World economy, China cloud outlook: Mittal

Jun 19, 2012 | 01:54 PM |

Tags  Steel Success Strategies, Lakshmi Mittal, ArcelorMittal, ThyssenKrupp, RG Steel, Lisa Gordon

NEW YORK — U.S. steelmakers are facing difficult times in the near term as global political and financial uncertainty puts a chill on the global economic outlook, ArcelorMittal SA’s top executive said Tuesday at the Steel Success Strategies XXVII conference in New York.

The European debt crisis, lower production in China and less-than-robust growth in India are all working to create an imbalance in supply and demand that has taken the industry by surprise, Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and chief executive officer of the Luxembourg-based steelmaker, said at the event, co-hosted by AMM and World Steel Dynamics Inc. (WSD).

"It is an undisputable fact that the collapse in Europe has created an imbalance in demand. We do face a tough reality," Mittal said.

"Six months ago, I could not have predicted that two days before the conference Greece would face a vote or that India, which appeared to be growing, would have slowed," he said, questioning whether the current Greek coalition would be the latest in a series of "false starts."....