ArcelorMittal (MT) Completes Investment Projects In Poland

The deputy prime minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, participated in steel giant ArcelorMittal’s (NYSE:MT) official ceremony for the completion of a series of major investment projects at the company’s Krakow unit.

Investments, which exceeded EUR 118 million, were commissioned in 2016 and achieved their operational ramp up, included modernization of the basic oxygen furnace, relining of blast furnace no 5, capacity expansion of a new galvanizing line and hot rolling mill.

The most noteworthy investment is the completion of the reline of the blast furnace, which extended the plant’s life by 20 years. This investment not only retained jobs at the Krakow plant but also at several contracting companies and industries which are associated with steel such as energy and gas, mining and transportation. The modernization also complies with the European Union air emission regulations which are expected to be mandatory from autumn of 2018.

According to the Chairman of the board at ArcelorMittal Poland, Sanjay Samaddar, the investment in ArcelorMittal Krakow, has allowed the company to create state-of-the-art installations, which are among the best in the European steel industry. The investment decision aims to cater to growing demand of domestic customers and will also improve its environmental footprint.

ArcelorMittal’s shares have gained 57.9% in the last year, outperforming the Zacks categorized Steel-Producers industry’s gain of 36.8%.

The company logged a net income of $1,002 million, or 33 cents per share, in first-quarter 2017, as against a net loss of $416 million or 23 cents per share recorded a year ago. The earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 24 cents.

Revenues rose roughly 20% year over year to $16,086 million in the quarter, aided by higher seaborne iron ore reference prices, market-priced iron ore shipments and average steel prices, partly offsetting lower steel shipments. Sales, however, trailed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $16,662 million.

ArcelorMittal continues to expect global apparent steel consumption to rise 0.5–1.5% year over year in 2017. It will remain focused on progressing in three areas, namely cost optimization, product mix and volume growth.

ArcelorMittal currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Other Stocks to Consider

Other well-placed companies in the basic materials space include Kronos Worldwide Inc (NYSE:KRO) , Methanex Corp. (NASDAQ:MEOH) and The Chemours Company (NYSE:CC) . All the three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.

Kronos has an expected long-term earnings growth of 5%.

Methanex has an expected long-term earnings growth of 15%.

Chemours has an expected long-term earnings growth of 15.5%.

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