ArcelorMittal posts $780 million loss

ArcelorMittal says it posted a net loss of $780 million in the fourth quarter of 2010 due to higher raw material prices and the cost of spinning off its stainless steel unit.

ArcelorMittal, the largest steel maker of the world, today reported $ 780 million net loss in the last quarter of 2010 against $ 1,109 million net profit in the year-ago period.

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Net sales, however, rose to $ 20,699 million vis-a-vis $ 17,434 million in the October-December quarter of the last year, ArcelorMittal said in a statement here.

The net profit of the company for the whole year, 2010, rose to $ 2,196 million compared to $ 157 million in 2009. Net sales during the period went up to $ 78,025 million from $ 61,021 million a year ago.

Commenting on the results, ArcelorMittal Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lakshmi N Mittal said," Although 2010 continued to be a challenging year, as anticipated, we saw a slow and progressive recovery which enabled us to deliver a substantially improved performance compared with 2009".

"The gradual underlying demand recovery continues and we expect 2011 to be stronger than 2010," he added.