Ispat International NV, the flagship of Mittal's LNM stable of companies, announced that Gerhard Renz, the managing director of Ispat Hamburger Stahlwerke based in northern Germany, would also be responsible for the operations of Ispat Stahlwerke Ruhrort and Ispat Walzdraht Hochfeld in Duisburg. Renz has replaced Herbert Spreckelmeyer, who has left Ispat's German operations.

German steel analysts had been observing the declining for tunes of the two companies whose performance, they said, was not upto Mittal's expectations. "There will be need for more overhauling at Mittal's two companies in Germany...it is a painful but necessary surgical operation...Mittal will now concentrate on lean management and remove the unnecessary layers of fat that has been accummulating,"one Dusseldorf-based analyst, who insisted on anonymity,told India Abroad News Service.

However, Johannes Sittard, Ispat International's president and chief operating officer, commented: "We believe that with the appointment of Renz, we will accelerate the integration of our German operations as well as the integration with in Ispat International's other operations in Europe."According to German sources, Renz enjoys Mittal's confidence, is a member of the board of Ispat International NV and brings in more than 24 years' experience in the steel industry. Renz was managing director of Hamburger Stahlwerke GmbH before it was acquired by Ispat International in 1995.Ispat International has been buying out ailing steel mills in recent years and nursing them back to good health. Ispat'space of acquisitions seems to have catapulted Mittal into the international arena. Mittal, rated as the world's second richest Indian, successfully converted his group of companies into one of the world's lowest cost steel producers. Ispat manufactures a broad range ofsemi-finished and finished flat and long steel products.

Ispat International has operations in the US, Mexico, Canada, Trinidad, Germany, France and Ireland. The LNM group also has steel-making operations in Kazakhstan (Ispat Karmet) and Indonesia (Ispat Indo).

Analysts following Mittal's moves pointout that he has undertaken a similar revamping at France-based Unimetal which was also acquired by Ispat. The acquired firm, christened Ispat Unimetal for which Ispat coughed up the equivalent of 64.6 million pounds sterling, is being groomed to become the leading player in Europe's wire rod market with a production level of three million tonnes.

Mittal, according to the analysts, is mulling the revamp of Ispat Unimetal by employing a least-cost manufacturing policy to products with high added value.