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ArcelorMittal expects apparent steel consumption to remain flat in 2015

ArcelorMittal, which produces 6 to 7 per cent of the world’s steel, repeated its 2015 for core profit to come in at between $6 and $7 billion from $7.2 billion in 2014. The higher estimate for the short term price target is at $14 while the lower estimate is at $10. The stock ended up at $9.08. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of ($0.11) per share and revenue of $17.39 billion for the quarter. The company has a market cap of $15,122 million.

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ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) rose 1.34% or 0.12 points on Wednesday and made its way into the gainers of the day. The shares have now been rated Buy by the stock experts at the ratings house.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell to $1.40bn from $1.76bn in the same period last year, although this was still a little better than analysts’ expectations of $1.34bn.

Citing falling global demand and lower prices and pointing specifically to the deceleration of the economy in China, the world’s largest consumer of steel, the company said the headline loss per share was up to 27 cents, from 2 cents in the corresponding period last time. It follows January-December as its fiscal year.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens began coverage on shares of ArcelorMittal SA in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Zacks downgraded shares of ArcelorMittal SA from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. The rating by the firm was issued on May 15, 2015. Bank of America upgraded ArcelorMittal SA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $13.75 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Jefferies Group decreased their target price on ArcelorMittal SA to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st.

ArcelorMittal South Africa urged the government to support the local steel industry as it reported a headline loss of R109 million for the six months to June, up from R6 million in the comparative period.

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Meanwhile, ArcelorMittal’s Flat Carbon Europe segment has reported an operating profit of €352 million for the second quarter this year, rising by 43.6 percent year on year. The Company’s portfolio of products includes finished, semi-finished, long and flat products, such as slabs, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, coated steel products, tinplate and heavy plate, as well as billets, blooms, rebars, wire rod, sections, rails, sheet piles and drawn wire. ArcelorMittal also produces pipes and tubes for various applications.

ArcelorMittal SA (MT) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Friday