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Mittal: Global steel market will grow
Sep 25, 2008
Lakshmi Mittal, believes that despite the slowdown, the global steel market will continue to grow at 3% to 5% per annum.
Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, who received the Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award, believes that despite the slowdown, the global steel market will continue to grow at 3% to 5% per annum.
Lakshmi Mittal believes that the global steel market will continue to grow
Lakshmi Mittal believes that the global steel market will continue to grow
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"The demand in China will make up for the slack in growth in the US, Europe and Japan. China makes up one third of the world demand. There will be 221 cities by 2025 and they will need 40,000 to 50,000 skyscrapers.
"All these will be made of steel and it gives me confidence that the demand will grow albeit not at double digits," he said at the Forbes Global CEO Conference gala dinner in Singapore. He said demand from India would also come from the small to medium industries.
Steel companies had changed the way they operated, Lakshmi said, adding that now they went "for profit, not volumes and the big change arose from consolidation and globalisation."
"Shareholder groups are expected to demand for profits and push management to work for them," Mittal said.
On China, he said: "I wish they'd let us do more."
Before presenting the lifetime award, chairman and CEO of Forbes Steve Forbes said he admired Mittal for "this man of steel went into an industry which people thought had no future."
"Even at an young age he had practised globalisation by venturing into Indonesia, Trinidad, Kazakhstan and the US." He said his "epic battle was the merger of Mittal with Arcelor in 2006."
Mittal is the third businessman to receive the award, after Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing and Sheldon G. Adelson of Las Vegas Sands last year. Mittal, 58, is chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal. With a 44% stake estimated to worth US$45bil, he is the richest British resident and fourth richest man in the world.
He founded the Mittal Steel Co (formerly LNM Group) in 1986. Via mergers and acquisitions, he grew the company to be the biggest in the world with combined annual sales of US$ 80bil.
"I cannot imagine my life without steel and the journey is far from over even though this is a lifetime award. After 35 years, I am still very much motivated, excited and passionate about steel," Mittal said. Asked what were the early influences in his life, Mittal said it came from his birthplace, Rajasthan, where there were no amenities, such as electricity and water. "It was a hard life but family values and hard work paid off", he added.
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