Worst is behind us,pre-recession demand in 2-3 years: Mittal

Emphasising that the worst is over for the global steel industry,ArcelorMittal chief L N Mittal on Friday said that he sees “pre-recession” demand to resurface in the next 2-3 years. The NRI billionaire also asserted that the steel maker is bullish on India plans and committed to the investments there. “For (the) pre-recession demand to come back,I give 2-3 years…Everyone believes that the decline has stopped. The worst is behind us and the question which we are asking ourselves is what is going to be the shape of recovery,” Mittal,who is the chairman and chief executive of the world’s largest steel company,told a private news channel. ArcelorMittal is committed to its proposed Rs 1-lakh crore investment in India,to set up two 12-MT per annum steel mills in the state of Jharkhand and Orissa.

“I am very optimistic about India. I am in fact bullish about India. We are committed to India,we will invest in India for our steel companies,” Mittal noted. The company had earlier this year said the commercial operations of its proposed steel plants would be delayed by at least two years to 2014.

Earlier this year,ArcelorMittal had said the firm would go slow on its greenfield expansion,mergers and acquisition plans in the wake of the prevailing economic scenario. ArcelorMittal had posted losses in the last quarter of the previous fiscal and the first quarter of the current financial year.