ArcelorMittal wants to move some activities from Europe to India

Steel group ArcelorMittal, also present on the Romanian market, announced yesterday that it intends to move certain support services activities from Europe to India, according to AFP.

The initiative, presented on the occasion of a European Works Council, "consists of analyzing the possibility of continuing to regroup certain support activities, by developing our shared services center, in order to carry out part of these activities in India," the group said in a statement sent to AFP, notes Agerpres.

"The European steel industry is facing several major challenges that threaten the future of steel production on the continent," the ArcelorMittal group said, a few hours after new statements by US President Donald Trump, which aggravated the trade war in the steel and aluminum sectors.

Trump signed two decrees on Monday establishing 25% customs tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, starting March 12.

With the European steel industry already destabilized by Chinese overproduction, ArcelorMittal's European division "is mobilizing to respond to these challenges, in particular by focusing on continuing to reduce costs that are not directly related to steel production," the company stressed, which did not provide concrete figures on the possible positions targeted at this time.

The group is currently carrying out "studies to identify the exact perimeter of activities that could potentially be transferred to the shared services center," a company spokesman said.

This study includes the human resources, financial services, purchasing and supply, sales and marketing, as well as order management, a source quoted by AFP said, adding the supply chain (including shipping and distribution) and IT systems.

The teams targeted by the analysis "are currently distributed across 31 legal entities, covering three European segments in France, Poland, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK," the same source added.

"No steel production activity will be moved from Europe to India as part of this initiative," the group assured.

Even though it sold its Sidex Galati plant to Liberty Steel in 2019, ArcelorMittal still has production units in Romania in Iaşi, Roman and Hunedoara.