Mittal Steel USA Now ArcelorMittal
By Andrea Holecek, The Times, Munster, Ind.
Jun. 5–The name Mittal Steel USA has gone the way of Ispat Inland, International Steel Group and LTV Co., as the global steel company owning the assets of those firms now is known as ArcelorMittal.
The company announced the ArcelorMittal brand identity and logo Monday.
“Today, we are announcing what ArcelorMittal stands for, what it intends to achieve and by what values and guiding principles we are going to operate,” said Lakshmi Mittal, ArcelorMittal’s president and chief executive officer. “We wanted a positioning which not only reflects the strategy of the business, but also reflects the responsibility we have as the leading player in our sector and one of the world’s largest companies, with major operations in 27 countries and 320,000 employees.”
All the company’s future communications, signs and identifying materials will carry the ArcelorMittal brand and all of its facilities will be renamed. For example, Mittal Steel Indiana Harbor will be called ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor, said Bill Steers, spokesman for the Americas division of ArcelorMittal.
The company isn’t disclosing the cost of the rebranding, he said Monday, adding it will take some time to change the signs and other identifying materials currently in use.
The ArcelorMittal brand is being introduced worldwide through an extensive advertising campaign titled, “Boldness changes everything,” according to the company’s Web site. It will unfold in two waves, with the first occurring from June to mid July.
The company is made up of the assets of Netherlands/London based Mittal Steel Co., parent of Mittal Steel USA, and European steelmaker Arcelor, which Mittal acquired in July for $32.5 billion. The 2006 revenue for the companies, as combined, is $88.6 billion. In combination, the Arcelor/Mittal is responsible for 10 percent of the world’s steel production.
“The steel industry is in a stronger position today than it has been for many years,” said Lakshmi Mittal. “This is largely due to consolidation and globalization, which are helping to create a more stable operating environment. As the sector leader, we expect ArcelorMittal to remain at the forefront of this transformation. This is important for all of our stakeholders.”
ArcelorMittal currently is listed under the legal entity Mittal Steel NV, with the ticker symbol MT, on the stock exchanges of New York, Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Luxembourg and on the Spanish stock exchanges of Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia.
The MT ticker symbol isn’t changing “at this time,” Steers said.
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