Company: MT
Filing Date: 2025-08-01
Form Type: 6-K
Source: 0001243429-25-000067
Chunk: 4

Company: ArcelorMittal
Filing Date: 2025-08-01
Form: 6-K
Chunk 4
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 have improved due to trade protection, especially in the U.S. with reintroduction of 25% tariffs on steels, which were later raised to 50% in May 2025. In the EU, the expectation of safeguard tightening (leading to lower imports) and the German infrastructure stimulus also supported European prices.

Demand in Brazil rebounded during 2024, to well above pre-pandemic levels. Inflation accelerated, driven by resilient domestic demand and by looser fiscal policy. During the first half of 2025, inflation exceeded 5% – above the central’s target range – leading to a sharp increase in interest rates from 11.25% in November 2024, to 15% by end-June. Meanwhile, real steel demand started to stagnate and is likely to be negatively impacted by high interest rates. Another important market for the Company is India, where steel demand has grown strongly by more than 10% in each of 2023 and 2024. During the first half of 2025, steel demand growth was supported by continued strength in construction activity, particularly in infrastructure. While steel demand growth is expected to slow in the second half of 2025 due to a more stringent fiscal deficit target (4.4% of GDP in 2025 compared to 4.8% in 2024), constraining government spending on infrastructure projects, full-year growth is expected to remain robust. In the medium-term, India is expected to continue to show healthy growth in steel demand, given strong domestic factors such as population growth.

Historically, demand dynamics in China have also substantially affected the global steel business, mainly due to significant changes in net steel exports. In the first half of 2025, Chinese steel demand remained weak, reflecting persistent weakness in the real estate sector, offset in part by infrastructure spending and resilient manufacturing sectors despite higher U.S. tariffs due to front-loading and export re-routing. As production remained steady, net Chinese finished flat exports remained high, averaging approximately 6.3 million tonnes per month during the first half of 2025. While this was higher compared to the first half of 2024 when net flat exports averaged 6.1 million tonnes, it is less than the 6.6 million tonnes peak during second half of 2024. The short-term outlook for China remains largely dependent upon the timing and scale of any cyclical rebound in the real estate market, the negative impact of increased U.S. tariffs and the amount of government stimulus.