Arcelor Mittal expects steel prices to stabilize

Rueters has reported that Arcelor Mittal expects steel prices to stabilize as global output decelerates, especially in China, management board member Roland Junck said in a results conference call today.

"The rate of production increase that we expect in 2007... should slow down a little bit due to low profitability of the Chinese activities and the investment of Chinese producers more in value-added products," Junck said.

In North America, reduced output from producers, including Arcelor Mittal, was starting to have a beneficial effect.

"We should expect a positive impact on the inventory levels—inventory levels to be reduced—in the coming months. And also due to the improved ... situation in Asia we should see less pressure from imports, so we expect that the price situation could be stabilized in the relative short term," Junck said.

The European market is stabilizing, thanks to solid underlying demand and the seasonal impact of summer, he said.