ArcelorMittal has announced that it has no intention to dispose of its stainless steel business despite a Financial Times report saying it was considering either a disposal or a joint venture of its stainless steel division. ArcelorMittal said it continues to evaluate various options but couldn’t give assurances that such options might lead to consolidation even though it said consolidation is needed in the stainless steel sector, especially in Europe. The FT article said ArcelorMittal is evaluating various options related to its estimated USD 3 billion stainless steel division but had no intention of disposing of the business completely. According to the newspaper, South Korea-based POSCO and Finland-based Outokumpu Oyj are two possible candidates for the joint venture.
