ArcelorMittal plans to increase steel shipments by 5% this yearArcelorMittal plans to increase steel shipments by 5% this year. Arcelormittal expects global apparent steel consumption (excluding China) to grow by 2-3% in 2023. At the same time, the company’s shipments may increase by 5% this year, ArcelorMittal said in a statement. ArcelorMittal stock rose on this news. Note that the world is now in a difficult situation, which caused the entire stock market, and the S&P 500 in particular.

The company cut Q4 2022 EBITDA by 53% from Q3 to $1.26 billion, the company said in a statement. At the end of 2022, EBITDA fell to $14.16 billion from $19.4 billion a year earlier.

Last quarter’s operating loss was $306 million. 2022 operating income was $10.3 billion, down from $16.97 billion in 2021. Net income for October-December was $261 million (a nearly fourfold drop), and for the year it fell to $9.3 billion from $14.96 billion a year earlier. After that, ArcelorMittal’s shares dropped considerably in price.

ArcelorMittal’s asset impairment charges totaled $1 billion for the year. Last quarter, ArcelorMittal’s revenues were down 11% quarter-on-quarter at $16.9 billion. In 2022, ArcelorMittal’s revenues were up 4.3% to $79.8 billion.

Last quarter, the company cut steel shipments by 7.4% from the previous quarter, to 12.6 million tons; and for 2022, by 11%, to 55.9 million tons. Steel output in Q4 fell 11.4% to 13.2 million tons, down 14.6% last year (to 59 million tons).

The company’s iron ore production for the quarter was 10.7 million tons (10.6 million tons in Q3), with 45.3 million tons produced last year versus 50.9 million tons of ore a year earlier. ArcelorMittal’s costs in 2022 were $3.5 billion. In 2023, the company’s capex guidance is $4.5-5 billion.

Earlier, we reported that the dollar is stable against the yen, getting cheaper against the euro and the pound.