Mittal’s investments in Romania exceed $2 bln

The investment is three times higher than total funds allocated to the steel giant’s four units in Romania, since Mittal Steel came to Romania in 2001.

ArcelorMittal Galati’s CEO, Augustine Kochuparampil, told Business Standard that the investment is aimed to improve product quality, increase production capacity, and focus on added value products. Thus, the steel giant is changing the strategy for its Galati plant, shifting the concentration to the Western market, instead of traditional export destinations, such as Turkey and the Middle East.
“For Western Europe, we need higher quality products and faster deliveries,” Kochuparampil added.

In the coming five years, steel production at the Galati plant, Romania’s largest steel producer, is to amount to seven million tons annually, from a current 4.7 million tons. It also plans to increase plate steel production to 2.4 million tons per year, from its current 1.7 million tons, in the next 2-3 years. The plant currently meets 40 percent of the entire group’s global steel production.

ArcelorMittal Galati posted some €1.1 bln in sales in mid-2007.