Goal Posts Move for ArcelorMittal as Steel Markets Revive

On the 4Q17 earnings call, ArcelorMittal’s (MT) CEO, Lakshmi Mittal, outlined a new capital allocation strategy. According to Mittal, “Mostly, we will continue to prioritize deleveraging, we believe that a net debt level of $6 billion with an appropriate target to sustain investment-grade rating metrics and support positive free cash flow even in the low point on the cycle. A few years back, ArcelorMittal set itself a medium-term net debt target of $15 billion.