Regulatory News:
ArcelorMittal Long Carbon North America – Wire Group today announced the closure of production activities at its Lachine facility to employees at the Lachine and Saint-Patrick plants in Montreal. The Lachine wire mill accounts for 153 positions and will close down on June 30. Different measures will be put into place to eliminate the need to lay off employees impacted by this decision. There will be a net loss of 100 positions within ArcelorMittal in the Montreal area.
“The Lachine and Saint-Patrick wire mills have both been operating at less than 50% capacity since the beginning of 2007. This situation entails high production costs in the North American wire market where supply has been consistently exceeding demand since the early 2000s,” said Alain Robitaille, General Manager, Wire Group. “We cannot continue operating two wire mills in a context where it is more advisable to operate only one plant and thereby bring our costs down to more competitive levels to ensure long term profitability.” Mr. Robitaille added that U.S. markets for automotive construction and steel wire consumption have been on the decline in the past five or six years, while the value of the Canadian dollar continued to rise against the US dollar.
ArcelorMittal will work with the United Steelworkers (USW) union to facilitate the phasing out process through regulatory and labour contract mechanisms. The Saint-Patrick wire mill workforce will increase from 105 to 158 employees. As well, employees impacted by the closure will be offered positions in other ArcelorMittal locations in the Montreal area. In addition, ArcelorMittal will offer incentives to those eligible for retirement. All these measures should eliminate the need to lay off employees impacted by this decision.
“This closure represents the best option for Lachine and Saint-Patrick customers. They will see no difference in their business dealings with us and will continue to receive high quality products and services,” concluded Alain Robitaille.
About ArcelorMittal
ArcelorMittal is the world's largest and most global steel company, with 310,000 employees in more than 60 countries. The company brings together the world's number one and number two steel companies, Arcelor and Mittal Steel.
ArcelorMittal is the leader in all major global markets, including automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging, with leading R&D and technology, as well as sizeable captive supplies of raw materials and outstanding distribution networks. An industrial presence in 28 European, Asian, African and American countries exposes the company to all the key steel markets, from emerging to mature, positions it will be looking to develop in the high-growth Chinese and Indian markets.
ArcelorMittal key unaudited financials for 2007 show revenues of USD 105.2 billion, with a crude steel production of 116 million tonnes, representing around 10 per cent of world steel output.
ArcelorMittal is listed on the stock exchanges of New York (MT), Amsterdam (MT), Paris (MTP), Brussels (MTBL), Luxembourg (MT) and on the Spanish stock exchanges of Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia (MTS).
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