This is Mittal’s first official announcement on the issue, after the first information regarding the sale of some assets in Europe emerged mid-March 2018.
ArcelorMittal representatives said the proposal to sell these assets remains subject to final review and approval by the European Commission, as well as the conclusions of the information and consultation processes with the local and European works councils.
They also said any sale will be conditional upon completion of ArcelorMittal’s acquisition of Ilvaby. The European Commission is expected to reach a final decision on the case until May 23, 2018.
In March 2018, Reuters reported that ArcelorMittal group could sell the steel mill in Galati to offset the takeover of Italy’s Ilva, noting the decision to sell assets in Europe is intended to address European Commission antitrust concerns.
“We submitted to the European Commission a remedy pack proposal that we hope will satisfy any competition-related concerns about our intention to buy the Ilva plant,” ArcelorMittal Galati officials told Ziarul Financiar in March.
Sources close to the matter told Ziarul Financiar in March that a potential buyer could be a joint venture of Ukraine and Italy steel giants – Metinvest and Marcegaglia,
ArcelorMittal wants Ilva, a steel plant that makes 12 million tons of steel products a year located in southern Italy for its flat steel production capacity, as it can easily export via the Mediterranean Sea and meet demand in Europe. The acquisition would give ArcelorMittal too powerful a position in Europe’s steel industry, so the European Commission is asking it to give up other facilities, and one of them could be the plant in Galati, which makes 2 million tons of steel a year.
Mittal also owns the ArcelorMittal Hunedoara in Romania, which posted RON470 million revenue in 2016 and has over 600 employees. Other assets in the country include ArcelorMittal Tubular Products in Iasi (RON312 million) and ArcelorMittal Tubular Products in Roman, Neamt County (RON213 million). The steel mill in Galati is ArcelorMittal’s most important asset in Romania, though.