Luxembourg-based steel and mining company ArcelorMittal published its 2015 online annual review, 'Structural resilience', on Thursday, highlighting the company's sustainability developments and operational and financial performance progress, reportedly as a means of moving towards integrated reporting.
The review features videos from ArcelorMittal's management team, examining areas such as 2015 operational and financial performance; recent actions taken to strengthen the company's balance sheet; health and safety performance; the five-year strategic plan known as Action 2020; developments in achieving the company's 10 sustainable development outcomes; global steel and iron ore prices in various markets; and steps taken in mitigating the low iron ore price environment in the mining division.
Lakshmi N. Mittal, ArcelorMittal Chairman and CEO, explained how the review represents the company's first step towards integrated reporting, commenting: "In 2015, we faced a low pricing environment for both raw material and steel prices, with increasing levels of imports impacting pricing, and ArcelorMittal’s financial performance. We were, however, successful in reducing the cash requirements of the business and reducing net debt to the lowest level since the ArcelorMittal merger – a considerable achievement in such difficult operating conditions."
He continued: "It is clear that we are facing a structural change, not simply a prolonged down-cycle. For ArcelorMittal, there are two clear imperatives which we believe are the foundations of long-term success. The first is to have an efficient asset base producing quality products, which is capable of delivering enhanced levels of returns; and the second is to have a strong balance sheet. We announced earlier this year a roadmap to achieving this via a US$3bn capital raise and a new five-year strategic plan, Action 2020."
"It is also important to have strong safety and sustainability credentials," Mr Mittal concluded. "We can see the increasing importance our customers and other stakeholders are putting on sustainability issues, and it is important that we can convincingly demonstrate that these issues matter for us as well and are integrated into the way we do business."
