ArcelorMittal Says Ukraine Crisis Hit Steel Demand

LONDON--ArcelorMittal (MT), the world's largest steelmaker by output, said the political crisis in Ukraine has led to weaker domestic steel demand but the company continues to operate normally by diverting a greater share of its production within the country to other markets.

"As far as we are concerned, we are operating normally" in Ukraine, Chief Executive Lakshmi Mittal told analysts at the company's Investor Day briefing.

He said the ongoing political uncertainty in Ukraine has caused domestic steel demand to drop because people weren't investing, though costs have fallen because the local currency--the hryvnia--has weakened against the dollar.

Steel sales to customers in Ukraine from ArcelorMittal's Kryviy Rih steel plant will halve as a result of the crisis, Mr. Mittal said, noting that this material is already being diverted to different markets.

The Kryviy Rih plant, one of Ukraine's largest, is located 418 kilometers southeast of the capital Kiev and produced 6.4 million metric tons of crude steel in 2013.

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