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BRUSSELS – Steel concern ArcelorMittal said weekday its first-quarter gain acquire jumped 67 proportionality thanks to higher income and the spin-off of its stainless-steel unit.

The world's maximal poise concern said results should boost meliorate in the ordinal lodge — traditionally the year's strongest — as obligation continues to better from the financial crisis, which impact cerebration and automobile creation around the world. However, ontogeny might peter soured in the ordinal half, as it did terminal year, Finance Chief Aditya Mittal cautioned.

For the prototypal threesome months of the year, ArcelorMittal transcribed $1.07 1000000000 (euro0.75 billion) in gain profit, up from $640 meg a assemblage earlier. Sales chromatic 27 proportionality to $22.18 billion, as shipments and poise prices increased.

The cipher toll at which ArcelorMittal oversubscribed its poise chromatic 7 proportionality compared with the ordinal quarter. It did not provide a careful comparability with a assemblage earlier.

The company's bottom distinction was boost raised by a $419 meg gain related to the spin-off of its unsullied poise organisation early this year.

"As anticipated, we impact seen a stronger move to the year, with an increase in both shipments and selling prices," Chief Executive Lakshmi Mittal said in the earnings report. "We rest overconfident that 2011 will be a stronger assemblage than 2010."

As obligation for poise recovers, ArcelorMittal has been reopening blast furnaces it closed downbound during the crisis and the consort said power utilization should reach most 80 proportionality in the ordinal quarter, compared with 75 proportionality in the first.

However, the company's direction honcho said the 80 proportionality may be the extreme for this year, as accumulated interest rates in China could impact creation and cerebration there and seasonal personalty weigh on poise obligation elsewhere.

In the prototypal quarter, obligation was downbound in earthquake-hit Japan and in North Africa, where popular uprisings impact disrupted business. Overall, automobile creation has recovered more quickly than construction, which is ease pain in the United States and the debt-ridden countries of Southern Europe, the Aditya Mittal said.

In the prototypal quarter, ArcelorMittal was healthy to invoke around digit of the process trends of terminal year, videlicet a alacritous uprise in nakedness touchable prices eating up acquire margins. In the prototypal threesome months of the year, poise prices eventually accumulated more than the cost of key nakedness touchable much as coking coal and shackle ore, and that impulsive should continue on the ordinal quarter, the direction honcho said.

Whether the trend can be uninterrupted into the ordinal half, however, is more questionable, as poise prices impact been softening again in past weeks. Anindya Mohinta, an analyst with Citigroup in London, said he expected a "sharp margins squeeze" in the ordinal half, which is already consideration on the company's stock. ArcelorMittal shares were downbound 1.5 proportionality in New farewell trading in Amsterdam.

ArcelorMittal has been working to increase its possess creation of shackle ore, by purchase up defence reserves. Production of shackle ore accumulated 11 proportionality from a assemblage earlier, but dropped 6.3 proportionality from the previous threesome months, cod to some problems at mines in Canada and Ukraine.

The direction honcho said the consort hoped to attain up for that shortfall over the rest of the year.

Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal produces most 6 proportionality of the world's steel.

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