1.2bn) in the construction of a green hydrogen direct reduction plant in Gijon, as well as a new hybrid electric arc furnace. By 2025, the Sestao plant, which manufactures a wide range of flat steel products for the automotive and construction sectors and other applications, is expected to produce 1.6 million tonnes of zero carbon emissions steel.
2021: ArcelorMittal and the Republic of Liberia in September 2021 signed an accord allowing the steelmaker to boost its logistics capability and ramp up its iron ore production to 15 million mt/year, with a possibility for further expansion up to 30 million mt/year.
2021: Proposed ArcelorMittal / Nippon Steel (AMNS) 24 million tonne/year capacity integrated steel plant in Odisha will also produce up to ~18 mt/year of cement. The facility will be built in about seven years, and will employ 16,000 workers. AMNS India will also develop a downstream industry park to promote micro, small and medium enterprises, and support import substitution.
2022: John Lawrie Metals is a leading metals reuse and recycling specialist. The company - headquartered in Aberdeen Scotland - supplies scrap to steel producers mainly in Western Europe. The firm has access to diversified sources of high-quality scrap from the UK's oil and gas industry, sourcing around half of its scrap from this sector.
2022: AMKR slowdown due to Russia-Ukrainian conflict involved a reduction of production to the technical minimum, and complete stoppage of production at the company's underground mines.
2022: VoestAlpine natural-gas fired hot briquetted iron (HBI) plant in Corpus Christi, Texas was commissioned in 2016, and built at a cost of just over US $1 billion. ArcelorMittal purchase was for an 80% ownership stake.
2022: Implementation of the agreement between Invitalia, ArcelorMittal and the commissioners of Ilva in Extraordinary Administration - which by May 31 should have seen the public holding in Acciaierie d'Italia increase from 38% to 60% - was postponed to 2024.
2022: Purchase of steel scrap recycling facilities from Alba International Recycling involved acquisition of scrap yards with 400,000 tonnes per year of scrap processing capability.
2022: The ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) labour force commenced a strike in mid-May over wage negotiations. AMSA nonetheless came to a relatively quick agrement with the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and Solidarity by 25th May, ending the two-week strike.
2022: Mid-year pollution fine arose for violations of Canada's Fisheries Act and Metal Mining Effluent Regulations. Environmental contamination relates to a November 2012 incident involving dike rupture at the Mont-Wright mining complex, when unauthorized deposits of toxic substances took place.
2022: SigmaRoc is a quarried materials producer; the firm is registed in the UK. The proposed jv with ArcelorMittal is for lime production. A new 900,000 tpy facility will be located near ArcelorMittal's Dunkirk steelmaking facility. Production start-up is planned for 2025.
2022: Metal processing capability of Zlomex (Zaklad Przerobu Zlomu) is some 400,000 tonnes of ferrous scrap per annum.
2023: Companhia Siderurgica do Pecem (CSP), based in Brazil, is a slab manufacturing joint venture between Brazil's Vale (50%), South Korea's Dongkuk (30%) and POSCO (20%).
2023: The labour inspectorate reportedly identified serious risks to employees' health arising from hot end dust emissions. This was expected to be a temporary closure.
2023: In the event of a sale, Russia's Severstal is rumoured to be the likely buyer of the steel assets in Temirtau. Press reports suggest that high mortality rates at the Kazakh steel plant are the apparent reason for the enforced sale.
2023: The ArcelorMittal Tubular Products (AMTP) Krakow plant mostly produced welded tube for the construction, water distribution, and scaffolding industries.
2023: Closure of the AMSA long product business was announced in November 2023. This closure was primaily attributed to South Africa's low GDP growth and consequent decline in the country's steel consumption; as well as by soaring domestic transport costs.
2024: Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI) is a jv between ArcelorMittal and State-owned Invitalia, ArcelorMittal having 62% shares ownership. The majority shareholder has however been in dispute with the Italian Government for some time about ADI's future investment plans.

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