By Adria Calatayud
ArcelorMittal said it is looking at the possibility of moving some business-support activities to India from Europe to cut costs in the face of a challenging backdrop for the European steel industry.
The Luxembourg-based steelmaker said Tuesday that it discussed the proposal at a meeting with its European works council, a body representing employees, as part of its efforts to address major issues that the company said threaten the future of steelmaking on the continent.
The move comes after the company said as recently as Monday that urgent support was needed to bolster the competitiveness and sustainability of European steelmaking and to protect the industry from what ArcelorMittal called unfair trade practices. The company said the industry is contending with significant excess global capacity, subdued demand in Europe and record-high imports.
ArcelorMittal said it is exploring options to optimize business processes and to cut costs not directly related to steel production. Under the plan, it would centralize certain business-support activities by extending a hub in India, it said.
"No steel manufacturing will be moved to India from Europe as part of this initiative," the company said.
The proposal is one element of the company's response to the crisis, it said.
--Pierre Bertrand contributed to this article..
Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 11, 2025 10:17 ET (15:17 GMT)
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