Hit by the global economic slowdown, steel behemoth ArcelorMittal reported a USD 792 million net loss for the second quarter of the current fiscal, a third in a row.
However, the company said it is hopeful of demand revival in the second half of the year. The company had a USD 5.8 billion profit in the April-June quarter last year.
The world’s largest steel maker attributed the net loss to the charges incurred on heavy write-downs on account of inventory and payouts due to downsizing.
“The loss in the second quarter of 2009 resulted from exceptional charges amounting to USD 1.2 billion primarily related to write-downs of inventory (USD 0.9 billion) and provisions for workforce reductions (USD 0.3 billion),” the company said in a statement.
ArcelorMittal saw its sales plunging by nearly 60 per cent to USD 15.2 billion in the second quarter compared to the period a year ago due to fall in steel demand and consequently prices.
“The main reason for the decline continues to be the extreme weakness in demand for steel products in 2009 as a result of the global economic crisis, along with a steep fall in prices,” it added.
The company made a net loss of USD 1.8 billion in the first half of the year. The steel major had a profit of USD 8.2 billion in H1 last year.